How much experience do you have with handguns? I don' t mean any disrespect, to you or your choice, it' s a great gun, it' s just that the .40' s a bit much to start out with, and Semi-auto' s aren' t usually the best choice for beginners. It could be worse, you could be getting a .45acp, the .40' s not going to be too terribly over powered for a beginner, but it kicks enough that if you don' t know what you' re doing, it wouldn' t be as much fun as a lighter kicking round.

I' m mostly concerned with the fact that it is an auto, sure it' s easy if you think about it, but as far as things go, running' s easy too, but we all walked first. I' ve watched people start with handguns for years and years now, seen them progress, the guys that figure things out faster are the guys that start out on a single action, I' m not really sure why it is, but it' s what I see. Some guys I watch start on single actions have switched over to autos and done better sooner than the guys that started out with autos. They might just be fast learners, and they might have reached that point just as fast if they had started out with autos, we' ll never know, but it' s happened on enough occasions for me to think that there is something to it.

I' d get the Ruger P-94 if it were me, but that' s if it were me, and I' m not you now am I? Try one out though, they have the second best fit of any autos I' ve held, only second to 1911' s/1991' s. The browning doesn' t feel bad, it just doesn' t seem to fit quite right and they don' t point as naturally for me.

If you do go ahead and get it, I' m sure it' ll be fine, it' s one of those things that if you never tried something, you' d never know if it would have helped or not, so you probably won' t ever notice the difference. Good luck with it, it' s a great gun and a great round, just remember to keep your eye on the ball, and:

Keep your thumbs down<---very important for beginners, I' ve seen countless beginners BREAK their thumbs by sticking them up into the slide on the shot accidentally, almost always on the offhand/support hand, but a busted or dislocated thumb isn' t fun whether it keeps you from shooting or not.

Keep your elbow tight, but not locked<--inhibits circulation, you' ll start to shake pretty fast, much moreso than if you just keep your arm firm.

Don' t put your face against the gun to aim either<--really stupid, but I' ve seen it done more than once!!! I' m assuming you are smart enough that you realized that the slide would whallop you, but like I said, I' ve seen it, so I gave up on assuming anything.

Don' t lower your face when shooting, you don' t have a stock to rest on, so your head shouldn' t be cranked down, I always see all of these greenhorns with their necks all sucked down, or crinked over lowering their head to align with the sights, un-natural positions cause tensions in your body, you' ll shoot better by bringing the gun to level with your eye, as opposed to straining your muscles down to it, which will also make you shake rather quickly. If anything, simply tilt your head slightly to the right (for right handed shooters) so that it' s easier to distinguish between your sight picture and your off-eye view <---oh yeah, shoot with both eyes open, forgot to mention that, just remember to keep your dominant eye on the sights, so you don' t sight cross-body, which gives all kinds of problems.

Most of the rest of it comes from normal shooting practices, all the sight allignment and the stance and such. It' d be a good idea to pal in with someone at the range, or take a class or something, just so you don' t teach yourself bad habits.