I am interested in getting into pistol shooting and need some help and recommendations on brand and calibers to buy! Any info would be a big help on making my first handgun purchase!!

Thanks.

I am a big fan of 1911 style pistols. I shoot them nearly exclusively. I own nothing but kimbers in .45acp and 9mm. There are a swarm of people making 1911 pistols from a few hundred dollars to thousands. You should be able to buy a great shooting 1911 in the 600-1000 dollar range. Some other good names are colt, springfield, sti, s&w, wilson combat, and sigarms. Hope this helps and happy shooting.

thornell's response is good in that many pistol shooters do end up with a 1911. A good .22 Target pistol like the Ruger is never a bad place to start unless a defense application is part of the equation. For light recoil with very good accuracy, you might think about a CZ 75 in 9mm. You can also get a .22 conversion kit that will allow you to shoot both calibers from the same pistol. There are many good choices. Shoot as many as you can before deciding. Many ranges have rentals. Many are well used and affect the accuracy aspect a bit, but you can get a good idea of how comfortable they are to shoot.

Revolvers should not be overlooked. Especially a good .357 Magnum. You can start with lighter recoiling .38 Specials in them and then move up to .357 Magnum loads that are the equal of anything as a defense round. You'll also get a revolver you'll never outgrow.

Do yourself a favour. Go down to your local club and see what competitive matches intrest you and which disipline has the nicest bunch of guys shooting it. There is no point in gettin a fat frame 1911 type pistol if most of the good guys at the club shoot single stack only. Even if you are shooting "practical" competition there are different classes and minor differences in firearm specifications between IPSC and IDPA. As an EG, at my club, nobody shoots open class IPSC. Turn up with a nice race gun and you are shooting on your own.

once you know what disipline you want to shoot, come back for specific sugestions. As an eg again, nobody competes with .45 auto's anymore in top level competion. It is all .40 or 9x23, or .38 comp.

Also, no point in buying anything but the best for competion. You will end up paying the gunsmith more than a top quality pistol would have cost in the first place.

Browning Buckmark is a fantastic 22 pistol to start with. If you are interested in a revolver, pick up and old model 17 S&W. Its a great .22 target gun.

There is a lot to recommend buying a pistol that has a 22lr conversion kit available. There are several for the 1911 and also one for the CZ75 that I know of. Other pistols also have conversion kits but for these two they are fairly commonplace. It's great for practicing trigger control and to be able to shoot a lot of rounds cheaply with the same gun you use for competition.

kind of depends on what type of pistol shooting you want to do, practical, single action, target 2700 etc. I think I've seen more guys start out with the adjustable sighted ruger 22 than all others combined. Just make sure what ever you do has adjustable sights and a decent trigger

I have been looking at both the cz 75b and the desert baby eagle in 9mm. Both feel good in the hand. I have not had the chance to shoot either but will soon. Am I on the right track?