Re: If buying 1911 as a possible family....
For information regarding 1911s look at the left-hand column here:
http://www.m1911.org/m1911dt.htm
One of the things you do when purchasing an economical 1911 is allow a lot of room for modifications: sights, trigger, barrel, etc. By the time you get done in many cases you have spent as much as for a semi-custom 1911, but still only have a 1911 that has been modified (you 'normally' lose a lot of the value of the $$$ spent this way ...some places like
Yost will allow you to retain value, if you keep your build sheet, but you will be w/o your 1911 for a while ...). But if you have ANY work done be willing to pay top $$$ (
sample price list) for the work as Greg suggests. If someone does not know what they are doing - they can ruin what is right about your 1911.
IMO - if it works - leave it alone. If you are using economical ammo, your groups for that weapon are good. They could be improved to sub 1" - but it will cost - both in pistol modifications and with the use of premium ammo (or handloads).
PS: When I was out for my morning run another thing occurred to me. Above you emphasized your groups and dismissed your fliers - MISSES. Anything outside of your average group should be considered a MISS - consider a hostage being where your flier is .... While it is good to know your group size, it is important to STUDY your MISSES. These MISSES reveal different things about your shooting skills and give you an excellent opportunity to improve them. Look at the target pic below and study your MISSES (possibly even you group hits if they are not in the bull) accordingly.
Right now you need to practice, practice, practice. After you perfect shooting 3" targets at 25 yards, begin shooting 1" targets (or whatever your weapon is capable of) and STUDY your misses outside of 1", et. al. After you get around 12K rounds or so down the pipe you will know which modifications you may desire, et. al.
Here is one of my 1911s at 50 yards:
Print out this target pic:
http://www.is-lan.com/challenge/images/Pistol-Correction.pdf