[dragonblustar]

If you can handle recoil,

I've never fired a gun so the thought of that kind of frightens me.... But so does a break in. I think I'll start off small and work my way up : )

[reaganaut]

You get used to recoil and MHG gave you some great advice about that. It isn’t anything to fear.

And, TBH, my smaller lighter gun has a bit more recoil than my larger, heavier guns.

test fire several guns and calibers before buying.

[MHGinTN]

There are a few 22 magnum revolvers available which might be a good starting place and you can keep it at home until you get comfy with something more powerful. Recoil is dealt with through proper grip, stance, and posture. If you learn the correct shooting posture and stance, and find a weapon which you can grip properly, recoil is soon a fear in the past.

I shoot AR rifles a lot, and have a couple of shortys. You lean into the line of aim so that the shoulder and upper body absorbs the recoil without pulling the aim point off. It is similar with pistols with recoil, only the shooting arm becomes the line along which the recoil is absorbed. When you get lessons from a professional, you'll pick all of this up very quickly. I would bet you settle on something like the Bersa Thunder 32 (ten shot mags) or Thunder .380 (seven abd eight and nine shot mags) once you become familiar enough with these tools to want to carry one around.

[MHGinTN]

There are a few 22 magnum revolvers available which might be a good starting place and you can keep it at home until you get comfy with something more powerful. Recoil is dealt with through proper grip, stance, and posture. If you learn the correct shooting posture and stance, and find a weapon which you can grip properly, recoil is soon a fear in the past.

I shoot AR rifles a lot, and have a couple of shortys. You lean into the line of aim so that the shoulder and upper body absorbs the recoil without pulling the aim point off. It is similar with pistols with recoil, only the shooting arm becomes the line along which the recoil is absorbed. When you get lessons from a professional, you'll pick all of this up very quickly. I would bet you settle on something like the Bersa Thunder 32 (ten shot mags) or Thunder .380 (seven and eight and nine shot mags) once you become familiar enough with these tools to want to carry one around.