Despite the fact that most shooters think that the history of the 10 mm Auto cartridge was conceived by Col. Jeff Cooper and invented in 1983, the round actually began breaking the performance mold in the early '70s.
Ruger was fashionably late to the 1911 party. The right time was 2011, the 100th anniversary of the advent of what is still the best semi-auto design ever offered, and the pistol was the new SR 1911. The original design was not perfect in all of its parts, however the basic platform at least to my way of thinking has never been bettered.
In the end, my choice was the 6.5" Smith & Wesson Model 624 in .44 Spl. one of the best decisions I ever made. It’s a throwback, for sure, to back when Smith & Wesson still made revolvers with forged internals and not a sleeved barrel in sight.