Has anyone here put 50K+ thru one 1911?
No. But I put 30k rounds through a $600 G34.
I agree with your point when it comes to strictly 1911s.
My Baer has over 15K rounds through it and I keep thinking I need to put a new extractor in it, just because I used to have to do that with other 1911s. I realized 15K isn't much to a lot of people. But to even more people, its a lifetime of use.
I've owned Nighthawks and Wilsons. They are meticulously finished works of art that also happen to be exceptional firearms.
I didn't pay more than $2k for either back in 2008 when the economy was in the toilet and people were desperate. If you can buy right, they ARE good investments. But if you buy a Wilson for $4k new you are SPENDING, not investing.
I don't own either the Nighthawk or the Wilson anymore. Mainly because I wasn't shooting either of them much. But also because when I moved to MA people wanted to pay ridiculous money for them and I mostly shoot my .45 Baer and my Dan Wesson Pointman 9.
Both guns are 90% of what a Nighthawk or Wilson is. The Baer was $1300 used, 3 months old, the DW was purchased for $1200 on CZs firearms instructor discount program.
The other reason I wouldn't carry my Nighthawk, which was a Talon II lightweight, so a decent carry gun, is that it had a replacement cost of $3600. I shoot my G19 just as well, it has a replacement cost of $500, holds 2x as many rounds and weighs less.
One other thing. Back in 2008, I was also able to "steal" a Brazos custom 2011 limited gun in .40. It is truly ART.
Its also so nicely put together it makes the Wilson, Baer, Nighthawk, and DW look like garbage.
I've only shot it a little because I don't reload for .40. I really need to sell it, but every time I take it out of the safe, I just can't bring myself to do so. Its got a hard chrome finish, a Dawson Precision ICE magwell, and an upgraded trigger with an honest-to-god zero creep 2.1 lb upgraded trigger by Bob Londrigan.
Don