Something to think about the 'name brand' budget priced 1911's is that they are usually MIM'd or use a lot of MIM parts (as well as some mid-priced 1911's). Personally, I'd opt for a Norc as my low priced 1911. Solid metal and a great foundation for building up/customizing later. Now, with that said, I recently sold a blued Norc 1911 Police for $300 shipped. It was very accurate and reliable. I was going to use it as a project gun but I lost the desire and ran out of money when I got my 'uber' 1911, a Wilson Combat CQB.