Originally Posted by reddog81

Re: "in their best models, these makers focus really mainly on quality and price is only an afterthought. "
I'm pretty sure most of the manufacturers on the top list would be disqualified if you stick with this qualification.
If you are looking for the best gun by each manufacturer you should probably be looking at the models geared toward target shooters. Most military, police dept., or SD buyers are looking for something reasonably priced that will fill their needs - not the cheapest model but conversely best model available either.
With that said I would add Manurhin to the top list. Their MR73 was a special forces revolver built to withstand 150 rounds of full power .357 Magnum every day indefinitely.