Just noticed the thread here on guns. I have worked at a high end gun store/pistol range for the past 3 years part time and more recently full time. We are located in CT and are one of the largest gun stores in the north east. We are a full line stocking dealer for HK, Sig, Glock, Steyr, S&W and Colt (Whats left). We also carry just about every reputable manufacturer of firearms. We do NOT carry second rate companies like AMT, Astra, EAA, Intratec, etc. We are also a master dealer for Wilson Combat, Les Baer, Ed Brown and Kimber, SVI and Rock River and have guns from these manufactucturers in stock all the time. My personal expierience aside from working in this store presently as a range officer and the firearms sales manager also includes me being a certified Glock and HK armorer and the person responsible for the maintanence and repair of our ranges rental guns. I have been shooting pistols for 14 years and also have been trained in the military. I myself own several pistols, to name a few, Glock: 22, 27, 35, 20, 21C, Colt: Annaconda 4", M1991, HK: USP-C . 357, USP-Tac, Wilson Combat: KZ-45, Tactical Elite, CQB-C. Kimber: Ultra Shadow, Beretta: 96Vertec. Les Baer: Super tac, Thunder Ranch. I am not professing myself to be an expert. But i have had alot of hands on expierience in this field and being a pistol range officer on a range that sees close to 300 people a week and keeping watch on 32 different rental handguns, i can tell you about reliability, accuracy and what works in handguns.
My point of this post is to help shed light on this topic. Here are some things i can tell you.
The store i work out is located in Fairfield county CT which is an area with ALOT of money. We therefore are able to keep a huge inventory of firearms and sell alot of high end guns very often. We have 2 indoor ranges with a total of 14 points. One range is a 50 foot range, the other a 75 foot range. We have the SIG academey come to our range, Navy SEALs and have even had Jerry Miculek come shoot there. The store itself is huge, the building used to be a warehouse to give you an idea of size. CT is also a class 3 state so we stock a great deal of fully automatic and suppressed weapons too. We allow anyone who can safely handle a firearm to the chance to rent and different guns to try them out and find what you like. We dont allow reloads of anything but FMJ to be used in our guns. We use, PMC, UMC of American eagle ammo in all our range guns. They cleaned every 1-2 thousand rounds or sooner if needed.
Excluding "1911" type weapons, the most popular handguns we sell are SIG, HK and Glock. I consider these companies "The big 3". We sell more Glocks then anything due to them have the largest variety of models and they are also the least expensive of the three mentioned above. Beretta's come in 4th, there new 9000S and the VERTEC and big sellers right now. My take on them is this. First, HK, the most expensive of the three. There line is somewhat limeted in variety as far as size. . 9mm is available in 2 sizes along with the P7-M8 "Squeezecocker", . 40 is available in Full Size, Compact, The USP "Expert" and a new gun called the USP-LEM. . 357SIG is available compact only and . 45 in compact, fullsize, Tactical (Threaded barrel, Adj sights), Expert (Longer barrel and a few other upgrades) and lastly the Mark23. We have all of the above mentioned guns in our rental section and in 4 years the only problem i encoutered with one was a cracked slide in a . 357sig model which HK fixed for free. I also had a customer with a P7M8 with a trigger spring failure. Other then that, i have not heard or seen any problems with there guns. They are VERY expensive, in the $700-800 range for regular USP's all the way up to $2,100 for the Mk23. They are very accurate and there customer service is good although slow. Dissasembley is also the slowest of the big three. With the exception of the P7, they all have a rail for mouting lights, lasers, etc. The downside to them aside from price is they dont have a large aftermarket accesory selection. No internal laser is available, and external lasers that fit there rails are expensive. The flashllight/laser combo is around $1,200. Magazines are also pricey.
Sig is another fairly expensive line of guns with a somewhat limeted variety. They do make guns in . 9mm, . 380, . 40, . 45, . 357 SIG and . 38super. Unlike HK and Glock they use metal frames as opposed to polymer (With the excerption of the Sig Pro). They are accurate, easy to dissasemble but i can tell you, there reliablity is not the greatest. I have had to send several of our range guns out for factory repair with problems such as trigger springs failing, barrel lugs breaking, extractor problems etc. Sig has told me there guns should be rebuilt every 10k rounds. Not what i expect on a $700 gun. There finish is also notoriously poor in that it shows wear very quickly. An accesory rail is available on only a few models. Internal lasers are available for most models. Another thing that makes HK and Glock have an advantage over Sig is the fact they use polymer for there frames which helps absorb recoil as opposed to a metal frame, which sends the recoil into you.
Lastly, Glock. They are the least expensive of the big three and i consider them the best as far as price (Almost all of them are $529. 00), easy to maintain, accurate, RELIABLE and by far, they have the most accerories out for them. They are made in . 9mm, . 40, . 357sig, . 10mm and . 45. All calibers except . 10mm are available in at least 3 sizes, and two of those sizes are available ported. Another great thing about Glocks that HK and Sig cant do is the interchangable magazines. Full size mags fit compact models (They stick out the handle) which gives you a full size grip and LOTS of ammo. How great is it to carry a a full size Glock as your primary weapon and a compact as your backup, and they can use the same mags. There are TONS of acceories for them, Internal lasers are available for ALL models, lots of variety in flashlights and lasers at cheaper prices then available for HK. HI Cap mags are plentiful and cheaper then HI Cap Sig and HK mags. They are also the most reliable guns i have ever seen. We have a Glock 17 and 22 that have been on the range since 1994 and have NEVER been rebuilt (Just the recoil spring once). The Glock 17 has close to 40K rounds through it and it still shoots great. You can also strip the gun down to nothing with one drift punch. There finish is also the most durable. I have NEVER seen a Glock break. whether it be our own, or a customers. I personally dont like external hammers on anything but 1911's and revolvers. Its just one more thing to snag on clothing and jam.
As for other manufactures, S&W's semi auto's are ok, they can be tempermental with ammo feeding. Their performance center stuff is very nice. We do carry Taurus, but they are pretty bad in my opinion, we get alot of trade ins on them towards better guns. I would not bet my life on one. Ruger's are nice range guns, but again, not super relaiable.
As for "1911" style guns, Which are my favorite, and as i mentioned, we carry all the best manufacturers of them. Colt, the most popular based on name are nice, but there prices are getting out of hand and there quality is starting to get inconsistent. We have sent MANY out for repair. There Gold Cups are great. Springfield armory is a company i like, i own one of there "Loaded 1911" pistols and it shoots well and has held up great even after 15k rounds. There fit and finish is not the greatest, but for the $$, they are nice.
Kimber is by far the best of the "Factory" 1911's. Factory meaning mass produced, as opposed to custom 1911's like Wilson, Les Baer, etc. They have plenty of options in sizes, finish and materials and there customer service is great. I have been to there facility and it is very good. They are very accurate and i have never seen a major problem with one. Price is reasonable. We sell more of them then any other 1911 since they give the most options for the price and the quality is excellent
Para Ordinance is kind of a unique version of the 1911 in that they are double action and have there own style of frames. They are accurate, fairly relaible but i personally dont like the feel of them in my hand. I also have a range gun of theres that is a constant problem with jamming. I myself and more then happy to carry a 1911 "Cocked and locked" and therfore see no need to have an LDA. There is also a kit available now that will retrofit ANY 1911 with a pop back hammer so it can be carried hammer down.
As for custom 1911's. I personally like Wilsons. There customer service is better then anyones and there pistols are absolute works of art as far as finish. They are however VERY expensive, and have slow delivery times. We have had guns on order with them for as long as 14 months. They are super accurate and you get a ton of stuff when you buy one. There Armor tuff finish looks really nice, but does wear. They will refinish the gun if you want to keep it looking new.
Les Baer makes great pistols too, also extremely expensive. They are by far the TIGHTEST fitting pistols made. Some are nearly impossible to open when new. That is one of the reasons they are so accurate.
Ed Brown makes some beautiful pieces too. Yet again, off the scale expensive. We sold 4 "Kobra Karry" pistols this week for $2,420 each. Really nice, really accurate but i have to say, my Wilson Tactical Elite outshot all his guns i tried.
Once you go custom, you really cant buy a bad 1911. They are all great and all backed up by great customer service. Just go with what you like. But try different guns before you decide. Make the final desicion yourself, dont have tunel vision. I personally carry a Glock 27 or 35 as my primary wepon, or a Wilson KZ-45 or S&W j frame hammerless in my pocket. Depends what i am wearing.
Attention: TDR Forum Junkies 
) Guess by now you know, I really like these! 
and only that if you are lucky. 
