Help a noob

Hello everyone. I've been a long time rifle and shotgun shooter, howeever I have no previous handgun experience. Im looking into buying my first.
I will be looking in to taking a handgun saftey course first.
The gun will be mostly used for range shooting. It will be my intro gun into the world of handguns. Im leaning more towards a semi. From everyone's expereince which one of the following guns are more ''beginner friendly:''

1) Springfield Xd 9
2) Springfield 1911
3) Glock 17
4) Bereta 92

If someone thinks another model might suit me, feel free to let me know.

Also, the reason Im not considering a 22 is I plan on possibly using the gun for legal concealed carry after Ive been trained and I feel comfortable with it.

thanks everyone

All of the above are excellent choices.

For CC, consider the XD for the shorter barrel while maintaining exceptional accuracy, and a great price. (I'm a fan)

You'll hear a ton of answers containing the following: "Go to a shop that rents and shoot them all".

Also, consider 9mm is sufficient for defense, and by far the cheapest centerfire caliber to shoot... and practice, practice, practice...

Good luck, welcome, and enjoy... Read a lot here. 90% great info!

JW

Semi-autos are great and I carry one, but how much time are going to spend getting to know the ins and outs of your pistol? A good revolver is easier to learn and quicker to understand.

Some may disagree, but I would not recommend a 1911 as a "beginner" pistol.

-Jeff-

I love my XD9 subcompact. Short grip works well for concealed, whip out the extended mags for range use. Plenty accurate, as well...if you're a beginner the gun will probably shoot more accurately then you can.

I would not consider a 1911 to be "beginner friendly", but the rest are fine for a beginner. For a carry weapon (ccw), a 1911 takes more training to become proficient.

As for a ccw -- I would not carry any of the above. They are too large for me to consider carrying. All of the models you mention are sidearms. If you are going to carry, then get one of the smaller versions designed for such. The XD has a compact and a sub-compact version, as does the Glock (19 and 26). I think that Beretta has a slightly smaller version too, but I'm not a Beretta fan and don't know their product lineup very well. Of course there are a myriad of compact 1911's out there.

Then again, you will most likely get more guns in the future, and if you end up getting one of ones you mention, you can always get a smaller and more easily concealed version further down the road...

PhilR.