just recently i went thru a search for a .45. this is what i found. now my needs were/are different from yours as mine needed to be a truck gun, not a ccw gun, but you may find some threads of interest for you in making a decision. each manuf. seems to make smaller models.
at first i was determined that i wanted it on a 1911 frame. dan wesson was the one that i would have gotten, the kimber a close second. then i chose not to get the 1911.
i liked colts, sigs, and smith and wesson. i chose a sig 220 because i have a sig now and i liked it's reliability, or may i say it's percieved reliability. if given to me free i would have taken either.
i thought kahr made a .45, but i could be wrong, and i like them.
i'm not sure if this helps but it is just my take.
blessings