[ghostcat]

If it was a military issue .45 then the most likely problem was that it was worn out. Most military .45s are 60+ years old very few military 1911's were built after WW2.

[Brucifer]

That explains so very much. My 1911 is a tack driver, and was so directly out of the box. It's an Auto Ordnance .45

I shot pistols for my unit when I was in the infantry. We didn't have a budget for anything that wasn't in the armory, so we literally took every .45 in the unit out to the range to see which ones would shoot straightest.

Also, for what it's worth, I was a medic and for a few years worked in ERs in and out of the service. I've seen people killed with everything, except maybe a .22 short. Not combat, of course, but everyone I've ever seen who'd been shot with a .45 was dead on their way to the ground.

I'm sure others have had similar experiences, but I'm not a technician and just know what I've seen. If I were to guess, I'd say bullet placement is Job One, but when you don't have time for a nice leisurely target shoot a .45 seems to work best.

I carry a .380 concealed because I just don't have enough ass to carry a .45 all day long. It is also a 1911 clone because I'm too old to learn how to shoot anything else, and after thirty plus years of practice I can pretty much draw, fire, and hit center of mass under any conditions.