The Smith & Wesson Model 686 is a stainless double-action .357 Magnum built for range work and home defense. It is no longer made in this configuration, so it's a used buy. It came with a red ramp front sight and an adjustable rear, which made it a target revolver as much as a defensive one.

The rear sight adjusts, so a .38 Special practice load and a full .357 load can each have a zero of their own. The grip is plain synthetic, and it is the cheapest item on an otherwise expensive gun. The barrel is 4.13 inches under a full-length underlug and turns 1:18.75, and the gun is 9.56 inches long, 6.0 inches tall and 1.55 inches across the cylinder, which puts it on a belt and nowhere else. No part of the frame takes an optic.

If you're cross-shopping, the Smith & Wesson Model 686 Plus is the same frame with a seventh chamber, at 39.2 oz with an MSRP of $1,039, and it is still in production. The Ruger GP100 has an MSRP of $1,109, weighs 40 oz behind a 4.2-inch barrel and locks its cylinder into the frame at the front, the rear and the bottom. Both of those come with a factory warranty, and a used 686 does not.