I’ve been retired for 15+ years. I’m out with the dogs, woods bumming all but a few days of the year and carry all day, every day. My go to guns are for personal protection (for peace of mind), targets of opportunity and recreational shooting. With that in mind.

I can get along with either cartridge in the platforms I use most. On the upper end either will run 320/330gr wide meplat cast bullets in the 1,150 to 1,200 fps from a 4 ¼” bbl. On the lower end, both can be loaded for pleasant all day shooting.

For me, it boils down to platform. The older I get, the more I gravitate towards smaller, shorter, lighter handguns and I tend to shoot the double action S&W a bit better than single actions.

Either the S&W M69 (4.2” L-Frame .44 Mag), or the 4 ¼” Freedom Arms M97 in.45 Colt would work for me. Both are medium frame, 4” bbls, and weigh 35 to 37 oz. Both can be used with iron sights or can be easily scoped. And, contrary to popular belief, it easy enough to work around the FAs worrisome “short LOA”.
.
FA M97 .45 Colt
.
[Linked Image]
.
L Frame .44 Mag – bottom gun.
.
[Linked Image]
.
The M69 .44 Mag is my current everyday carry gun.

FWIW,

Paul