Originally Posted by Erich

I've had a few of both . . . only ones I kept were S&Ws. The lockwork makes sense to me and I'm not scared of tearing them down.



As to strength, both have offset bolt cuts in the cylinder - they should both be perfectly adequate for a lifetime of +P use (assuming a steel frame). The D-frame has a longer length-of-pull (which is a good thing - they're easier to hit with for men with regular sized hands) and has a barrel that's 2 1/8" long vs. the J-frame's 1 7/8" barrel. The D-frame cylinder is a tiny bit thicker than the J's, but it's really not a big issue, even IWB or in the pocket.






Colt did a remarkable job in packing six rounds into very darned near the same space as the later 5-shot Chiefs. Honestly, firepower is not really the issue for me with these anymore, since any modern micro-nine is going to best both in a smaller package (and that's what I generally wind up carrying).










And then there's my amico cattivo...