Where does slide to frame fit rank in importance?
It’s a feel thing only. No real effect on precision.
Form: I'm interested to hear more about this, and about your thoughts about this project in general, as well as the idea of buying an entry-level 1911 to 'tweak' vs simply buying something more mid-tier.
Part of the relevant context for me is that, on the basis of the 9mm thread and this one, I was prompted to pick up a Bul Armory EDC 5" 1911 in 9mm. Not sure of the US retail there, but the local price here was about US$1800.
The fit and finish seem fine, and the slide cycles smoothly. Slide to frame fit seems tight. Trigger is fairly tight, and has about 2mm of take up before what feels to me like a crisp break. Safety is smooth, easy to engage and disengage, and crisply clicks on and off.
'Pointability' was just as you describe - almost intuitive, and all first rounds went on target without either sighting in or familarising myself to the platform. Bill Drills were as fast on first use as pistols that I'm more familiar with.
Overall, it was pleasant to shoot, and your case for the grip and thumb safety is starting to make a lot of sense to me - I also went back and re-read some of Mas Ayoob making similar observations / recommendations.
However, despite there not being anything specifically 'wrong' with the pistol, compared to DA/SAs I've used (CZ 85 Combat, Shadow 2, and P-07s), something overall still feels fairly chunky and almost 'agricultural', about the Bul. Given that it's my first 1911, I don't know if this is just that it's an 'entry-to-mid-tier' offering, or is just part of the old-school 1911 design and construction.
Anyway, yesterday I was able to take a look at a Tanfoglio Witness Custom, also 5" in 9mm, for comparison. I understand that, as with some other 1911s, their frames are made by Armscor in the Phillipines, and they're then finished in Italy.
Compared to the Bul: the Tanfog was the equivalent of about US$750 in local currency, or nearly one-third the cost of the Bul. The slide was sloppy, and not as smooth cycling. The trigger has a lot of space above it at the top (a known issue from the very little I've been able to find online), and wiggled from side to side so much that I couldn't see how one could make clean trigger presses or accurate shots with it. The thumb safety needed a lot of effort to engage or disengage - it was clunky, stiff, and nowhere near as refined as anything else I've handled.
Given this particular pistol is currently on sale and discounted by about 40%, I'd initially been curious to purchase it to use as a 'host' platform and see where it would get to with modifications - similar to your Girsan project, but hopefully with a better beginning point. (And I admit that I was probably being a bit snobby about not wanting to try a Tisas, and assumed that the Tanfog would be better quality, being Italian.)
But having handled it, I was already thinking I'd need to replace the safety, trigger, and possibly bushing, in addition to the extractor. The dealer agreed.
So at that point, I was left wondering: if that's what it would take to get to a point of better handling, but still a loose frame, even if assuming accuracy was good, and I was then in for about US$1000 all up, is that worth it?
I know this is not a fair comparison, as the retail prices will be far different in the US, and we don't have as much access to other 1911s here (mostly just Bul, Ruger, Tisas, and Tanfog).
Also aware that this is a bit of a 'value is in the eye of the beholder' situation. But I guess I'm wondering overall - if it takes a lot of effort to get to an 'okay' outcome for, say, half the cost, is there any value in that compared to just going with something known to work out of the box but for double the cost? I know above you said you'd be happy to carry the modified Girsan - but I'm guessing that, given the choice, you'd go with something higher-end and more proven?
Of course, in my specific case, I already have the Bul, so the Tanfog would be more an exercise in learning what it takes to get something up to speed, and the outcome would be something I think I'd still regard as a 'beater' gun, whereas the Bul, while clearly not a Nighthawk, Wilson, etc, is perfectly serviceable for my needs.
Not sure if any of that makes sense; interested in any reflections you might have. Cheers!