If you work on your own 1911, be sure to have a back up carry gun you can carry while you 1) work on the 1911, 2) thoroughly test it to make sure it works and will keep working.
A long time ago I did a lot of work to my Colt Combat Commander. I bought another gun to carry while I worked through that one, to make sure the gun I had on my hip would work if I needed it to work. I didn't have any issues with the 1911, I just wanted to make sure I kept getting to go home every night when my shift was over.
Good luck with it. Did you know, when John Browning designed the 1911 the specified lubricant was whale oil? Think about that.
And, one story from the US Army field testing.
They had a table full of loaded 1911 magazines and people where shooting them to see how they liked them, how well they worked, etc. A couple officers decided to monkey up the test and just started firing magazine after magazine through a 1911 till it got so hot it finally locked up from the heat, the crud of 100's of rounds and the lubrication being contaminated, wiped off.
When the 1911 locked up, the turned around, looked at John Browning, who was present for the testing and said, "Hey John, what are we supposed to do when this happens?" He took the gun, walked over to one of the water filled dud barrels they kept on ranges in those days and dunked the 1911 down in the water and swirled it all around. Then he inserted a magazine, chambered the first round and proceeded to shoot the magazine empty. Then he smiled at the two officers and handed them back the empty 1911.
I read, on the internet, all the time about 1911's being unreliable. I chuckle some times, other times I just shrug and wonder what the owner is doing wrong. I read that 1911's won't feed/chamber some bullet types. I wonder about that, too. I read the .45 acp isn't a reliable man stopper and that the new 9MM ammo is equal to the .45 ammo. I just smile about that.
My Colts have never broken the factory parts. My Combat Commander will feed/chamber empty cases from the magazine, one after another. Never had an issue with hollow points but shot very few of them. I carried and shot 230 grain LRN or FMJ, mostly. I remember two MOH citations. One for WW1 and one for WW2. Alvin York killed 7 or 8 rifle carrying German soldiers with his 1911 with one shot each while he was letting his rifle cool down enough to start using it again. Thomas Baker killed 8 rifle carrying Japanese soldiers with his 1911 with one shot each as he sat, back to a tree and wounded too badly to get back to the beach with the rest of his squad (fighting was so heavy they'd run out of ammo, had too many wounded to care for and had headed back to the beach for more men, more ammo and medical care for the wounded they could help out of the jungle.) Maybe those guys were exceptional pistol shots even in an extremely tense/violent situation.
If you get one, enjoy it. It'll grow on you if you get a good one and learn how to use it.
