I have one of the early Charles Daly 1911 Government models. I bought it used, but know the two previous owners. The original owner said it needed a ramp polish, but other than that it was a perfectly good gun. The second owner had the extractor break, and he replaced it with a Wilson extractor. I noticed a small crack in the grip safety, near the pivot pin, and it has since grown in length and changed direction. There are also marks where the hammer has been hitting the grip safety. After the crack grew, I stripped the gun down to the bare frame and inspected everything. The thumb safety has some wear patterns that I didn't like (looks like the metal was too soft), but I didn't see any other problems.
It is now a project gun, waiting for me to have the time and money to completely rebuild it with higher quality parts.
A Kimber probably would have been cheaper in the long run, but that wouldn't have included gaining the experience of building a custom 1911.
