I have a SAM Commander 1911 in 9mm. It has been a great little pistol. I have run about 600 rounds through it and it runs really nice. It took about 150 rounds to break in with a few FTF initially, but it runs perfect now. I have used the factory Metalform mag, Wilson 10rd, and Tripp 10rds.
I also own an STI Tactical 5.0 single stack to compare it to. For 4 times the price, I cant honestly say I feel like I got 4 times the pistol. The SAM locks up tight, has a fairly crisp if not a little heavy trigger, and ran more reliably out of the box than my STI.
The SAM is definitely not as accurate as my STI, but I only paid $450 for it. No front checkering, but some skate tape fixed that.
The Taurus was on my radar, but ended up going all the way with an STI.