How about a Ruger P-345? It's a tough-as-nails guns at an attractive price.. and I've yet to hear a negative comment about it's performance. It's also a lot slimmer than the previous P Series pistols, if you're looking for a carry piece.

Seems like a nice enough gun, although I'm not sure why somebody who wanted it in particular would buy it at Bill's. (It may make sense to shop at Bill's, if you don't know what you want -- they've got a very large stock. But if you do know what you want, ordering it through KGS or Frontiersman or Gun Stop would be a lot more economical.)

I wasn't suggesting that the gun had to be purchased at Bill's (although it is available). I have the Bill's link in my signature line because I work there. Sorry for any confusion.

Not a problem.

I had a Taurus P145. I was running Mag Safe ammo though it when the main spring came shooting out the front of the gun. I did send it back, Taurus repaired it free, but then I promptly sold it. No thanks, if I don’t trust a gun, its gone.

The only other difficulty I had with this gun was pulling the trigger during rapid fire and have nothing happen. Very, disconcerting.

Apparently, I am so use to SAO, that the long trigger pull of the P145, along with the it’s unusually long trigger re-set point caused me to pull the trigger for the first round just fine, but I was not letting the trigger make the long travel back to the reset point, thereby pulling the trigger back for the next round and not getting the BANG that I expected.

I owned a P345 for a while. Never got a chance to use it as a carry gun, but it would have made a good carry gun. Shot well and was real reliable, and the only problems I had with it were magazine-related (Wilson springs and followers fixed that).

I ended up selling it to a friend to raise money for a Glock 29; it was more about wanting the 10mm compact Glock than not liking the Ruger.

Check out the new taurus PT-745-C..... If you don't have one up there we have 3 of them....Mark

Check out the new taurus PT-745-C..... If you don't have one up there we have 3 of them....Mark

I love my HK usp.45,great gun , accurate,high "cool factor"[though that's not important to any of us]about the same dimensions as a 1911 though higher capacity and less weight.
[gratuitous shot here]...designed in this century....[ok now I put on the flameproof suit]

You know I am envious.

Gun tests magazine just did a comparison between a high buck Kimber and a USP Expert. The Kimber got a fairly rare "DO NOT BUY" rating due to reliability problems and the HK got an "OUR PICK" rating.

As an entirely unrelated data point, I've had no problems with my 10mm Kimber 1911 target, which kind of surprised me as I expected there to be some problems based on the Internet signal/noise ratio in re Kimbers.

We'll see what happens when I monkey with it by getting a slightly stronger recoil spring and and get my Tripp magazines for it.

I own a few Kimbers and only bought the first one because of the deal I got on it, but was reluctant because I didn't think they were worth the money. I have to admit that I am now a Kimber fan, have had zero problems with them. For fun and games I shoot a Baer or a Rock River, but my carry gun is a Kimber Pro CDP, thousands of rounds through it with zero problems. I also shot a Kimber for IDPA for over a year, all handloads, with again zero problems.

A 1911 platform just doesn't fit everbody's needs or wants, that's what keeps Glock, H&K, Sig, etc. all in business.

I really kind of like my H&K USP Tactical. I would recommend a standard USP for carry, though, as the Tactical, being the fine weapon it is, doesn't have anybody that makes a carry holster for it. If you don't have large hands, maybe I would recommend a USP compact model.

My experience with .45 autos is not great. I shot a Colt 1911 in the Navy (back in the Nixon era), owned, for a while, a Glock 21. I have also shot a Kimber that phorvick rented at Bill's and phorvick's CZ97.

That said, why do you not want a 1911 style? They are single stack and should feel smaller in your hands.

I have been told numerous times that everybody should have a 1911. Maybe some day I heed that advice myself.

I also have the bare bones Springfield GI version...been 100% reliable. THey are pretty to look at. Go get one OD.