Couple points (personal opinion only)
Glocks: Very, very fine weapons. Im partial to the 19 and the 23 (9mm and .40 respectively). I worked at a rifle range as an instructer all throughout college and we must have put over a million rounds through the 17 - not a single misfire, not a single stove pipe, not a single jam, not a single FTF/FTE. I deplore the "pointability" of the weapon, but for a quick, precise defense weapon and "plinker" you cant do much better for the money. These things will shoot forever, maintained properly or not. The downside is the safety (or lack thereof). There is a small plastic piece on the trigger that must be depressed before the trigger can be pulled - its not really any "less safe" than any other firearm, but new comers may feel uneasy about it.
1911's: The best. Colt, Springfield Armory, Kimber, Les Baer - all great 1911 manufacturers. Much like MiniD, I prefer to replace to the stock wodden or plastic grips with rubber wrap arounds as I have fairly large hands. The .45 ACP round is the absolute BEST for self defense. Its slow, and hits like a hammer. Whatever you fire at will nto be getting back up. I still maintain that the .45 ACP is the finest pistol round made. The must be taken care of, but they will east any round you feed them, will fire every time, and will fire accurately (there is a reason more than 90% of compitition shooters use modified 1911's as their peices.) The downsides are again - new user unfreindly. The short barrel 1911's have a tendency to "kick" a little too much for the new shooter, and the single action is enough to scare some people. The firearm must be carried "locked and cocked" to be effective. The visable cocked hammer can be nerve racking for some if its pointed down at your foot in a holster. The "pointability" is as good as they get though. You can hit what you want to without even really aiming the weapon. Another downside - the weapon is VERY heavy compared to the others.
Berreta 92F: Basically the same as the military's M9, the 92F is a fine pistol for most - but I dont like it. The two models we had at the range (92F standard and a 96 (.40) Inox) were very troublesome. The would jam consistantly with certain types of ammo, they must be cleaned fanatically, and we had two slides break within 40,000 rounds. Alot of people swear by them, and the US military has adopted them. The 9mm ammo is cheap, but not very effective at stoping a target (US Army/MC manuals state that 5 rounds must be fired to "stop" a charging enemy. I dont htink the 9mm is a good defensive round for this reason, as well as the fact that it is a very high velocity round and in a defense situation, may pass through your target and strike an innocent bystander. The weapon is fairly large and difficult to conceal, but its easy to shoot.
H&K's: Dont like these at all. Serious reliability issues with the models Ive shot, and they just feel too "plasticky."
Sig Sauers: Fine weapons again. The P228 we had didnt stand up to hundreds of thousands of rounds very well, but replacement parts are cheap and easy to find. Good feel, light weight, large magazine capacity, and in 9mm form, not too difficult to handle for a first time shooter.
I still say stick with the 1911's. You just cant go wrong with a Colt, SA, or Kimber.
