This is Springfield forum so, if you want a Springer, get a railed TRP. My Operator functioned fine w/ machine marks, sights mis aligned, and hammer
pivoting on mis aligned frame holes! Trigger was great, functioned flawlessly.
Springer wouldn't fix it 'cause it wasn't broken! I sold it.
The ONLY SA pistols I would own would be TRP or TRP PRO. I have Desert Warrior, No ILS, No FLGR, No Swartz FPS. Many thousands of rounds. through it. I'd buy the Desert Warrior, esp if you can find one for $1200. BTW get on the phone call around and see what they are willing to pay you for YOUR used Operator, or YOUR used Desert Warrior. Resale on Springfields will not match Kimber. Don't hate me, look in the book. I wonder why?
Kimbers only cost more because the demand is there, and the demand is only there because Kimber pays more money to the magazines to advertise and "test" (aka advertise by pretending to test a gun and say nothing but good things about it) their pistols than Springfield does.
I own 3 Springfield 1911's. Including the MC Operator that the OP is asking about. Right out of the box, it shot accurately and NEVER had a single FTF or FTE or any other malfunction. The finish is excellent, the trigger was good, basically, no complaints what-so-ever. My friend bought a Kimber, not the Warrior, but it cost about $400 more than my MC Operator. My Operator is more accurate, his Kimber jammed many times during its "break-in" period (Just a side note, I also have a SA Custom Shop Operator and it is MUCH tigher and MUCH more accurate than his Kimber and it never required a "break-in" period, it was accurate and reliable with ZERO malfunctions straight out of the box), the grip screw bushings are too big for the grips it came with so even when you tighten the screws the grip panels are rattling loose, I mean, how did that leave the factory like that?? Anyway, basically I spent $400 less on my SA MC Operator and it was better than his Kimber in every way, including the warranty in case anything was wrong with the SA, but nothing was... But it's still nice to have...
Personally, I don't buy into what the magazines tell you is the best, from my experience, you get more for your money with SA's. Just like how if all you know about 1911's is what you read in the mags, then Nighthawk, Wilson, and those custom shops are the best, but I will put my SA Custom Operator up against any of those and I paid probably close to $500 less than I would with one of those other companies. I'll never buy a Kimber, SA all the way.
Notice the ads, you'll see a lot of Kimber ads but not that many Springfield ads. The only Springfield ads I see in magazines are for the XD. You might think the ads don't matter, but the truth of the matter is, the magazines get most of their money from the ads, and if Kimber is paying them $$$ for ad space, you think they will risk saying something negative about their firearms and risk them not paying them for adspace in the future?? That's why Kimbers are in such high demand in my opinion.