[Gen.Blather]

Advice depends on your use. For home defense I’d choose a Judge, which is a five shot .410. You can’t beat the reliability of a revolver coupled with the knockdown power of 4 .32round balls. If you’re carrying and you don’t dress so you can easily cover a full frame semiautomatic then a small frame 3.5 inch barrel single or double stack .380 (Glassier) or 9mm.

http://www.taurususa.com/product-details.cfm?id=199&category=Pistol

http://www.smith-wesson.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product4_750001_750051_827563_-1_792654_757781_757781_ProductDisplayErrorView_Y

[Eagles6]

My buddy bought a Judge on a whim. Produced a 4'+ pattern at 10 yds with #4 with maybe half of the pellets hitting the vitals or the silhouette. Not something I would reccomend to a newbie for self defense or anyone else for that matter.

That being noted, as others have said, go rent, stick with quality and get trained