You have been absolved, by brother, for I too have gone the way of the Ruger (10/22), Beretta(92FS), and Remington (m870 20 ga.).
I also have a 1911, by Springfield, and I think the Beretta is a better gun. It feels better in my hand, I'm not too crazy about cocked and locked carry, and you can tell if the Beretta has a round (or at least a casing) "in the pipe".
I like the Smith & Wesson revolvers, but the only Smith I had was a m6906 POS. If I were you, I would not buy a Smith Autoloader, because in my experience, the rack-grade models are NOT that accurate and the mag springs are REAL weak.
I have no beef with Winchester, and their m94 I owned was one of the best rifles I ever had. I also owned a m1200, which was pretty stout, but had an aluminum reciever (which could not be touched up).
BTW, Beretta and Remington are not NEW companies. Beretta is probably one of the oldest gunmakers in the world (400 or 500 years in the biz), and Remington is right there with Winchester in the quality and age departments.
I think alot of this business of owning these guns (Colt, Winchester, and S&W) is brought about by the gunwriters of the time. Jeff Cooper, Elmer Kieth, and others who I can't think of right now all had their preferences.
Cooper helped make the 1911, and poo-pooed many other guns (like the "poodle shooter" AR-15) that are very successful. Some older gun people may seem to emulate people like Cooper. They think what they used "back in the good old days" still beats anything else out there, which is simply not true. The older guns, like the 1911, are still good, but others have come along with designs that at least equal them, or even surpass them, in certain areas (weight, capacity, ease of field stripping, etc.)
The bottom line is to use what you like, as long as it is of quality, and it sounds to me that what you have is as good as anything else out there.
You have been forgiven (at least by me) [O:)]
Urban
[sniper]