Why not go with the Specialist just because it is ready to go right out of the box? Saves you headaches of shipping and waiting more to get it the way you want. I’m not a 1911 expert but I understand Dan Wessons to be high quality firearms.
Shoot the ones you can rent and decide from there. I will say that if you haven’t shot a TRP Operator, I would do so before you completely disregard it. It’s a really nice handling pistol at a very decent price.
I would strongly consider the new model of the Springfield MC Operator. Add a magwell and its ready to go. You could always swap out the ambi safety if you didn’t like it down the road.
Can’t go wrong with the Dan Wesson option either, as they make excellent guns.
I have had great luck with the Colt CQBP/M45 and I have my Colt that was built by Wilson Combat but the only thing left Colt is literally the frame/slide but it is by one of the best guns I own.
I have the black cerakote CRG and it is a reliable tack driver. Also have a blem Specialist. It also runs great.
For your purposes I’d look hard for a blem Specialist with the duty treat. That finish is super durable and all you’d need to do is the single sided safety. You save at least 300 or so on a blem. Mine was 1350 OTD. The blem is usually so minimal that you wouldn’t see it unless someone pointed it out to you.
DW has had some galling problems on their SS guns. The duty treat seems to hold that problem at bay.
Either will serve you fine though. Your call.
Can’t comment on the Springfield other than the fact that my Pros run great and their custom shop does great work. Not direct experience with the model under consideration though.
Any stainless on stainless gun will have galling without proper lube. You have to use grease vs oil. Sig had the same problem with their stainless guns until Bruce with Gray Guns pushed it.
I’ve got a couple DW pistols, great guns. Would highly recommend. On the subject of grease, I would not recommend using it on a DW 1911. The slides are too tight, you will slow them down enough to cause failure to return to battery. I think the galling is pretty rare. But, if you wanna be sure it doesn’t happen on a stainless gun oil the shit out of the new gun rack the slide about 1,000 times. You could even break out some bore paste. Springfield has great customer care, but tbh I would have preferred not to have known that about them… EMP plunger tube fell off, front sight fell off (days after I got it back from CS for the other two…), chamber needed to be reemed and feed ramp re-cut.
I think all three of your choices are great guns that you really can’t go wrong. I do think the DW Specialist is the best 1911 out of the three but I don’t know if it is really worth the $500-$600 premium over the Colt or Springfield.
I would also second the recommendation for the MC Operator and the Springfield TRP.
