Just before I left for my second year of college, I had the pleasure of shooting a 1911 for the first time. After the first pull of the trigger, I realized where all the praise I'd heard had come from.
This is a series of 1911 variants I've drawn over the past few months, I'll list them off from top to bottom, left to right:

AMT Hardballer with Laser Sight, the famous .45 carries by Arnold Schwarzenneger in The Terminator.

Custom 1911 with rear and frontal slide serrations, a bevertail safety, target sights, compensated barrel, and Pachmayr grips.

M45A3, a fictional 1911 variant I invented with a selector switch and a compensator similar to the Thompson submachine gun. This is a civilian model with ivroy grips.

M45A3, the military model with extended magazine.

Auto-Ordnance 1911 with nickel finish and pearl grips, the "Pulp Fiction" variant carried by John Travolta as Vincent Vega.

Nickel 1911A1 with black grips.

The original military-issued 1911A1 with parkerized finish and wood checkered grips.

A 1911 with a commander-length barrel, flat mainspring, and black grips.