The snubbies are in somewhat of a resurgence these days, but I expect that will fade a bit. I like the 4" as the shortest revolver I'll have.

Skeeter Skelton felt something similar, as I recall, in pointing out that sight radius much below 4" rendered sight alignment much more critical (or magnified slight errors much more, however you want to look at it). Accuracy takes a hit. As to portability, he also made the point that a 4" revolver is just as easy to conceal as a 2 1/2" revolver - the hard part here is the butt end not the barrel. Finally, the short revolver is more difficult to control.