There are two types of $5k 1911s

Those that are painstakingly assembled with high parts by a competent gunsmith, and those that aren't but still have the high price tag.

Problem is, there is no way to tell without detail stripping it and knowing what to look for.

It's not hard to learn what a good 1911 looks and feels like. 

It is hard to learn how to make it that way.  (Please please please, may I not screw up...)

"But I got a custom made Wilson Combat, T-Bolt"

Yeah, so?  The worst guns in the basic armorers classes I took were Wilson Combats or Gold Cups or Nighthawks....  That multi-kilobuck price tag was no guarantee.  I mean it could be good.  Could.

January means more gun skool.  Building again.