I registered just to ad my opinion. Let me start by stating that I am a STRONG advocate for the 1911, I have more 1911's than any other type of pistol in my collection, from Kimbers, Dan Wessons, and Wilson Combat. I carried (past tense) a HK USP .45 Compact, Dan Wesson ECO and Wilson Combat CQB daily, until Monday.
As of Monday, I no longer own a Kimber Solo, or the Beretta Nano. I do have a S&W Shield in .40 on me, and a 9mm ordered through my LGS for the more opinionated half.
The Kimber Solo was probably the most unreliable weapon I have ever encountered, 3 trips to Kimber, one excuse after another, and both my wife and I could not ever get it to run effectively. Maybe it was the both of us, but no other firearm we shoot has had the same issues, FTE, FTF, Stovepipes, EVERY MAGAZINE, shooting different ammo, 124gr and 147gr.
We have owned Kahr's, the CW9 and CW45 were both in our carry rotation, until she experienced some frame issues, we tried dealing with Kahr warranty and customer service, finally got a replacement CW9, and sold them both.
The Nano was, well....the Nano. I have nothing bad to say about the Nano, the wife however felt that the barrel axis was too high, and she had a lot more felt recoil than some of her other 9mm's. She has the Sig Sauer P238, and P938, loves them both, but unlike me, does not want to run the risk of having an expensive CCW confiscated if used in a self defense situation. She has an LCP, it sits at home (I hate the trigger, but as she says "Not Your Gun"). Now, she will carry her HK USP 9mm Compact if she has a larger purse selected and ready to go, she loves that pistol and it shows by her willingness to heft it around, but I want her to carry on her person, ongoing argument.
We have both been looking at a smaller carry option, I happened to see a NIB Shield in .40 S&W locally that had been done in FDE Cerakote, and I bought it. Took it home, ran it through the cleaning process, loaded it and shot it. She shot it. We both liked it so much I ordered hers in 9mm yesterday. I am carrying in a Comp-Tac MTAC IWB and am hardly aware of its presence. She has already stated she will stop purse carry when she gets her Shield, and carry on her person, which has me relieved.
Sorry for the long winded response, but if I had to do it all over again, I could have saved some money and headache and just gone with the S&W.