oh well i am thinking of the .45 I had to practice at the range with in the Army. Impossible to shoot
Maybe as a younger you that pistol seemed so big and powerful. Other than compact pistols like small revolvers and pocket pistols the 1911 is one of the smallest pistols out there, certainly one of the smallest automatics.
Just curious, had you ever shot a handgun before then? When I say it’s easy to shoot I mean compared to my .40s, 357 Magnum, 44 Magnum. It does recoil but it’s very manageable for the size of the cartridge and bullet.
those range pistols were so worn out you could stand in a barn and not hit a wall. Try one that has been worked on by a good gun smith. The are smooth and bad.
Many of the 1911A1 pistols that the Army used to train with were nearly worn out and difficult to shoot. I particularly remember coaching an officer who just couldn't get the pistol to discharge. I had her shift her grip so that the grip safety was pressed in more firmly. Then the pistol would fire. At one point before that, she was pressing on the trigger so hard that the gun was visibly shaking.
It was simply a mechanical problem with that particular gun.
Try a 1911 that is in good shape, and you will likely be pleasantly surprised. I was issued one for a divisional competition one time. It looked like it had been made in 1946 and never been carried or issue, it looked so mint. It shot like a dream, and I shot the overall high score for the divisional (leg) match with it.