I own a Taurus Pt 105 .40. Great gun, accurate, easy to disassemble/assemble, reasonable recoil, good ammo choices. I also own a .357 Taurus, forget the number.
Anyways with the revolver you can shoot .357 mag and .38 special, so you have a whole lotta choice in ammo and quality of loads. Takes reloads without a problem. The auto however is more finicky and hates reloads. These 2 pistols I believe represent the best 1 shot to stop percentages of common handguns (excluding Desert Eagles and "custom"guns) read that somwhere anyways, that's why I got 'em. I went with the .40 over 9mm for stopping power and over the .45 for mag capacity. I get bullets from a USBP buddy, you should get a USBP buddy, too!
Also you should see if you want a small, medium, or large frame. I have big hands and prefer the large, howver the best feeling gun I have tried was a friend's Ruger 9mm, just felt..comfy. Custom grips are a definitely worth the cost. You should come to the mainland and go to a gunshop w/ a shooting range to try out different guns before you buy (not sure you have that where you live).