I've always had a fascination with large-frame, big-bore revolvers and have recently come to the conclusion that I'd like to buy one. The model that I'm considering is the 8.375" Taurus Raging Bull in .44 Magnum (I know some people have some poor opinions of Taurus, but I like the look and feel of the Raging series and it's also their top-of-the-line).
The big bores are fun, so I don't blame you. Most of the negative opinions about Taurus come from people who have never owned one and are just repeating internet BS, or people who have had Taurus autopistols, which may indeed be poor quality. (I have never had one, so cannot speak from authority.) I have had quite a few Taurus revolvers and have been satisfied with all of them. I am sure the one you have under consideration would work just fine.
The problem here is that I'm fairly new when it comes to guns: I own a Beretta 90-two in 9mm that I've put only about 60 rounds through, and that's it. This will change if I'm able to get into the local gun club, but for now that's how things stand. At 6'0" and ~165 lbs, I'm also a pretty skinny guy. I handled a 8.375" Taurus Model 44 and a 6.5" Bull at the local Gander Mountain and both were certainly intimidating weapons (especially compared to my 90-two), but it's not like I was about to run and hide from them.
I have not found that body weight makes much of a difference one way or another. I have known 150 pound men who shrugged off .500 level recoil and 300 pound men that could not tolerate heavy .357 loads. I will agree with the folks that tell you to get a .22 -- at least if your intention is to become a competent shot. If you just want to have fun and make noise (which is fine, of course) then starting with the .44 will work.
From my research, it seems like a lot of the talk about the recoil in a .44 is overrated, but there are those who just plain don't like it. The gun guy at a local store recommended that I get a .357 instead of a .44, as he said they're more fun for just casual shooting (which is what my intention is for the .44). I will admit that I do have some reservations about the .44 just due to my lack of firearms experience and from having no formal firearms training, but the Bull is a four-pound, fourteen-inch, ported monster so I don't think that the recoil will be unmanageable. I've even seen videos of kids shooting the Bull so if they can shoot it I figure there's no reason I can't, but they've probably had more instruction than me and I don't want to make a fool of myself by smacking myself in the forehead (which I've also seen, but that may have been in .454).
Few people find .44 Magnum recoil physically painful. It really is just noise and blast that is insulting to the nervous system and makes accurate shooting more difficult. I don't find it "fun" anymore but can still manage it if I need the results. You don't have to worry about smacking yourself with that gun, or ripping the skin off your hands, or whatever. You'll probably just find that it makes you flinch pretty quickly, and that whatever accuracy you are capable of will head downhill after only a few rounds with it.
My personal strategy with the truly hard kickers is to bring a .22 with me. I will shoot a few rounds with the big boy and, when I can fell my nerves getting jangled, I switch to the .22 to calm down and reinforce the fundamentals. Then back to the big gun for a few more rounds, and so on.
Finally, keep in mind that my 9mm is still going to be my main plinking gun; I don't plan on sending 100 rounds downrange in one sitting with the Bull. I want the Bull so that I can have some fun shooting watermelons and the like (and just for the satisfaction of having a large revolver), so maybe no more than two cylinders' worth at a time. Of course, this could change if I really like the gun.
Again, I am sure the Taurus will fulfill those desires. And, if we are being honest, a bunch of us "experienced" guys will tell us that we succumbed to our own foolish desires early on. My first revolver was a .357, and my second a .44 magnum. Together they went a long way toward wrecking what small skill I had with handguns at the time. After I wised up and got the big bores "out of my system" for a while, I bought some good .22s and learned how to shoot, before returning to the "fun" guns.
HTH!
