After having bought and sold several 1911's during my life, none have stuck out to me as being truly reliable. All haven't been able to go more than 1k rounds without a stoppage, and certainly none ever met the 2k round challenge. The 1911's I have owned have all been Colts and Springfields, so not complete junk brands. I even had one of the Colts worked over by what was supposed to be an experienced 1911 'smith, a Marine armorer from Vietnam. I shoot them amazingly, and I have a huge cache/reloading components of .45 Auto, so I really would love to have a truly reliable 1911 (one that can at least go 1k rounds without a stoppage, and preferably able to meet the 2k challenge consistently). I tend to abide by DocGKR's and the late ToddG's standards for reliability with a duty/carry pistol.
My question is, what does it take to get a stone-cold reliable (at least 2k MRBS) 1911 for serious use these days? So far the best info I've gotten is from reading DocGKR, who states you're going to spend $2500+ and have the pistol worked over by a master class 1911 gunsmith (not just an armorer). He listed several of these expert gunsmiths (Bill Laughridge, Wayne Novak/Joe Bonar, Ed Brown, John Jardine, Hilton Yam, Larry Vickers, and Chuck Rogers), but it looks like none of these individuals are working on 1911s themselves right now (or have passed).
What base gun should I start with, and who would I be able to send it off to? Assuming price is no object. I really want a reliable 1911 from the get-go, even if I have to send it off as soon as I get it to have a successful 1-2k round vetting period when I get it back.