I carry frequently and have done so for 20 plus years. I have tried many different types of weapons and settled on these.

warm weather: Taurus 85 stainless with 125 +p. Can be tucked in pocket of cargo shorts I normally wear in summer with no trace. Low maintience, 100% reliable, cheaper than Smith, Very accurate to 25 yards. I usually will carry 5 extra rounds in a speed loader for total of 10 rounds.

Regular wear:
Glock 19 9mm with Tritium night sights. Easy to hide with Inside waste ban holster or small of back with my t-shirt out. (I'm a casual wear sort of guy). 15 shots of 115gr Win. sivertips give a built in reload. Trigger bar changed to 3.5 pound pull. This modification increased my ability to shoot "Minute of Thug" to 50yrs. Night sights are amazing in dim light even for those of us with older eyes. The 3 dot system is easy to line up in total darkness. A real tactical advantage inside your home at night when you know floor plan and they don't.

Truck gun or under a coat:
Ruger 97 dc 45acp. I love my 1911's but since I switch back and forth between several different varieties of pistols I want first shot mechanics to be the same. The ruger has no safety. First shot fires double action then subsequent shots are single action. Or you can cock hammer for single action trigger pull on first shot. Since it is stainless and synthetic it is again low maintence and has never malfunctioned in over 800 rounds. Very accurate and was suprizingly inexpensive. I typically carry with 200gr xtps at around 880fps out of the 4" barrel. Capacity is 8 in mag and 1 in chamber for a total of 9 rounds. I carry a spare mag or 2 in car but don't usually take an extra when carrying under coat. I guess my logic is if you need more than 9 45acps then either your not practising enough or you bit off more than you should have.