Full sized 1911.

First as in "first"....then a high quality .22 with adjustable sights and good trigger.

If it is really "do it all" a .22 would be limited....

If first as in first center fire then a Glock 17.....10 mags....flashlight...plastic holster and mag/flashlight carrier....a couple of quality gunslinger classes....

He would them be truly good to go....would never need anything else unless he started "collecting" or wanted to hunt something bigger than whitetail deer...

Byron

The new Smith & Wesson SD9VE or SD40VE are hard to beat for the price. These are just over $300 around here.

I bought one of the original all black SD9's and liked it so well that I bought another one, the SD9VE. The VE is a cheaper model that does away with the front night site and has a silver slide.

They are really an upgraded Sigma, which was a decent gun with a lousy trigger. The SD9 trigger is world's better. Both of these 9mm's have been 100% reliable so far, with 200-300 rounds through each one. And I shoot them as well or better than I do my full size M&P9.

Ammo is not to bad if you do not reload and Glocks are pretty easy to learn on. My dad is not a handgunner too much (he did shoot IPSC for several years with me with a 1911) but he does better with a Glock 17. Has a Para and a Kimber 1911 but a Glock is way simpler/easier for him. Sometimes SA autos can be alittle hard for beginners to remember mechanical aspects of. Safeties,hammers, cocked and lock etc. Glocks are the point and shoot cameras of the gun world. Heck even most cops learn to shoot them well!!!

If not a centerfire a Ruger MKII. Pretty easy to find on the used market around me. My first gun was a 686 but the second was a MkII my parents gave me for Christmas when I was 18. I shot the heck out of it and learned to shoot.