Practicality, quality, reliability, price, etc. seem to be common (and reasonable) reasons for a lot of the responses. I also value those things, so most of the guns in my collection have those traits, to one degree or another. Therefore, for me, my choices would be among specific guns in my collection and most of those choices would be based on things like positive emotions, fond memories, and such.
- S&W Highway Patrolman (A gift from my dad several years before he passed away.)
- '70's era S&W Model 14 ( This is the first K-38 Masterpiece style gun I owned, and first high quality target handgun I owned.)
- Late 60's 3" square grip S&W Model 36 (best condition and proportionally prettiest vintage handgun I own.)
- 1968 Colt Diamondback. (A hard choice between this and a beautiful '40's Official Police, but the Diamondback is probably my most accurate handgun...with aftermarket grips, anyway. Higher priced but oh well.)
- 1973 Browning Hi Power that I bought from a good friend who passed away recently.
I see I have no CCW guns among my choices. Hmm...I might trade out my Model 36 choice for one of my less pristine 2" Model '36's. That would be a hard thing to do, though. I might just expand my list to "top 10 handguns", instead