This is above your price range, but I would save up and get a 1911.
Once you get a 1911, you will never go back.
(And many here will advise getting a Glock. IMO, Glocks are overrated and accidents waiting to happen. Nobody would ever carry a 1911 in Condition Zero, yet this is precisely how Glocks are carried.)
Agreed, my sediments exactly, but to ask a dumb question – what is “Condition zero”.
Do you mean cocked and locked?
My two main go to handguns are a Smith&Wesson model 642 airweight snubby revolver and a Walther P-99 9mm pistol.
Its like a glock with a decocker.
condition zero I think means carrying a semi-auto handgun with an empty chamber but with the magazine inserted.
Condition 1 is Cocked and Locked.
Condition Zero is chambered and unlocked. (ready to go!)