RE: 1911 vs. XD
I gave my wife Hoyt girl a XD subcompact 9mm for XMAS this year. She loves it and it fires every time you pull the trigger and shoots very well. Springfields are great guns. I have a Glock mod 21 45acp with a lasermax on it and it always goes bang when you pull the trigger and is a pretty accurate gun. Both are tough as nails and always go bang. FWIW, I have heard other guys on another forum complaining that when they had problems with their Kimber 1911's that a Dennis in their custom shop is impossible to deal with and the company is hard to get them to honor warranty work.