Not really looking to spend that much, but once you add delivery, sales tax and FFL fees to a medium spec 1911 in the $800 to $900 range; you’re getting pretty close.
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Remember, take a look at the SDS Tisas 1911A1 WWII US Army 5” 45 ACP. I love mine. It’s a great shooter. Good to carry as well. If you look at the targets thread where I picked various corners to zoom in on after I shot out the bullseye at about 13 yards. I plan to do Sh one more testing. But it has good reviews. That’s why I bought it new at $399 plus tax. Don’t remember shipping charge. But the FFL cost $20.
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I here ya. In that case, maybe a Rock Island Tac Ultra
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William591, From my experience with 1911’s it seems you are leaning to full size 5". That’s the best choice for first time owner. And, I recommend new only on 1911 unless you know the seller and the gun has not been messed with in anyway. From the $600-900 price range I stick with Ruger, S&W, or Rock Island for reliability.
One other comment said $1200 + is where you go up a notch on quality. I agree, then I would recommend a Dan Wesson. The tighter tolerances of a high priced 1911 have been known to be a little more ammo type limited for reliability.
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I never thought of this until now. Tighter tolerance making it more sensitive to which ammo you use. I need to do more research because I want a Dan Wesson or one of the other more expensive 1911s for its quality.
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My Staccato R, which keeps 1911 standards with action, fires everything in brass casing.
Recently I’ve shot “less quality” ammo - US made Herter’s and Turkish Sarsilmaz and gotten 100% reliability.
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Little more can be said about the 1911 platform than has already been said. It is tried and proven, and the options range from very affordable to stratospherically priced. In the 1911 platform I’ve owned guns from Taurus, Remington, Colt, Remington Rand, and Ed Brown, and they’ve all been superb performers.
That said, there are also some non-1911 .45 ACP pistols that are also superb. Glock and Smith & Wesson both have excellent offerings in this caliber; I’ve also owned one of each, and they were as reliable as one could want a gun to be. Of course, FN, Ruger, Sig Sauer, and many others also have polymer-framed .45 ACP offerings. A lot comes down to your religious proclivities there.
Another alternative—albeit one that would probably be the red-headed stepchild in your collection—would be a .45 ACP revolver. A few years ago I owned a Smith & Wesson M1917, which was a real joy to shoot. I’m sorry I sold it.
That said, I think everyone should own a 1911 at some point in their life. I’ve got three in my safe right now and have no plans to divest.
Mike
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I’ll agree with most that replied, you really should get something in the 1911 platform. They are just special. My 2p worth is buy new or of known history. Stay with the popular brands as the QC seems to be a bit better. I love Colt but recently shot the Sig version of the 1911 and I will say they have the extractor thing figured out. It ran every thing we put through it reliably. Not a single hiccup right out of the box. If you do go 1911 take the mags and put (throw sell) them away and purchase quality ones. I prefer Wilson but there are others that will function well also. Let us know which way you go with your purchase.
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I have the sister, FNX-9. But, I would be all in with the FNX-45. Check out the features and price point, you can afford to lose it when the cops take it after a self defense incident. 
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thank you for the suggested alternative, haven’t considered the FN product line
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If @William591 wanted to go the revolver route, look into a Ruger Redhawk 45/45. It shoots .45 Colt, and .45 ACP using moon clips.
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I have a Springfield Range Officer and like it a lot as a range gun. My Cl.3 ffl buddy, who has nearly everything, shot mine and bought one. Among the major manufacturers, Springfields are the only 1911’s with forged frames as opposed to cast. Hankering for a Dan Wesson, as expensive as I would go. My bro in law has a Les Baer, like 4k, hates it…too tight to be reliable. Personally, I’d look at that as a challenge, and break out some stones and honing dust…but for that money…nah. A friend has the TRP, loves it, but think it was way north of $1200. Ronin looks great.
My other .45 acp guns are a P80 Glock 21 clone (PV 45 iirc it’s called/polymer80), Alpha Wolf slide and barrel, ceracoted. Did a lot of polishing to get the gun to work, used ceracote instead of dykem to see interference points 
and finally got it to run well. Has me thinking a G21 would be nice; also easy to convert these P80/G21’s over to 10mm.
Also have a S&W m&p 2.0 .45 compact. I want to like this gun, I like the size, slightly bigger than a G19. Accuracy is a mystery at the moment, I can elongate a hole with consecutive shots at 15 yards, then have the third shot be 5" west, next 5" south…then back to bullseye. (Just dawned on me to check barrel lock-up.)Other issue was the pita swapping sights over. The angled slide makes using a sight tool an issue, and the factory sights are super tight. Got this a few years ago for $410 online though, a huge plus. I like the frame construction better than Glocks as well, as there’s metal bonded into the plastic, at least on the grip.
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Range report- shot my 1st 1911 today; Remington R1S. Felt great in hand, sight picture was easy to adjust after a couple of rounds. Minimal felt recoil. The RSO was amazed that my groupings were that good given my lack of time with that platform; granted target only at 21’ & 30’ feet, but I was happy to get 18 of 25 inside 2"-3" and other 7 within 4"-6". Used the other 25 rounds in a Sig 220; so much difference. Only 5 of the 25 were within the 6" circle. Needless to say that’s off the LIST! Would have tried other 1911 variants but Kimber Custom II was broken @Richard640 , didn’t need to try the other Remington R1, and the others were 9mm. Looks like stimulus 3 is going back in time to 1911. Now the retail search begins!
Thank you all for your guidance, suggestions and tips.
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@William591 , Welcome to the Magical World of 1911 
Remember, you have to study the pistol to understand it… 
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Isn’t that why you read the manual, field strip, clean, and lube before the 1st round is ever fired? Thank goodness for YouTube for some visual guidance, as the take down is much more complicated than my P365.
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Yes, it is. Hopefully all of us follow these steps.
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I love my 1911’s they eat anything I feed them. Good choice!
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I think a Dan Wesson would work for you. I’ve heard good things about their reliability and quality. I’ve only handled one and the owner said it worked flawlessly.
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I keep thinking of things to share on 1911’s that are important. Stick with the Mil-Spec design for anything that may come up. Though Sigs are nice, I stay away from any manufacturer on a 1911 that has their own design and is not interchangeable with mainline parts for upgrading and replacement. Hope it helps.
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