It's odd. There are so many "better" options out there. I started my LE career in the post-revolver era. Sure, there were still a few gray-haired guys carrying Model 19's, Pythons, and some other odd stuff, but they were all about to retire. Revolvers in my era have all had 5 shots and were kept in a pocket or on a vest as a backup. The "gun guys" at my department all carried Model 25's in 45 Colt and other N frames or Colt Pythons. No one voluntarily, to my knowledge, carried the lowly 38 Special.
I've carried quite a few different guns in my career and have shot and handled a whole hell of a lot more. Yet there is one that has always felt perfect to me in every regard possible. I remember picking one up for the first time. It was an old late 1950's one with diamond Magna grips. It had a terrible department property engraving on the frame and had been used to shoot blanks for the past twenty years. Yet picking it up, holding it in my hand, and feeling the action, just something about it felt...well...perfect.
No matter what gun I come across, no matter how expensive or rare, one always will feel best in my hand and makes me feel armed. What is it? A Python? An N frame? A Performance Center 686? None of these.
The perfect gun in my hand is and always will be the Combat Masterpiece.
I can't explain it. I don't even own one at the moment. I could wear one today on duty with a couple speed loaders and the old FBI load today and feel completely armed. Every time I pick one up (and I've handled and shot plenty) I get a warm feeling. Perhaps I need to find a nice one to make my own.