I like the .45 caliber, I have a S.A. 1911, then bought a S&W 625. I like the fact that I can use the same ammunition in both weapons. The less complications there are when under stress, like digging around in the dark for the right box of ammo, the better the chances. As for the half-moon or full-moon clips, the gun can fire with or without them, the clips make for quicker extracting and loading though.
I can also load some pretty hot .45ar loads for those boondocking excursions where I might encounter dangerous game.