The 1911 should include a free armorer's course.
If all 1911s were manufactured correctly it wouldn't be necessary, but since they aren't this wouldn't help.
Because of the variations between different manufacturers, every part of a 1911 is a gunsmith fit these days by someone who is trained on the 1911.
A Glock Armorers Course is like a day long and at the end bang...everyone in the class is certified and gets a diploma.
It takes longer than that sometimes for even experienced machine workers to be taught how to fit a 1911 extractor correctly, and some seem to not get it, and that is assuming the extractor is made right from the correct steel and properly heat treated.
Triggers and sears...forget about it...even the simple sear spring is a tuned part.
Not that it couldn't be done, but there aren't enough qualified armorers available for hire to keep even a single medium sized department's 1911s in good running condition, and I wouldn't want to be the one who had to train them!
Of course all this assumes that someone wants a 1911 that is made to correct specifications and runs well for tens or hundreds of thousands of rounds as they should.
Glocks do well all-around and are a great innovation. In harsh conditions the 1911 design has some advantages to the others, but not when made from out-of-spec manufactured parts that would have ended up in the reject pile in the earlier part of the last century. The 1911 marketplace is cluttered with what amounts to no-spec parts.
So when guys have functional issues with their 1911s I'm not surprised...what surprises me is that they function at all.
So if you do end up with a 1911 that works, you then have to mature as a shooter and learn how to shoot the beast.
A good friend of mine went through a few 1911s including a $2000 Les Baer that wasn't right, but is now carrying a $400 Smith M&P .40 police return that is working fine for him and is easier for him to be consistent with. At some point he just needed something that worked.
He tried for a couple of years to make the 1911 work but he shoots the Smith a lot better than the 1911 he was struggling with, aside from the functional issues, and easier and better than the Glock as well.
So he's staying with it for now, he can count on it, and for him it's the better option.
If there are ANY flaws in one's marksmanship training or pistol shooting skills, a 1911 will find them!
One of my exes could drill out the Xring with my CZ at 50 feet during a rapid fire mag dump, but couldn't hit the paper with one of my Springfields.
In troubled times I'd reach for a 1911, but 1911s aren't for everyone.
