RE: ice with and plink around need a good pistal cal
 

hey newguy, i like people who see quality firearms when they see em, been a gunsmith over 15 yrs. now. and kimbers firearms are some of the finest i ever owned. dont have to do nothing to em, but shoot em. great pistol you have there!

RE: ice with and plink around need a good pistal cal
 

I'm also a big fan of 1911's, but you saying "you almost know nothing about pistols", so I'd suggest staying away from autos. I'd suggest a revolver in 357mag. A revolver is a very simple design and very user friendly to a rookie. Like others have said, you can plink with .38 special loads without breaking the bank and then use full power 357mag loads for "doing some damage".

RE: ice with and plink around need a good pistal cal
 

9mms are the cheapest centerfire pistol to shoot. I buy winchester value pack of 100 rds for $10 at Wallyworld.
There are a lot of good 9mms out there- Berettas, Highpowers, Glocks, XD-9s.

.45 pistols are more expensive to buy and more expensive to shoot. They can be made real cheap to shoot if you reload. It costs me about $.05 per round or less to shoot mine- $.02 for a primer, $.015 for 5.5 gr of w231, bullets cast from wheelweights that I get for free, brass that you will lose long before you wear it out.:D

If you just want something cheap and powerful and have a little bit of a WTF (is that)? factor try one of these:

http://aimsurplus.com/acatalog/CZ52_7_62x25_Pistol.html

and buy a 1200 rd case of ammo for $120


Makarovs are also good cheap guns that shoot cheap ammo.