[tahunua001]

First, where does the 40 fit in?

the simple fact of the matter is that it doesn't, at least not as far as I'm concerned. the 40 is an intermediary cartridge, not as powerful as te 45ACP while not having the ammo capacity of 9mm, ammo prices until recent months were just as cost prohibitive as 45ACP and therefore had little advantage as far as I'm comcerned. does 40S&W have no place in firearms? no, after all variety is the spice of life but for the purposes of this commentary there was just no room for it.

It is the in between. It was developed by the FBI as a softer shooting version of a serious fighting caliber like the 45 auto and 10mm.

the FBI doesn't design ammunition, the round may have been developed FOR the FBI as an alternative to the harder hitting 10mm round but it sure wasn't designed by a law enforcement agency, pretty sure with a name like 40 Smith and Wesson that I can guess who did design it within 3 guesses. furthermore, if their goal was to make a lighter recoiling round than the 45ACP, they failed. 40 S&W is one of the snappiest recoiling rounds available for semi automatic pistols and as such would be a poor choice for a new shooter to learn with. that is not to say that it would be an impossible obstacle to overcome, but it would be a stumbling block and as you will notice, I advocate going with the lightest recoiling round that is capable of fulfilling the owner's needs.

there are several ways to view firearms safety, but given the already lengthy post, I decided to er on the side of general concepts, it is easy to classify safety devices as passive or active, once you start getting into indepth mechanical and operational safety it can begin to become overwhelming for a person that is beginning to research firearms for the first time.

Now, what to suggest.....I would suggest you pick a mid sized or full sized pistol which feels good in hand. An XD40, Glock 19, or a pre-lock K frame revolver all sound nice to me. Accept this as a start instead of an end to your finding a gun process.

not a bad example but if you suggest a person start by picking what feels best inhand they may be disapointed when they find that Wilson 1911 that fits like a glove that exceeds their budget by 450%, once a person has decided what they are willing to pay, what they are comfortable buying, and what they feel safest operating, THEN they can begin to decide what feels best in hand from whatever guns fit their criteria.

Even as a strong defender and proponent of the .40, I agree with tahuna's suggestion of 9mm for first-time shooters. I wouldn't reccomend either .45 or .40 if you're a beginner. The 5-6 first-time buyers I have helped have all been steered by me toward a 9mm.

this is essentially the point I was trying to make as far as calibers were concerned. the lightest round that is capable of meeting the buyer's needs, notice that the only time I recommended 45ACP over the others was in a situation where you would need it to take down something larger than a human and did not have money for more than one firearm.