I compete with a 1911 and so when it came time to buy carry gun a 3” 1911 was an obvious choice. I spent a couple of months of very intense research and chose the Colt Defender and have been completely happy with my decision. I really like the Hogue grips and have put them on my 5”, some folks claim that they make it harder to conceal but they’re easy to change out to wood. The little gun has been reliable and surprisingly accurate. It’s a GREAT choice!
Downside? Everything has a downside. I wasn’t overly impressed with the factory magazines and quickly replaced them with CobraMags
www.trippresearch.com. They’re expensive but they’re worth every penny, smoothed things out considerably. The dual recoil spring set up is rather short lived, 1000-1200 rounds MAX. This isn’t unique to the Defender but a fact with all micro 1911s. As of now the ONLY place you can buy them is from Colt, if you buy one PM/email me and I’ll give the part numbers (I have them at work).
Ed