Well, I thought long and hard about it and I decided that performance was useless if I didn't want to carry the piece. I went to the store to check them out again. It had been a few months, and the 6" and 4" were gone. They did have an 8" but it was way too bulky. I walked by the Taurus display and saw they had a stainless Tracker in .41 Magnum, with a 4" barrel. After I handled it, it had to come home. This is what I had been looking for, light, easily packable (so it would not stay at home), and more powerful than the .357. 80% of the performance of the .44, with less recoil and bulk. It is pretty controllable, and shoots 2" groups at 25 yards with factory loads. My only gripe is that the triggerguard bangs the second joint of my second finger in recoil, but I'll add a strip of padding.
Thanks for all the help.
