I like the .45 ACP 1911 (and their copies/variants). They are legendary, accurate, well balanced, and are available everywhere. Some are excellent, some are good, and some are not that good and prone to jamming with anything except 230gr "ball" (i.e. lesser known foreign copies).
The .45ACP 1911 is also incredibly easy to disassemble for cleaning. Heck, even I can do it!
No tools required! I can totally break down my Para Ordnance P13 (Colt Commander copy 1911) into 5 pieces in a matter of seconds.
The other thing about the .45ACP.... What ever you hit with it, will go down and will stay down. The stopping power is legendary and the recoil is not bad at all.
Butch A.