First, TR that was a magnificent summary on page 1.
Second, let's all imagine for a second that the patents for Glocks, Sigs, HK's, etc. have expired many years ago. Now anybody with a machine shop can legally make and sell a G17, or a USP45, or a Sig 229, etc. They even get to call them by the same model name/number. I'd bet the quality and reliability would vary greatly from one manufacturer to another. Some would be bought and run great out of the box, others would require expensive "rescue" efforts. That is basically how I view the 1911 today.
Using that premise, to state that 1911s as a whole are unreliable just seems silly at best. Countless companies produce them and some are better than others. Unfortunately because of the market and prices, the crappy ones cost about the same as the quality 1911s. This makes it tough to sift through the various offerings and get a weapon you can count on. Now, for most people - especially those who are not "gun types" (like most LE and military folk), why try to figure out whose 1911s run and whose suck? All they need to do is buy a Glock, Sig, XD, HK, etc. and generally speaking the gun works as advertised. We all know that no gun is perfect (my G22 has had more problems than all the guns I have every owned/shot combined - but I am smart enough to realize it's not the norm).
I also agree with those who can see the fact that a loaded Glock is less safe than a loaded, C&L 1911 or other SA gun (Hi-Powers, USPs, CZs). I work for an agency that allows only SWAT/HRT folks the choice of a 1911. The rest of us cannot be trusted with such a weapon and must carry Glocks (not counting the grandfathered Sigs and Smiths). I laugh everytime that comes up because both guns have 5lb trigger presses and only the 1911 has a manual safety. I'd give a novice a loaded 1911 or Hi-Power before I'd give them a Glock. Of course agencies have more in mind than safety. They have to worry about cost of the weapon, MX costs, etc. And if they go the 1911 route, they have to wade through all the various manufacturers to find good ones for the reason I mentioned in the first paragraph.
This post is already longer than I wanted, so I'll STFU now.
