In my opinion.....
#1 and #2 are very close - Wilson Combat and Ed Brown ...with Wilson having a big edge because of its lifetime warranty and superior service. Ed Brown is a little cheaper...
#3 - but a distant 3rd is probably Les Baer
#4 - Nighthawk
# 5 - 10 ......Kimber, Sig, Springfield, Colt, S&W, etc....
Full disclosure...I own a pair of Wilson, 1 Ed Brown, 1 Les Baer, 0 Nighthawks, 2 Kimbers...( Both Wilson's are 2 of the top 5 guns in my safe...along with a Sig X-Five L1 model in .40S&W, a Freedom Arms single action revolver 4 3/4" large frame in .357 mag, S&W mod 27 4" revolver ) ...My Ed Brown 1911 is a Kobra carry 5" ...and its in the top 10 ...but not the top 5...my Baer is pretty good ....but I'd rank it below both of my Kimbers probably ...a Gold Combat Stainless II model 5" .45 acp & a Tactical Pro II model 4" in 9mm...
I recently broke an extractor on one of my Wilsons after about 45,000 rds thru it -- its 6 yrs old / ...Wilson paid all shipping, fixed the gun inside of a week - shipped it back. They followed up twice - making sure I was happy with how the gun ran when I got it back. Its service like that - that is hard to beat ...even though they don't expect their extractors to break every 45,000 rds .../ they have earned my loyalty. My primary carry gun is a Wilson CQB 5" that is about 12 yrs old...
Wilson Protector model 5" - all stainless in 9mm
http://thefiringline.com/forums/atta...7&d=1341002367
Wilson CQB model 5", armor Tuff finish in .45 acp ...my carry gun..
http://thefiringline.com/forums/atta...8&d=1345227121