Mark,
Not to detract from you wanting to purchase a big bore handgun, but personally if I was in your position, I wouldn't get one right now. You said that you have no experience with handguns, so I would recommend that you pick up a quality .22auto pistol, or revolver first. By doing so, you can practice the fundamentals of firing a heckuva lot more for a fraction of the cost. People may argue with me on this one, but handguns are generally all the same when it comes to shooting. If you practice the correct techniques, there isn't a huge jump from a .22 to a 9mm to a 41/44. It all comes down to fundementals. My brother who is almost 3 years older than me, and more than 100lb. bigger "punches" shots with his .44...he's already developed a slight flinch. Is it that he is a wimp?...no, but that doesn't mean I won't call him that...hehehe
. The fact of the matter is that he is trying to learn on something that distracts his concentration...a .22 won't do this. I use my mkII pistol probably 10 times more than my 41 mag. for #1 because I'm a tightwad, but #2 is because it's less distracting when squeezing off a shot....you stay to the basics. Pistols aren't like rifles in many respects, the foremost is that you need to practice at least once a week for the most part to stay really proficient with them(again, some may disagree). A shorter sighting plane, lack of 3 points of contact, etc... just makes it tougher to use. I won't tell you not to buy a larger pistol, but from classes I've gone through for law enforcement and the military, and helping to teach my troops to shoot, most shoot pretty poorly until they get the basic fundementals down, which is what I think you should think about. Just my .02.
~~~Amos
P.S. Oh yeah, I haven't gotten a deer with my .41 blackhawk yet, but I have no doubt in my mind that it is capable of doing the job on deer out to 75-100yds. or so.....Good luck!!!
