All this firearm lingo is confusing me! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

I'm starting to get into handguns and rifles. Trying to do research on forums like ar15.com and calguns.net to see what's good and legal, but I'm still lost at all the different calibers and such.

Looking into getting/building a AR that shoots 22lr because they're cheap. Is 22lr, .22, and .223 the same thing??

After that, I'd like to get a handgun from Sig Sauer (P226) or something similar from Glock and H&K.

I still don't know much about firearms yet, but trying to learn everyday. After finals I'll look more into it, but right now I love knives and don't think I could afford a nice AR or handgun.