My background largely consists of shooting striker fired pistols like Glocks that just work, but recently I've taken in interest in 1911s, mostly as something to start tinkering with. I'm looking to pick up a 9mm 1911 pretty soon, something like a Springfield that offers a good quality frame/slide to work off of even if the small parts and fit aren't all the way there (that's kind of the point), but I'm not sure where to start in terms of barrel length and style. I know .45 is what I should be looking at if I want a gun that will work flawlessly, I'm just not really down to invest in a new caliber for this venture, and again, learning to tune the gun is part of the appeal.
I frequently hear the refrain that if one wants a 9mm gun, a LW commander is ideal, while I also hear that government length guns are the most reliable because of the additional dwell time. At the same time, I've heard that 9mm can struggle with the weight of a 1911 slide. I also haven't really been able to find any information about whether tapered or bushing barrels do better in 9mm, but I am leaning toward bushing just because they're more traditional and seem easier to tinker with.
In terms of reliably cycling 9mm, government length guns with the added dwell time, or commander models with the lighter slide, which will run better, all else being equal? This is not going to be a carry gun any time soon, and even if it were I don't have trouble with G34 length guns, so I'm not particularly worried about the additional length. I'm just looking to make my life a little bit easier as I learn to tune one of these things.
Does anyone have thoughts/experience on reliability in this caliber?