@ClinchValley86
We used several yellow & white Simmental sires (carrying the color dilution gene) back in the late 1980s... and over the years had quite a few charcoal/chocolate/gray/silver (and yellow) cows... and that color dilution gene 'hung in there'... still had a lot of brown cows when we dispersed in 2019 - and like you, some of them were the best cows in the herd. Next door neighbor still has two brown cows in his herd, 2nd or 3rd generation descendents from one visit from our last diluted red SimAngus bull... back around 2003.
Those gray/brown calves almost always got discounted going through the salebarn... maddening, because they were usually 7/8 (or higher) sibs of the black calves, and were just as good.
Color may not be an issue in your locale, but here... I wouldn't use a dilution-gene carrier except as an extreme last resort.