You needn’t spend $2,000 and up for a 945. Market prices have absolutely been rising but on Gunbroker, the lion’s share of 945’s sell below $2k.
I always find it a bit difficult to try and describe with words what you are getting with a 945 — the trigger/sear/hammer arrangement and grips safety and manual thumb safety are indeed very 1911-like, but the pistol does NOT feel like a 1911 in my hands. I often say it this way because while it’s tough to describe a 945 without bringing up the venerable 1911, I just want to make it clear that it feels quite different in my hands.
For me, it fits better and more naturally than a 1911 and I prefer it over a 1911. (and I love a 1911)
They are irrationally well fit, you’ll notice the precision feel of the slide to frame interface immediately.
The earlier no-dash 945 pistols don’t have a firing pin lock, the 945-1 pistols use a Swartz safety that you won’t notice.
Of all the true Performance Center semiautomatic pistols they made, no single model had anywhere NEAR the different array of styles and “looks” for lack of a better term. In my experience, -all- of the 5-inch target sighted 945 pistols shoot and feel about the same regardless of which different one you are fortunate to have. Thus when choosing one for your first or for the select purpose of shooting and falling in love with, I think it makes good sense to search and select by price instead of by looks or rarity.
The shorter 4”, 3.75” and even shorter (3.5”...? is it?) aren’t really in my wheelhouse. I think those all would have been very capable tools for a working task, EXCEPT they didn’t stay in production long enough to make their mark and develop a following. So for me, it’s 5-inch target sight OR a straight-up collector gun.
