Someone voted Deagle!:confused:

my REAL carry
 

S and W model 19 in a round butt frame with the 2 1/2 inch barrel changed out to 4.
15 years with it as a duty weapon. h o w e v e r.
colt commander when I was going into a bad guys house .45 silver tip hollow point does not go through seven walls and hit a kid somewhere like the similar .357.
but the .357 does a number on veh. and perhaps the fellow inside.
Now ? The commander. the mag is safe and secure in the gun safe.

Despite a love of the old style Detonics Combat Master, I wouldn't go smaller than Commander, but all my M1911's are full size. The S&W M28 3 1/2 is put away. If I needed to punch vehicle skin, the 158gr SP would be replaced by 158gr Fiochi/Perfecta FMJ's. For the game, I voted M1911A1.

I voted other 9mm (Sig P226 for choice, HK P7M13 a close second) but it was a very tough choice over the M1911A1.
I only have the chance to fire pistols when I visit the US (once or twice a year usually) and I wasn't taken with the Glock 17: I found it too light to comfortably absorb the recoil, which hurt accuracy. SIGs I found more controllable, with much better accuracy.
Then I fired the 1911. It's the only pistol I have used where I could actually see the muzzle flash while firing it, and after a box or two of ammo it was starting to hurt my hand, but I was routinely achieving headshots at 30' (every round for about 4 clips) and centre mass at 50'. Even double taps were fairly close.
As a bonus, it shares ammunition and magazines with something I might actually own someday, the DeLisle silent carbine.

It's Alive!
 

Based on the new responses on the Favorite APC/IFV thread, I thought a bit of thread necromancy might be in order.

Sidearm
 

Top: 1911a1 (even if they rattle following numerous rebuilds) followed by:
M9 Beretta
Browning HP
Walther P 1 (for Bundeswehr and Bundesheer allies or heck maybe they find their way to a PC)

Top for me is the Five Seven. It has a great wrist feel, large mag size, is very reliable (in my experience at least), effective ammo with very little recoil, and the range on the 5.7x28mm is excellent before it starts experiencing bullet drop so its accurate to range. The downsides are that its so light it almost feels like a toy. Oh, and the ammo is both rare and stupidly expensive.

Runner up is the M9. Never had any stoppages.