Either of your S&W's would be perfect but for a self-defense gun I would take the .44 Special. Plenty of oomph for small blackies & cougars and the lower recoil makes it more controllable if you need to engage anything with two legs.
I would urge you not carry a SA revolver for self-defense. Learn to use one of your DA revolvers accurately (read that as "practice"). In fact, I would carry the S&W that has the DA pull that feels best to you. You also need to put a good number of rounds thru it in DA firing to make sure the main spring tension hasn't been unduly messed with. I have a S&W .357 that was perfect in SA firing but would misfire about 1in 6 in while shooting DA because of light primer strikes.
You also need to make sure the loads you carry will fall out of the chamber. A defensive situation is no time for sticky extraction...ya, and make sure the cylinder is kept clean as well...for the same reason.
Lastly, spend a LOT of time doing dry fire practice so you have the feel of the DA etched into your brain and trigger finger. Most S&W revolvers have a DA pull that if you practice enough can be shot DA but in a manner that is very much like shooting SA. Find an old timer PD who had to carry an S&W that was department modified to shoot "DA-only" and he can show you. There is a point in the DA stroke that the cylinder has fully rotated and "locked" but the hammer hasn't fallen. When learned, you can pull the trigger DA and hold the hammer for a single action feel release...and brought to bear very quckly. Learn to shoot this way and you won't ever need to shoot SA again...or want to.
Last edited by PastorDan; 09/03/12.
