Buying your first handgun can be overwhelming and downright confusing. We have decided to break down our top five picks for the best all around first guns. We are presenting this list in countdown order, and we're going to start from the bottom. They are all 9mms. We know that's a smaller caliber for self-defense, but that's for a good reason. While you might beat your chest about how larger calibers like .357 Magnum or 10mm are far superior, good luck finding ammo. I want the odds of any ammo I find fitting my gun to be high, and with 9mm they will be. And I love .45 ACP as much as anyone, but it's heavy and bulky in addition to less available and more expensive. There's less felt recoil, but it's negligible. It's a simple cost/benefit decision.