I've carried the 1911 in .45 for 32 years. I've owned one by nearly every MFG and about 10 years ago settled on a Kimber.
I believe any caliber north of and including 9mm is capable in the right hands of getting the job done. Proper ammunition is required.
Recently I have purchased 2 IMI "baby" Desert Eagles. One in 9mm with conversion to .41AE and one simply a 9mm. I honestly believe that for the money this is the finest handgun available in the world today. It can be had in 9mm, .40 and .45. Over the last few years I have used them for combat matches and have never had a failure to feed in many thousands of rounds fired. I've not experienced any breakage of parts. The triggers are terrible and need work. The accuracy is close to match grade out of the box. The cost is under $500.