Alright, so I went to the range and shot a gun for the first time in my life, about a month ago. I definitely got "the bug", and a buddy of mine is getting a group of friends together to do a CCW class together at the end of March. I would like to have my first handgun by then, so that I could take it with me and do the class with it. I'm 6'1" and about 185lbs, so I'm not huge and don't know if it will be reasonable to carry a full sized gun on me.
At the range I shot a Glock 9mm, and some variation of a .45 1911. I was definitely more accurate with the Glock, and like the thought of great reliability without having to spend a ton on a handgun. Because of this I've naturally been looking at the more compact Glocks.
Now beyond a Glock I'm completely lost. I know there are just an incredible amount of options out there, and the only other guns I've really looked at are the more compact S&W's. And admittedly that's only due to name recognition and aesthetics. So if you guys could help me narrow things down to 2-3 choices that I could go to the range and try out, that would be much appreciated.
My last question is an often discussed topic, 9mm or .40? The guy working at the Powder Room that I talked to made it seem like the extra power of the .40 over 9mm wasn't that great to really bother going with it. What's your guys take on it? This gun will be for carry and home defense (at least until I can get my dream AR 15).
Thanks everyone.