Good comments........

A big part of the answer depends upon how much practice and training you're willing to invest in. I don't consider the 1911 to be a good platform for someone who is going to take a casual approach to skills development. For the person who simply wants to buy a defensive handgun, shoot it a bit, make sure that it's sighted-in in case he should ever need it, then clean it and put it up until an emergency arises, there are several good and safe alternatives.

The HK P7-M8, Sig, and Kahr autos as well as S&W J-frame revolvers are good, simple, reliable guns that are straight-forward to use and very safe -- although until someone manages to invent the fool-proof fool...........well

For my own purposes, my favorite carry/defense handgun is a Commander-size 1911 in 45 ACP. I'm 49 years old, I grew up shooting a 1911 on the family farm, and on our place, we shot a LOT. After some thirty years of use, thousands and thousands of rounds fired, and at least a couple dozen 1911s owned, the operation and use of the 1911 is second-nature to me. I've tried just about every other make of auto-pistol, and I've gotten rid of everything else.

With proper training and sufficient practice, I think the 1911 in 45 ACP is the ultimate defensive pistol, and it's incredibly durable, and it'll stand up to abuse that would shut a revolver down totally. It's not unusual for a well cared for 1911 to hold up to 100,000 rounds of ammo and STILL shoot with good accuracy. In contrast, the U.S. Army has noted "catastrophic failure" of the Beretta pistol (that the 1911 was dropped in favor of) after just 3,000 rounds! So the army went from a far more durable pistol in a far more effective caliber to a problematic junker.

As I understand it from our men in the middle-east, there are two kinds of sholdiers on duty who carry pistols: Those that carry and 1911, and those who wish they did..........

AD