Start with full size or compact 9mm?

A handgun to shoot it well DEMANDS much more proficiency then ANY long gun. This because they are small and can not be shouldered for optimum handling and steady hold. Whenever you go to the smaller sized handgun ALL shooting fundamentals become MAGNIFIED.

Then the smaller the handgun, the more difficult it is to shoot well. So to answer "best", best would be a full sized handgun, NO MATTER your purpose for owning it. The smaller the handgun is, the better shot you must be to shoot it well.

If you do not mind missing more then hitting what you shoot at, well, ya might like a sub-compact to just make noise. If you enjoy some success hitting what you shoot at, well, you are one who would enjoy a barrel on your handgun. * REMEMBER ammo manufacturers standard loads are designed to burn in a 6" barrel.

The shorter the barrel is the more you loose velocity. In some loads you can loose close to 30% velocity in a very short barrel. Then if a revolver even a tad more is lost due to leakage from cylinder to forcing cone.

Best? Yeah size matters, until you become a better shot, the full sized handgun, YOU might call best. I would...... I would forget the "What you are going to use it for" part.

Hitting what you shoot at is MUCH more important I would say.

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.