I remember seeing Shooting Times do a "torture test" of several different automatics in about 1983, Browning HP, S&W 9mm, 1911 Govt model Colt. None of them went past 5000 rounds before some spring or ejector or extractor failed. At least one of these had two items break. Things have changed since then. Beretta hadn't even unveiled the 92F/M9 yet, and no one knew Glock in any way.
Around 1985 The M9/92F impressed many right at the start, for not having parts breakages. And very soon after that the Glock made it to the West, and people were VERY skeptical. Some didn't even want to try it for fear it might break in their hands.
In 1988 though, Glocks were already starting to gain a little in popularity among handgun owners in Vancouver. There used to be an indoor rental range in Burnaby, closed long ago due to a gang shooting inside the range...but in 1988 it was still open, they had a Glock for rent there. One day I was practicing for an upcomming handgun match using my issued CF BrowningHP-inglis, and the lady beside me was using her new Glock. So I asked her what she thought of it: this was her second Glock! She also said that the rental range she knew of one Glock that had 450 thousand rounds through it with no parts failures. They sent it back to Glock for an inspection, I assume over fears of liability/catastrophic failure. The story goes that they inspected it, noticed it had had several "stuck bullet struck by second" issues, but was still safe to keep in service. But apparently they did replace all the springs in it. I don't know if I fully believe the story, but I have heard of some serious high mileage on Glocks and still keep working. There are always some exceptions though.
As for the 1911's...they aren't all created equal are they? There are dozens of mass production manufacturers, and hundreds of custom parts manufacturers...so that is a major variable. Similarly, it's been in production and constant use for 100 years...metalurgy, the quality of the steels, the manufacturing techniques, the engineering going into it...all of that has improved greatly since they first started making 1911's. Even the design itself has many changes today since the 1911A1, so much so that a Springfield USGI is not a carbon copy of a Remington Rand 1911A1 from the great war.
So how do we judge the 1911 against a Glock? Maybe we shouldn't. The Glock is a marvel of modern engineering and manufacturing techiques, and it works well and lasts well. The 1911 worked so well even back in 1912 that it's popularity grew dramatically even as all it's competitors of the day didn't even last a decade. Today they are built with more engineering, more precision, better steels, some new little changes. But even the originals from way back work quite well. And today's quality 1911 from a good manufacturer will last a very long time, ask any professional IPSC competitor. But putting even an estimate of "service life" on a 1911 is silly unless you specify a completely stock model, specific model from a specific manufacturer. Because they aren't all created equal, good as they may be.
Maybe we should consider this in terms of cars: the 1911 today is like a Cobra kit car: very high performance, quality parts, loved by anyone who loves cars. But as good as it is, it's the sum of it's parts, and the dozen or more companies making Cobra kits aren't identical. Some may have a slightly more budget engine. Or their electrical system isn't as cleanly wired as another. Others may bring big power at the expense of engine life, while a premium engine providing power and longevity might be offered by another. So comparing that Cobra kit car in reliability/breakages, to say a 2011 Mustang 5.0 GT (the production Glock in this analogy) isn't necessarily an easy one to do. If you can afford to have multiple cars, pick your particular snake poison and get the Cobra kit and build it right, you'll have a ton of fun in that street rocket! But if you only have parking for a single vehicle, but still want to have a fun sportscar that gives some rocking performance, maybe the brand new Mustang5 liter is the safer bet, especially if you don't have time to work on the car itself. This isn't a perfect analogy either: a top quality 1911 should give really good dependable service for a long time.
It's worth noting that Kimber 1911's are seeing more use by law enforcement agencies, Tacoma now issues them, as does LAPD SWAT I think. Caspian parts were used to build the USMC's special ops 1911's, called M-45 MEU(SOC) pistol now built on Springfield's:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MEU(SOC)_pistol
