springfield. colts dont retain much value once customized, except for with the "it's not a 1911 if it doesnt say colt" crowd and the MIM parts thing doesn't matter when you are going to be replacing all those parts anyway. if you want a gun you dont have to do anything to get a detonics, 100% machined stainless steel, zero MIM parts. if you want a gun to build off of make it a springfield. you can build off a colt if you really want to but why bother when the springfield is a lot less expensive considering you are gonna replace most of the gun anyway. now if you find a colt in great shape for 400 bucks like the previous poster did, go for it. i personally wouldn't pay much more than that for a colt made after about 1994 anyway, which is about when they changed ownership and switched from employing skilled craftsman to using general union labor, take a look at a 15 year old colt 1911 and a year old colt 1911 and you will clearly see the difference in quality. there is a saying in the gunsmith community, though many hate to hear it, and that is the reason gunsmiths love to work on colts is because colts need the most work done. this of course is excluding very low end 1911's. but yes generally af far as fit, finish and features go, when talking the more popular 1911 manufacturers, colt is far from the top. i'm sure this will upset people but it's the truth. Now you can also manage to get an excellently finished and flawlessly functioning new colt, but that has become more the exception than the rule at this point and it is mainly a quality control and company management issue. this fact is even more apparent in the single action army