...Again my main 1911's were the STI Ranger and my Colt Combat Commander. I've shot a few race guns that ran fine but why can't these stock pistols be in working order out of the box?
Damn right they should work, especially when you consider the coin you dished out. Man I wish we lived in the same town, I'd get you cleared up in a few minutes.
Generally speaking STI's are very good guns. The two that I encountered the had issues, there were serious and showed that the person whom built the gun did a half arse job.
What I love about Colt's is that they are made right. When you encounter a Colt that doesn't work, it's generally because someone has screwed it up (I mean that's well over 90% of the time) or it's something very minor and easy to fix.
This is just me, but I don't do well with guns that don't work. If I can't fix them, they go down the road with full disclosure. I guess if you have a safe full of handguns though, you have room to tolerate something less than perfect.
