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Well, I did it. I bought the .45 cal STI Escort 1911 that I had been considering.

It's a compact 3 inch barrel, single stack, officer frame model with aluminum frame. The aluminum frame makes it very light weight for a 1911. I stepped out back and put 100 rounds thru it a couple of days ago. I like it - a lot!

Fits good in my hand. I like the fit of it better than my LC9. Even with the pinky extender on the LC9, it still feels like too much of my hand is hanging off the bottom of it.

The STI .45 actually has quite a bit less felt recoil (to me) than my little LC9, I suppose because of the very light weight of the LC9.

So I'm very happy with my purchase. I really like the 45 round. Now I've got a really nice gun to shoot (instead of my Hi-Point!). The STI seems to be excellent quality (as it should be). Only down side is that it only came with one magazine (for what I paid, it should have come with 3 mags and a couple of cases of ammo!). So I'll have to get a few more magazines, but they're fairly inexpensive, so that's not a big deal.

Place I bought it did throw in a free cap with it. They didn't have an STI cap, so I got a Glock cap and gave it to my son. He just bought a Glock .380 a couple of weeks ago, so he was tickled with the cap (and his gun).

So it all worked out great. I'm happy I got a fantastic gun, STI is happy they got some money for their employees, the dealer is happy that he got a little piece of the deal, and my son got a free cap out of it, and he wasn't even there! It's a win-win-win!

Thanks for the replies, guys. Good info so far. Keep it coming!

So, a little explanation & answers to questions that have come up. I am experienced and comfortable with shooting handguns. Been doing that for many years. However I am new to concealed carry (waiting on my plastic, in fact).

I agree that "cocked & locked" is necessary for concealed carry. Being new to CC, that part will be new to me, but I figure it will be the same getting comfortable carrying cocked & locked whether using a 1911 or other semi-auto, so I think that part will not be an issue.

My daughter-in-law bought the LC9 on a whim a couple of years ago, but decided she didn't want it, so I bought it from her. I've put a couple of hundred rounds through it and I'm confident it will work just fine for me as a concealed carry gun. Since it's a few years old, it's the original hammer style, not striker fired. So the long, heavy double action trigger causes my accuracy to suffer a little bit, but I think I can overcome that with a little work. It's very light weight, which is good, but that gives it a pretty good felt recoil. But again, I think I can overcome that, too. I've owned Rugers and like Ruger in general, and I this gun as some good qualities (small, light, rounded no-snag edges, good looking).

But to be frank, I'm considering an STI, and STI makes only 1911 style guns for concealed carry as far as I can tell. Honestly, an STI is waaaaay out of my price range, but I came into a little dab of money that I can apply toward this purchase if I decide to go that way. I love the fact that that STI is made in Texas. That's a very big deal for me. From what I can learn, STI has a great reputation for quality workmanship and excellent performance. If I do this, it would be pretty much a once in a lifetime type purchase for me.

Some of the drawbacks for me personally for buying the STI (other than price) are that I don't want to carry a full size 1911 (love to own one, don't necessarily want to carry it), and I've heard of reliability issues for all makes of the compact 1911's in general.

I'm aware of the great debate about how some people believe the 1911's are "antiquated" and there are more modern and reliable firearms available out there now. I'm not looking to get into that debate here, just looking more to see what your end result was based on what you carry, and why that was the right decision for you in your opinion.

Basically, I think my little LC9 will work for me, just exploring other options. Maybe it's nothing more than these few "free" bucks that came into my pocket are burning a hole back there!! Of course, I could be all grown up and responsible and pay some bills or save that money, but hey, you only live once, right?

Thanks again for the info. Keep it coming!

OK guys, I'm looking for pros and cons. I have a Ruger LC9 that I think I will be satisfied with as a daily carry gun. But, I'm considering going to a compact 1911 model instead. In YOUR opinion, would that be a great decision, or a stupid thing to do?

Now, tell me WHY that's your opinion?

Thanks for your input.