Let me revise my original post a bit.

I am familiar with handguns and have shot a few.

I have shot the 357 a bit, but reason being why I dont shoot alot is the lack of a place to discharge the firearm. Same withmy rifles..Being a member of the local gun club here will allow me to shoot more and shoot more often since its only about 2 miles from where I sit. Im pretty excited to have a place where ill be able to shoot on a regular basis.

Im leaning more towards a 40cal just cause its in between the 9mm and 45 and think its a nice middle ground. I havent really gone too far yet to go out and buy or handle any of them yet, but i know that if i do buy oneI would prefer it to be American made.

I do like the look of the S&W M&P as well as the XD Springfields you posted above.

Im looking somewhere in the $500 range. Hoping that can get me a nice solid pistol for years of problem free shooting.