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Hey there. Thank-you for the ping. I don't consider myself an "expert" by any means. All I can offer is some common sense suggestions.

I went to a gun range where they rent guns and tried a couple of .45s before deciding that caliber wasn't for me. My husband, .45MAN, hadn't yet purchased his first .45. I concentrated on finding a 9 mm that I liked.

My first purchase, a Walther P99, was my "dream gun." It was light, sturdy, easy to maintain and reliable. When I felt confident enough to carry, the Walther all of a sudden didn't fit the bill. Because I would mainly be carrying in a concealed carry purse where a gun gets knocked around, I wanted a gun with a safety. That's when I bought my Beretta 92 Custom Carry.

The Beretta is accurate, dependable (only jammed once in thousands of rounds fired - I decided that was due to an inexpensive, generic mag that I had purchased) and fits me like a glove. Then, I made the mistake of looking for something a little smaller and purchased a Taurus PT111. Hated it from the first time I brought it to the range. (That'll teach me for not test-firing one first). It was loud, boisterous (short barrel, big recoil), jammed frequently and had the *longest* trigger pull I have ever experienced. It got cleaned, oiled and put back on a shelf after me trying to like it during several trips to the range.

2-3 months ago, I took the Walther and Taurus and traded them plus some cash for a Walther P88 compact new in the box. Took it to the range the next day and just grinned from ear to ear after putting 20 rounds through it. I knew that it was going to be a great gun after examining it at a gun show. Don't ask me how. Woman's intuition, I guess. I'm happy to have it and my Beretta as my primary and back-up weapons.

Now, .45MAN, who is larger than I am, would tell you a different story than I about finding his "ideal guns." His two favorites, after trial and error, are his Glock 21 (.45 caliber) and his Cougar 8045. He also has retained a couple of 9 MM semi-automatics that he "plinks" with.

We're looking for a rifle and are pretty convinced it will end up being a Savage .308. They are inexpensive, but reliable and accurate. We plan on getting a good scope to compliment it. .45MAN has been doing endless research on the Internet and polling people that we know who own rifles for their opinions.

So, in a nutshell, no one can really tell you what will be good for you. It's a long process of trial and error. You may end up purchasing and then trading several firearms before coming up with the ones that you feel most comfortable with.

Since you sold them, you at least have that background going for you to know what is reliable for the money.

Good luck! Let me know what you end up with. I've pinged FreedomPoster who has far more knowledge about rifles than I.