For the most part service pistol cartridges do not produce uncontrollable recoil. You won't have any problem from recoil or muzzle flip provided you hold the pistol correctly. If your grip on the gun is too low the muzzle will flip up. If the grip frame of the gun is too large for your hand, you will not hold it in line with your forearm and the recoil will kick the muzzle away from the palm of your hand resulting in 9:00 hits on your target, assuming you are right handed. The majority of handguns chambered for service pistol cartridges are pretty mild mannered, provided you understand that the smaller and lighter the gun you choose, the more recoil sensation you will experience.
I find myself in the camp that dislikes Glocks. The ones I've had the opportunity to shoot have had atrocious triggers, which when combined with a poor trigger design is a serious faling gun that is designed as a life saving tool. It would be akin to a life jacket with impossible to manipulate fasteners, which it's supporters point out is safe because it is impossible for them to accidently become undone. If you can't secure your life jacket in a panic situation, in the first place, you are going to drown. In the case of the Glock trigger, if you cannot manipulate it quickly in a gun fight, you get second place. Second place comes with your very own engraved stone tablet, "Here Lies Joe Who Took a Glock to a GunFight."
Glocks are surprisingly inexpensive, and I've been tempted to purchase one just so I can point out its failings as a fighting gun. A fighting gun has 3 criteria that determine its usefulness, it must be reliable, it must have sights you can see, and a trigger you can manage. Things like the material the gun is made from, it's physical size, it's chambering, it's inherent accuracy, and the magazine capacity, while not exactly irrelevant, are all secondary to absolute reliability, sights that can be picked up quickly, and a good trigger. If a rifle was brought out with a Glock style trigger, very few would be sold, because it is impossible to use a rifle with a poor trigger to it's full potential under tight time constraints. The pistol by it's very nature is more difficult to shoot well than a rifle, so logic dictates that a good trigger on the pistol is all the more important. Instead Glock opted to make the trigger as complex and difficult to use under stress as possible, all supposedly in the name of safety, ignoring the fact that a totally safe pistol is totally useless pistol. This is unfortunate, because except for its trigger the Glock has much going for it. It is a reasonable size and weight, it has proven to be a reliable service pistol in real world conditions, it has a generous magazine capacity, decent sights, and an attractive sticker price. If Glock's designers could put a safety on this thing and a good crisp SA trigger, it would be a very good out of the box pistol, and more affordable than a 1911 which more often than not requires some work before it can be deemed suitable for carry.
