I gotta call BS on that Jon! I don't know what you deem as necessary on a 'combat ready' 1911 but by my standards of a combat ready 1911 I can build one in the range of $1000-$1200 that I would trust my life on in any conditions! It's just not that expensive to build a really dependable 1911. Bill Wilson, Ed Brown, Les Baer, you're paying an extra $1000 or more just for the privilege of having their name on the slide, plain and simple! It's a status thing that I don't buy into.