This thread allows for a great deal of subjectivity.

Personally, I've always felt a great deal of admiration and respect for men and women who strap on a fully loaded sidearm with a round chambered while carrying a pair of fully loaded mags on the off side.

People who have no idea what the next encounter may bring or how it will play out.

People who put their faith in prayer and the belief that if their weapon gets bumped, dropped, or dragged through a mud hole, it will still come up shooting.

I'm talking about the production service pistol.

And in the half century since the pre-model 39, S&W has been improving its ability to produce high quality production service pistols.

Not surprisingly, (IMHO) the TSW models are the "ne plus ultra" of the S&W metal framed, center fire, semi-automatic production service pistols.

Particularly, the last iteration of TSW models, the "railed" (whether installed, removed, or integral) pistols produced from the year 2000 until the end of production.

Why?

Because these models embody the culmination of knowledge and experience of 50 years of semi-auto pistol production combined with the inevitable advances in metallurgy and machining.

The finest materials, CNC machine centers, Metal-Injection-Molders, Laser Engravers, and highly skilled operators conspired to produce the "best" production pistols S&W has ever manufactured.

This is not to denigrate the the numerous "Match" or limited production "PC" pistols that grace the collections of many.

But to me, those finicky, hand assembled "weekend warriors" that wage infrequent battles against paper targets are not the true measure of a firearms manufacturer.

And having observed the once vaunted "Performance Center" go from a true "Personal Custom" shop to a purveyor of limited production "Prohibitively Costly" snob appeal guns, to a shell of its former self, its initials gracing slightly decorated production pistols adorned with "Pretentious Cosmetics", I can consider them as only temporary builders of "niche" pistols.

Those "eye strained" hand assemblers with their files and stones, grinding what should be rejected parts in to closely fitted match pistols could only dream of the consistency of the production TSW parts and materials.

My full sized 40 TSW models are my favorites not only because they are TSW models but also because they will shoot 40 s&w, 9mm, and 357 Sig with only a barrel, spring, and magazine change, making them the most versatile service pistols S&W ever built.

And my full sized 45 TSW models are my second favorites not only because they are TSW models but because they are 45s.

John