I agree that a good .357/.38 revolver in stainless steel is the best choice of handgun for the casual shooter, but I long ago gave up on revolvers with barrels longer than 4" (I like a 3" SP-101, my son prefers a 4" GP-100, and neither one of us can convince the other to change). Be that as it may, I've selected the Glock 19 as the family SHTF handgun- no manual safety levers to fumble with, easy to strip for maintenance, nearly unbreakable, utilizes common-as-dirt (and cheap) ammunition... and is eminently affordable.
And a consistent trigger pull - no needing to pull harder on the first round out the pipe.