1. S&W M&P 9, TS
In my mind, 9mm is adequate for self defense. The round is also very cheap and easy to find. The M&P platform is my favorite pistol platform. I've rented most of the autoloaders on the market and decided that I preferred the M&Ps over the other offerings. Just my opinion, of course.
I think that these pistols are extremely reliable, durable, and accurate platform. They are built with through hardened stainless steel parts. Many of these parts are then subjected to a melonite finishing process to further improve the durability of the steel components. The gun has a stainless steel chasis that supports the polymer frame. I prefer the medium palm swells. They fit me and wife extremely well. The pistols also have a low bore axis and a beaver tail to help reduce muzzle flip. I find these guns to control recoil extremely well. I can shoot them well, at least at the range. M&Ps also have excellent stock sights. The stock triggers are adequate, but can be improved with aftermarket triggers. I spent several years shooting nothing but double action, centerfire revolvers, so I don't find the triggers to be too bad. I prefer to keep my pistols stock. While Glocks probably still have the reputation of being the best polymer handguns, I think that the M&Ps are better guns. They are probably slightly less reliable. I'd give the M&Ps a slight edge in the durability department due to the fully supported chamber and stainless chasis. Sure, there are reports of Glocks that have 100,000s of rounds through them. They last and last and last. I personally won't ever shoot 100,000s of rounds through one gun. I would rather have a gun that has a supported chamber, a stainless chasis, and all stainless internal components. They are also gaining a lot of ground in the police market. To me, these are the best pistols available today.
2. S&W M&P 45, TS
Again, I stuck with the M&P platform. The .45 acp round is one of the better handgun rounds for defense. The 255 grain semiwad cutter rounds from Buffalo Bore and Corbon are also pretty darn potent for woods carry. These rounds can travel anywhere from 825 fps to 925 fps out of this barrel length. A 255 grain, hardcast, semiwadcutter round moving at 925 fps is basically a moderate .45 colt round. According to Buffalo Bore's website the standard pressure rounds, that move at 825 fps can penetrate about 27" in flesh and bone. To me that is adquate to get the job done. If you opt with the hotter round, the round would be a little more potent.
Personally, I'd be comfortable with these "hot" .45 acp rounds to defend myself against anything I might run into while camping or hiking in the woods of the Midwest. I'd rather have 11 rounds of these loads, with the potential for a quick reload, than six rounds of .357 magnum or .44 magnum for Black Bear defense. One thing that is important to keep in mind is that these loads don't feed very well in certian guns. For example, as of a few years ago, the XD series was known to have problems cycling semi wadcutters. There were a lot of complaints about this on XD talk. If you decide that you want a .45 acp for a woods defense gun in your area, make sure that it is loaded with proper rounds, and that your gun can actually cycle these rounds properly.
If I lived in Grizzly territory, I might consider either getting the M&P converted to either .45 super or .460 Rowland. While I might consider the conversion, I'd probably opt for a Ruger Redhawk in .44 magnum or .45 colt. I think that it is better to buy guns that were designed to handle really hot rounds instead of trying to beef a less robust gun up. I might even consider using a S&W 625 and loading it up with either .45 super or .460 Rowland. I'm confident that a 625 could handle the occasional .45 super round.
If I move to an area where I might realistically run into a huge grizzly, I'd probably switch to one of these revolvers, if I had to keep my gun collection at three handguns. I'd probably go with the .44 magnum Redhawk. If you don't live in an area with huge bears, or do a lot of handgun hunting, I think that a big bore revolvers are a waste of time and money. They are very expensive guns and are very expensive to feed. Besides, there are other options that are better for defense. To me, it makes no sense owning a gun that you will probably never need (when faced with either money or spousal constraints that limit you to three guns). Get the guns that make sense for you. Don't think of weird scenarios and try to prepare for threats that you will never realistically face.
3. Ruger SP101, 4.2", Stainless, .22 lr
I love revolvers, period. I don't like them for home defense because of the capacity limitations. As a trail gun, this gun is very attractive to me. It is accurate, reliable and would probably last several lifetimes. This same gun design can be used to shoot heavy .357 magnum rounds. It would handle 100s of thousands of .22 lr without breaking a sweat. To me, this is the perfect fun/trail/survival handgun.
I make very good money, but I have put a limit on the handguns to three. My top three choices that I listed will be my handgun collection within a few months. I plan to sell my GP100 and to get the SP101 in .22lr.
I love the GP100, but owning more than three handguns would ruffle my wife's feathers too much. If I have to ruffle her feathers with more guns, I'd rather get a few long guns instead of having more handguns. I want a Winchester SXP black shadow shotgun, a stainless/synthetic 77/22 in .22 lr, and either a RRA A4 Varmit or a Mini-14 in stainless/synthetic.
Those three handguns and three long guns would fill all of my perceived wants and "needs".
