WoodrowAugustus

Yes, that’s a good buy. A low cost bead blast or maybe even just some Flitz polish might make that idiot scratch disappear. That’s the beauty of stainless steel.

That is an excellent review. Nice first post!

Take a look at an Alchemy Prime Elite. Rob is making some fantastic pistols and they represent an excellent value considering how well the features and craftsmanship stack up against Nighthawk, Guncrafter, and Wilson Combat. Retail is $2995 and from your description it would be a perfect fit. The high cut front strap feels great in the hand. My Brimstone (CCO size) is more accurate for me than a few other Government sized pistols. Alternatively, the market is very soft right now so a gently used pistol could make your budget go a long way. I frequent 1911Addicts a lot and there is a lot to choose from with a $3k max.

As an IDPA shooter I’ll admit that’s pretty funny.

Cherokee Hills or High Figure Grips. Both are amazing. I’d go with a grey/darker dyed Box Elder burl or Buckeye burl that stays with the cool neutral colors of your slide and frame. Don’t introduce warm red/orange/yellow woods. Like these: https://www.highfiguregrips.com/product-page/1911-full-size-buckeye-burl-grips-34

Have used Slide Glide for the rails for a decade and Lucas Extreme elsewhere right now. EWL 2000 in the past and still have it, just wanted to try something new with Lucas. I like that they support the shooting industry. Agree Frog Lube smells great and it’s all downhill from there.

Ditto on H&M. Did a great job for me on a Caspian Hi-cap. Turned out really well.

38 Super is remarkably reliable in the 1911 platform due to the overall length. And with your parameters a Dan Wesson Guardian in 38 Super would be ideal. My favorite carry gun too, same as Duke mentioned above. Chip McCormick mags as well as Wilson Combat work flawlessly. Check out Georgia Arms for SD ammo that is potent and $0.50/per.

Shadowline feels great on my Compact.

Other than checkering on the front and back straps, I don’t think there is a dimensional difference apart from the obvious rail.

Received an email after midnight last night that CZC has the mounting plates for a DPP back in stock. Went to order one just now and they are already sold out, again. I'd pick another RDS option if I didn't have a new DPP sitting in on the shelf, just waiting for a mounting plate to arrive...

You could get a TSO and the frame side mounted optic. There’s a thread in this forum from yesterday or so about that very thing.

If your style is as described above then check this out: https://oakhillguns.com/cz-custom-75-bullseye-9mm.html

This might be helpful for you:

Yeah, a step up for sure. Especially with follow up shots. If money wasn’t a consideration I’d take a TSO over a RO every time.