My feelings on the 1911 exactly. Had my first one 16. No one cared, because everyone else did too. It was so loose and beaten up that when you shook it, it would rattle, even with a full magazine pushing up against the slide!
In RVN, even took mine into the shower hooch in base camp.
Look at a Sig 938 if you get a chance. It’s like a half size 1911. and it just “feels right!”
Be well.
When my younger brother graduated from Navy ROTC and went into the Marines I bought a pair of 1911s. One for him and one for me to use during annual Air Force qualification. He carried his in VN. I carried mine in upcountry Thailand.
I later learned that he had appendicitis while in VN. He told me that as he was being signed in to the hospital, he called one of his sergeants and told him to get over there and take charge of his 1911. He knew that if it was "secured" by the hospital, it would disappear. Had it been an issue item, he wouldn't have cared, but it was a present from me, and he didn't want it stolen.