My experience has shown that the 1911's I own seem to be most reliable when they are well lubricated and have strong recoil springs, and good magazines in them. When those three things are all in order, I rarely have any gun related malfunctions. Ammunition and operator errors can't be held against the pistol.
For lube, I mix up synthetic motor oil with synthetic transmission fluid. If I want a thicker lubricant, I an add some synthetic grease to the mixture.
I had read about mixing synthetic motor oil and transmission fluid, and the more I thought about using them, the more sense it made. Both motor oil and transmission fluid are designed to operate under high heat and lots of pressure, so it makes sense that it would also work well in a firearm.