[m21sniper]

A .22 is a much, much better gun to learn to shoot with, and much, much cheaper to become truly proficient with. Also, if his primary purpose is target practice, it will be far more rewarding to own because the results of his practice will be much more impressive. A decent .22 target pistol will almost make 1 hole patterns at 25 yards, whereas the typical economy auto will be more likely to achieve no more than 3-4" groups even in the hands of an accomplished shooter.

If his intended use was primarily defense id agree a .45 is best, but for a target shooter? .22 is a much more logical choice IMO.

Some 9mm penetrates very deeply, but then, deep penetration is also typically anathema to excellent expansion. I am a 9mm guy myself, and use 115gr Cor-bon(which does not penetrate car doors but does match the muzzle energy of most factory 110gr .357 magnum loads, and is a very flat shooting and accurate cartrdige).