I have a 6-inch S&W model 17, target trigger, target hammer, adjustable sights. Tack driver, gorgeous, extremely well built.
I have a Ruger Mark II, 5-1/2 bull barrel, stainless. Heavy, great shooter, built like a tank.
Some people have extreme trouble taking apart a Mark I,II,or III. I don't. Easy to take apart and put back together... read the manual, get the hang of it, it's not rocket surgery. This pistol is easy to clean.
The model 17 is much more difficult to clean... can only clean from the muzzle end, and you obviously have to scrub each chamber, plus the forcing cone area, there' no doubt that it's much more difficult.
For shooting, I'd say the Mark II is easier, faster, and it doesn't give me many problems with cheap ammo. It's a damn good shooter. The model 17 is smooth, sweet and everything you want out of a revolver, but it doesn't load as easily, it doesn't eject spent shells as easily, and it costs significantly more to purchase one.
I think the revolver may make it's owner a better shooter than a semi-auto, because it seems to me that you have to put more work and effort in to what you are doing. With the semi, you can blast through 2 boxes of ammo in 15 minutes, especially if you have the two dollar plastic tool that helps to hold the magazine follower button down while you load, and even moreso if you have extra magazines. With the revolver, you spend more time loading and unloading, and working on each pull of the trigger. The semi-auto is pretty much just BANG BANG BANG, reload, BANG BANG BANG.
Fun factor, especially considering the price, the edge goes to my Mark II. But I would never, ever sell my Model 17. For sure, because of the cleaning, I tend to grab the Mark II more often.
Given the price, I don't see how any real handgun enthusiast can get by without having either a Buckmark or a Mark I,II or III in their safe. IMO, you have a huge hole in your collection without one.
I would not include one of the cheaper semi-autos in my line of thinking. While I don't begrudge anyone with a Walther P22 or one of the others, I've shot two different of them and they are finicky as hell with ammo. Mark II pistols I've shot are not, they just shoot and shoot.
With the S&W, it's not that I don't think it's worth the big money they cost, it's just that a quality Ruger, Buckmark, or S&W is just one helluva lot of gun for so much less money.