There are so many people making good 1911's and so many opinions that asking a question about a good value and great gun is going to stir the pot. I will go ahead and put my opinion out there so that I can also be put in my place.
I don't own a 9mm 1911 but have seen them shoot. Most recently I watched a guy at our local range do very poorly in an IDPA match because of his gun not his skills. It was a springfield gun I don't know which one but it was polished and black with a magwell and trinium fixed sights with some other bells and whistles. It had failures to feed and eject. The next day I saw him again at the steel match. He said he cleaned the gun and it was running better but I watched him have 4 more stopages. I did however just read in the new issue of Guns magazine that smith just came out with a 9mm 1911 and it runs great. But that is a magazine that also has smith ads in it and everyone knows you don't bite the hand that feeds you.
As far as Taurus' go I have only owned a pt92 and it shot great. I watched a guy get second in stock class last weekend at a bowling pin match shooting a pt1911. It was a .45 and who knows if he did any work on the gun but a lot of the cheaper 1911's need a little tuning. I thought they look like a pretty good deal.
STI and RIA look like they both have pretty nice guns for the money.
Joni is right though, beg, borrow, or steal and get a Les Baer
When it comes to G.I. guns I have formed this opinion. They aren't a bad start for a custom build. Every company that offers a G.I. gun also offers a gun that is higher end. Where do you think all the barrels, slides, frames, and small parts go that didn't make the tolerances for the $1500
gun go. They aren't out far enough to be scrap just loose enough to sell in the $500 Government gun. All the ones i have ever seen needed tuned before they would run reliably.
I own a Kimber 1911 .45. It is a Custom Defender II. That means that it was a special run for a dealer. The only difference between it and the cheapest Kimber you can get is that it is two-tone with rosewood grips. I paid $750 for it maybe 5 years ago. The only thing I have done to it was replace the slide release with a Wilson Combat extended release. I try to shoot at least 50-100 rounds out of it weekly. When I first bought it I had some ftf and fte but the manual that came with it said that it was to be expected with the first 500-700 rounds. It also said that during this time frame that the owner should also only shoot 230gr. ball ammo. After that time I have shot very light target loads to +p hp's with no problems. The gun feels like a natural extension of my hand and I trust my life to it. It is my go to gun.
Now that I have all that out of my system I will say this. You are on a Smith forum. Buy an 8 shot N-Frame 357, or a 1911 9mm pro. If that is too much coin buy an M&P 9mm with thumb safety and spend the rest on ammo.
