Carried the S&W 1911 on duty and absolutely loved the rig. By far one of, if the the most accurate "outta the box" 1911's I have owned. Smith did their homework on the 1911 and mine "ran like a Singer sewing machine". I bet my life on it so you can be satisfied that it'll suffice just fine for carry duty as well. The most pronounced feature I love on the S&W's is the external extractor. I personally never had an extraction problem and it went bang when it counted!