My first pistol was a 10mm (1006). After parts became hard to find, I decided to go 45 ACP (H&K USP Expert; it’s a beast size wise). I put many thousands of rounds through that gun at indoor and outdoor ranges and was confident with my abilities with it. I used that as a bedstand gun for over a decade. I now keep a 9mm for bedstand duty, but I just can’t warm up to the round.
When it came time to conceal, I wanted something a little slimmer than a G19/G23, and was leaning towards a single stack. I liked the Kahr trigger, and the CW45 just felt right in my hand. It also had a very comfortable kick for the size and weight, felt very natural for me when shooting, and just small and thin enough to forget it’s there when sitting, standing , or doing daily activites. I will, however, carry the K9 or the CM9 when I need something smaller.
IMO, rent as many as you can and find out what you prefer. I rented a Colt Gold Cup that was so dirty I could feel the slide fight the grit every time it returned to battery. I also was suprised how much I liked the Officer’s model. I just found that I preferred the combo of 10mm in 135gr @ 1350fps out of a 5" 1911 over the 45 ACP options (how the gun handled with that load more so than ballistics). YMMV.
Lucky Gunner has some interesting results for different brands of ammo out of compact firearms. The 45 section is further down the page: Lucky Gunner Ballistic Tests. Also, Paul Harrell does a few videos with different types of 45 ammo and comparisons with other calibers on his YT channel. I’ll mention that the YT’ers ScubaOz and tnoutdoors9 have some interesting gel tests with different types of ammo, including the .45 ACP.