Thanks everyone for all your insight. Really appreciate everyone taking the time to weigh in with their information and opinions.

Jarhead left out Beretta. Did you not like your standard issue M9? Another maker of reliable guns.

Also, 9mm is a great starting caliber. Lots more rounds in the gun, easier follow-up.

Something else often overlooked by new buyers is getting a 22LR handgun. You will learn a lot and it will pay for itself in reduced ammunition cost if you shoot often. True it won't be as effective for self-defense, but it will teach you how to get shots on target, especially helpful training women. Never met a women that started on .22LR that didn't like it.

The Glock and Sig among others even have conversion kits so you can shoot .22LR in the same platform as a larger caliber.

Here is the answer that should be looked at too.
Glock 19 since it is mid-sized, hold 15+1 rds in the mag and brl, simple to clean and maintenance, AND you can get an Advantage Arms .22lr conversion kit and some mags for practice! Best of both worlds: self-defense, target practice, plinking, and pot meat getter.

The M9 is a great gun, but I wouldn't agree that 15 is "lots more rounds" than my Glock 21's 13. Also, I think it is just slightly more complicated than the Glock with the decocker/safety and external hammer. I do agree that the 9mm is a great starter round, and cheaper to shoot as well.

These are only opinions, and they're worth absolutely nothing.

This is probably the best option.

If you guys are serious about defending your life with a hand gun please start with a .22. Practice, practice, practice. If you end up going to a pro to get training, I can guarantee he/she will have plenty of firearms to try out.
Some are recoil sensitive no matter their stature.
Don't know where you live but ask around for a good pro to get you started right. If the same name keeps coming up, you have a safe bet they are good.
Asking such a general question in an open forum will get you more confused then anything. Take a firearms safety course first!

I own a Glock (19) also, I was just adding Beretta for completeness:) Some people like them better and they are still quite easy to field-strip and clean even if they are more internally complicated.

Beretta is a worthy addition and I honestly just brain farted when I left it out. As for the M9 ... you can keep it, but that is just my opinion. I don't like the feel of it. others may. Plus I hate cleaning it.

I gotcha. I don't own a Beretta FS, but I have fired countless thousands of rounds with an M9 and it truly is an excellent firearm. It's one I wish to own someday. It IS a cinch to maintain. I had zero experience with them the first time I was handed one in the military and was told "there ya go Marine, now go qualify". I was able to figure out how to disassemble/reassemble the thing the first time out. Very user friendly design.

This has been a good thread for me b/c I'm kinda in the same boat. I've always been pretty good with rifles and shotguns but just never logged much time shooting pistols. I can fire center mass ok, but would die of hunger in a forest surrounded by bunnies and tree rats if all I had was a pistol.

I got my ppwk work already to go next time I have a day off and will pick up a Ruger 22, put like 4k rounds through it and see how I'm doing and if a self defense pistol/survival pistol makes sense for me.

For right now I just want to out and have fun and see if I can become competent with a pistol.

At my NRA class I enjoyed shooting an old S&W 38 service revolver- had a sweet trigger. They had a snubby 38 and I blew with that one and didn't enjoy shooting it.

Was the snubby an air lite? Those are no fun to shoot because of the sharp recoil, they're strictly for concealed carry. All steel is the way to go when target shooting.

Ruger LCR if I remember right...there was an ex-cop in the class who tore it up with that thing...nice tight groups. My long hands and slender wrists are not gonna help me I think...

I could see myself with a 4" 38 revolver at some point maybe. Right now I just think...I'm 100x more deadly with a carbine- what's the point of a pistol?

I'm gonna bag the new little Ruger SR22 (pistol <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> ) and just have fun for thousands of rounds! Then I'll see..