I've never had problems with any 1911 I've tried. As a carry gun, it's a bit heavier than many other options, a second drawback considering its limited mag capacity
I went to a NC range, and there was a Kimber in the rental case that looked rather old. The guy said it's had over i million rounds through it since they bought it in the 80s. They've replaced a couple of springs, but the receiver, slide, barrel and other main components are still the originals! Kimber reps have even contacted them wanting to buy it for marketing and displaying at gun events, but the owner preferred to keep it. Had I not just finished my range session, I would have rented it just to see how it shoots. That's the quality everyone expects from a Kimber, but lately I've been reading the standards just arn't the same now.
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I suppose it's possible to run a million reduced power loads through a good quality steel frame.
But a steady diet of full power ammo will peen the crap out of the frame, slide, and/or crack it.
I have first hand knowledge on that.
The typical lifespan of a 1911 bbl with ball ammo is 10k rounds.
If they shot all ball ammo, that would consume somewhere around 100 barrels.
That is how I figure they were shooting reduced power lead bullet reloads for the past 30 years.
Even then, 1 million is lofty claim.
My extractor failed after 30k rounds. It's a common problem.
Ejectors fail frequently, as they take constant impact.
Bbl bushings fail as they take constant stress from the recoil spring.
Magazine feed lips crack. Weld seams crack. Baseplates crack.
All kind of fun stuff happens when you shoot a lot.
Re. Short bbl 1911's....the spring and physics required to contain the recoil of full powered 45acp is funky.
The whole timing of the action is different and difficult to tune, handle and maintain.
I know about this too. The little 1911 is a bitch to get right.
And btw, you get significant shinkage of power out of the little 45 too.