The BEST pistol I ever got the chance to shoot was a home-built custom, starting on a Springfield frame...Caspian slide...Wilson internals...Volsquartsin ( bad spelling) trigger and barrel........hand reduced frame to slide fit, smooooth-as-butter operation.
BEST rifle, ( at least for ME ) was an 1878 buffalo trap-door style fed 45/70 ,....next may have been the mighty Garand....
Next best, at least the most thrilling, was a "grease-gun" auto in .45 cal....along with a British Sten in 9 m....real WW II guns.....wow.
I learned to shoot handguns on a .44 Magnum Ruger Super Blackhawk when I was a kid, so perhaps just for the memories its the Super Blackhawk for me (so far, anyway).
My S&W M&P 40 with crimson trace grip is a TACK DRIVER! Feels and shoots awesome.
For cheaper plinking fun you can't beat the Walther P-22. Just a neat little gun.