mr surveyer's post finally got me to chime in to this thread, even though I see you finally made your decision.....mr surveyor wrote:S&W, Colt, Ruger....all good revolvers. I've never owned a Colt revolver but have owned my share of S&W snubs and Rugers. I now have only one S&W M36 (in nickle), but like it's predessors it gets very little use. I have come to love my 3" SP101 .357 so much that I rarely carry anything else. Solid, dependable, reliable and very accurate shooter. I just could never master the little j-frames...particularly the airweights. The M36 in steel is a very good shooter, but I prefer to carry .357, and the 3" SP101 handles even the hot loads as well as the M36 handles the .38 spl's. As for pocket carry... it's not for me anyway, so not an issue in my day to day routine. But, I can wear a loose cover shirt rather than "office attire" during my daily work routine so the SP101 is belt carried. I will admit that "out of the box" the Smith's have much better triggers, but with a bit of patience, a lot of dry firing, and maybe one step down reduced power springs (very inexpensive and easy to install), the Rugers can be very smooth. Detail stripping a Ruger is pretty darned easy too.
surv
(oh, I would love to have a vintage Colt Detective Special some day, but I'd probably still carry the SP101)
Like him, I've never owned a Colt revolver, but have owned several S&Ws. Those Colts that Doc lovingly refurbishes are things of beauty, and I nearly bought the one he sold to Divided Attention, but she beat me to it! In any case, I (we) currently own 4 revolvers: my 5" Model 29 Classic .44 Magnum, my M&P340 .357, my Model 640 .357, and my wife's Model 642 .38 +P. From a carry perspective:
- I never carry the Model 29 at all. Don't even own a holster for it. It's an N Frame with a 5" barrel and a full length underlug, and it weighs a LOT.....maybe not as much as a Ruger Redhawk, but it is still not a practical carry gun. Besides which, it has that black polished finish you love so much on Divided Attention's snubbie. Carrying it for any length of time would eventually mark up that finish and wear it off in places.
The M&P340 is the lightest of all our revolvers, and it has an abbreviated "boot grip." That's the one I throw in a pocket when I head out to the yard or mailbox, or when the heat is just too great to bear carrying anything bigger and heavier.
The Model 640 is all stainless steel, and it would be the rough equivalent of a hammerless SP101. In other words, it is really too heavy for a pocket gun. In fact I own two semiautos with higher capacity that weigh less, both of which are pocketable, and which I will carry in a pocket or a holster before I will carry the 640. I use it almost exclusively as an instructional gun when I'm teaching a basic handgun class.
The Model 640 used to be my wife's EDC when her choice was between it and her Glock 19 (which wouldn't easily go into or come out of her carry purse). She now has a Kahr CW9 for an EDC.
I have actually lusted after the 3" SP101 for a while. Make mine a .357 for its versatility. But if I got one, I would almost certainly sell off the Model 640 because I can't justify having both. And if I got one, I would only belt carry it. I'm not a revolver collector, so I'm only thinking in terms of filling a niche in my armory, rather than in making a collection more complete.....consequently, it is hard for me to justify a heavy, low capacity revolver for belt carry. At that point, it becomes a matter of the heart more than anything else. I mentioned that I nearly bid on Doc's gun, but had I bought it, it is so pretty that I would have in all likelihood never carried except as a "mini-BBQ gun" simply because I would have wanted to keep it that pristine looking.
So the point of all of this is to make sure that you're clear about your expectations. Me? I was primarily looking for a BUG/Pocket gun that was actually practical in that role. The M&P340 fills that bill extremely well, but it was expensive. The cost was worth it (to me) for its intended use. Anyway, just be clear about your expectations. Nothing wrong with any of those choices per se, but there might be a disconnect between your expectations and what you actually wind up using the gun for. Just food for thought........
....and by the way, good choice you made......