Numbers
Well gosh jolly "Primerinmyshoe", I must have been in a hurry when I got my last shareholders statement, but I missed the section where S&W disclosed the actual sales figures for each individual product line. So I guess I can't show you the actual numbers, and I'm sure S&W would be happy to disclose that information.
However, just using my own two eyes, I can plainly see that S&W is a major player in the 1911 world. When I visit Adventure Outdoors (a 6000 stocking gun dealer here in Atlanta,
www.advout.com) I see a case full of Kimbers, a case full of S&W, a much smaller group of Springfields, and a handful of new Wilson Combat's, and in the used area you will find a stray from any fold. Now Adventure Outdoors sells a lot of guns (the city of New York has even sued them in an attempt to shut them down) and I would assume that they stock so many S&W's because, drum roll please, they sell a lot of them.
So, that's why I think S&W is a major player in 1911's. Maybe their gun isn't as "good" as a Wilson Combat or Les Baer, but sales speak volumes.