Handgun Comparisons?

The best thing to do would be to go to a gun range actually shoot the calibers to see what they feel like. It also lets you see how a particular gun handles & get an idea of the muzzle flash. Some gun ranges will rent pistols but you have to buy the ammo from them. You can also see if any friends have something and would be willing to go to the range with you so you can shoot. Female police officers might also be a good source of info as to recommendations for a pistol. The 9mm is the cheapest to shoot (you can usually catch the Winchester USA ammo on sale for about 6-7 bucks for a box of 50). The .38 Special would probably be the next in line for getting inexpensive practice ammo. A shooting instructor once said, find a pistol that is comfortable for you, in a caliber that you know you can handle without a problem, and get the heaviest weight bullet for that caliber. Here is Wikipedia's take on the calibers you listed.

9mm :http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9_mm_Luger

.38 special :http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.38_Special

.45 :http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.45_ACP

9mm is the frugal option, ammo is cheap and abundant, it also kicks much less than either of the others. The .45 ACP is the best cartridge for defense as it has the most knockdown power, and with a double stack magazine could take on any threat. The .45 acp does kick the most of these cartridges however, if you are recoil sensitive at all I would recommend the 9mm as it kicks the least. If you buy a .38 special you should really buy a .357 magnum which can use both the .38 special, and the .357 magnum. The .357 magnum is quite a bit more powerful than the 9mm, but less powerful than the .45 acp. Price wise the gun itself will cost the same in most any caliber, it all depends which kind of gun you buy. One thing you might want to consider is the 40 s&w, it strikes the balance between the stopping power of the .45 acp and the controllability of the 9mm. I'd recommend the Springfield XD in .40 S&W.

here's some load data I dug up might help,these are only averages

9mm 115 gr 900fps 164 ft-lbs

38 super 135 gr 1040 fps 323 ft-lbs

38 special 125 gr 760 fps 150 ft-lbs

40 s&w 150 gr 1000 fps 333 ft-lbs

357 mag 158 gr 1350 fps 648 ft-lbs

45 acp 185 gr 825 fps 284 ft-lbs

45 long colt 250 gr 1050 fps 617 ft-lbs

now here's the trick ft-lbs = knock down people might argue but if you use 2 bullets of simmular construction than ft-lbs = knock down

Most revolvers have slightly more kick than an auto because the slide takes up allot of recoil.

I personely like the 38 super but it is slightly more expensive to shoot but it shoots flatter and has as much knockdown as most of the bigger autos.check out different web sights for gun weights as they all vary for example a glock 45 weighs alot less than a colt combat 45.go to a local gunshop and see what fits comfortably in your hand but two things to remember women have less padding in the palm of the hand so they usualy like guns with a larger grip that also goes into consideration that if you find a gun that you think feals good remember you will be adding a full magazine to that gun.Good luck in deciding or just start a collection and buy them all

9mm is easiest to control and hold on target it is also by far the cheapest to shoothowever you will trade off on knck down power.for knckdown power i would say the .45. for decades the military used this caliber due to its knckdown power.the .38 cal is sort of in between i peronally never much cared for this cal.i hope this is helpful

a 9mm will do perfect. not much of a kick not expensive to shoot and compact. 45cal is to dame big/bulky your hands most likely and to expensive to shoot. if you ever decide to carry concealed in few years the you might want to upgrad to a 45cal or a 9mm will do too, but nothing less than a nine.

Hi Dixie girl, do you have small hands? I recommend checking out the Lady Smith smith & wesson.

Or the smaller Glock.

Happy plinking....