That link made me laugh, because it references the early non-MIM Sig 1911s. I had one of those - it went back to Sig no less than seven times.

I forgot to add S&W to the list of 1911s I've had. I've owned three of their guns.

Right or wrong I separate gun owners into five categories:

LEVEL ONE = people who own a gun. It doesn't matter why they have it - it doesn't how they acquired it. They have a gun but that's the extent of it.

LEVEL TWO = commoners. These are the people that bought a gun because they thought they needed one (for hunting, self defense, whatever). They use whatever they bought and are satisfied.

LEVEL THREE = hobbyist. This is lowest level of "gun personhood". These are the people are truly interested in guns, talk about them, own and use them. They are also satisfied with "good enough". This means their Rock River AR15 is "good enough" and the extra attention, quality control, and manufacturing processes and materials of a Colt AR15 are just hype - just a marketing tool to rob dumb people of extra money.

LEVEL FOUR = semi-pros. This is where people who actually push their gear end up. These aren't the "it looks like the real thing so it has to be good enough" crowd. They've seen LEVEL THREE people's gear fail - repeatedly.

LEVEL FIVE = pros. This is the elite group of users, builders, etc that are at the apex of the gun culture.

I place myself at LEVEL FOUR.

At the height of my training and interest I was shooting 5-7000 rounds a month of centerfire ammo.

This level quickly separates the wheat from the chaff. I wore out a top of the line Kimber in less than four months. They sent me a new one. This was a $1400 gun (over a decade ago $1400 bought a lot more gun).

I use to shoot with someone I'd place at LEVEL FIVE. His issue Glock 21 had a frame rail separation one day when he hit 61,000rds of +P.

My uncle has a buddy on his department that had the slide fall off the front of his glock... But he is a level 5 and getting up in the 3gun ranks.

So in a 1911 which is better. A series 70 or 80 firing system.
To me it looks like the high end uses 70 from my limited research.

I am a level 4 with a level 3 budget so I buy the good enough guns then spend more than the level 5 guns money getting them to level 4.

I'm a blend of the 3.5 I get the best I can buy but quality is key for me.

This has turned into a VERY good and interesting/informative thread.

I use what I know to work, that does not mean the most expensive, not the cheapest either. If I have not seen a firearm used over and over by better users than I (and I mean see not read about as there is too much BS in the firearms media)I am not interested.

I have a (Generation ONE I guess) Glock 17. It belonged to a deceased police officer I worked with WAY back in 74-76. I knocked off the rear plastic sight and I NEED to replace it. I am thinking about going with express sights, Shallow V rear and Round dot front. That is my Favorite type sight. I have trouble lining up conventional sights. The elevation is fine, but the windage throws me off all the time.

LOL! Been there brother!!!!

Series 70 can be tuned to provide a "better" (subjective term) trigger pull. I do not like Series 80 due to the extra (unnecessary) parts.