Good Morning Annihilator,
S&W manufacturers excellent revolvers.
A 4" 586 is a heavy handgun and not easily concealed. I used to own one. I gave it to a very close friend. I even paid UPS to deliver it to my friend's FFL dealer for transfer.
A Sig P239 .40 S&W is lighter and much easier to conceal and infinitely faster to reload.
A 2.75" Model 66-8 with a 2.75" barrel is heavier than a P239, larger, and more difficult to conceal.
Revolver capacity and reloading issues cause me to prefer excellent quality semis. I can hide my Springfield Armory EMP 3 9MM in a jacket pocket. It's lighter, holds more rounds, and is much faster to reload.
I love revolvers, especially S&W revolvers, but my take is a good quality semi is a better self-defense handgun.
At one time, it might have been true that revolvers were more reliable than semis. Computer aided design and manufacturing have greatly improved quality of semis. There's no doubt in my mind that my Springfield Armory TRP .45 Auto and EMP 3 9MM are more reliable than any revolver.
I've seen the thread about a copy of Springfield Armory's Hellcat firing 20,000 rounds without a malfunction. I doubt that any revolver could match its reliability.
As far as the .357 Mag cartridge is concerned, I think it's our most versatile handgun cartridge. However, it requires a barrel length of at least 4" to be of marked benefit. Out of 4" barreled .357 Mag revolvers firing factory and hand loads, I've never been able to come close to replicating factory ballistics. Most .357 Mag factory ballistics were derived from .8.375" barrels, and even with unwieldy barrel lengths, my suspicion is velocities were inflated.
A good quality .357 Mag is an excellent wilderness survival handgun, not to be confused with a wilderness defense handgun.
For concealed carry self-defense, my opinion is the Springfield Armory EMP 3 9MM has no equal. But I do love revolvers.
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