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A 9mm 1911 is being asked to use less energy to cycle the action than the .45 the gun was originally designed for. While it's certainly not impossible to make one run 100% (my Spartan did from the factory), it is less forgiving of minor problems like overly-tight extractors or slightly rough feed ramps; there's simply less energy, and correspondingly less recoil spring, to overcome them.
Another issue with 9mm 1911s is the availability of good magazines. Unlike a .45 magazine, which essentially just has to hold and release the round at the correct point, a 9mm magazine must make up for unused space in the magwell, because the 9mm is shorter than the .45. Some do it with spacers in front, some in back, some with crimping along the front side instead of the spacers.
These all add variables to a 9mm 1911 that a .45 doesn't have. Look at all the discussions of which .45 1911 magazines are best, and now consider the discussion you could have if there were actually three or more completely different types of magazines involved. That's where a 9mm 1911 is.
Can they work? Absolutely. Are they as easy to get running 100%, or as tolerant of problems, as a .45? For the reasons stated above, I don't believe so.
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Certainly there's no questioning the physics you're talking about but it's not like 9mm 1911s are a new concept. They've been around for 60 or so years now and the bugs were worked out long ago. That goes for mags as well.
In this day and age there is no reason a new gun, even a 1911, should require attention to run 100%, regardless of caliber. My S&W 9mm 1911 has been perfect from day one using Wilson and Metalform mags. I expect nothing less from all of my 1911s and and it's not up to me as the buyer to tweak the gun so it runs.