One warning, if you expect to be able to walk into your local gunshop and pick up a 625, think again. S&W runs models like the 625 in batches and this creates a "feast or famine" situation on the retail market. They'll be out of stock for months to a full year and then all of the sudden they'll show up in the shops and get snapped up in a couple of weeks. Quite simply, if you see a new 625 for sale, you don't think about it, or ask if you should buy it, you buy the gun on the spot. If you then find it's not your cup of tea, just wait a few weeks until the famine hits and offer it for sale, you'll get an immediate flood of responses if you asking price is anywhere close to what you paid.
BTW, I learned this lesson when I purchased my 610-3. In hindsight I should have purchase 4 610 revolvers, one in the 6 1/2 inch barrel that I now have and 3 in the 4 inch barrel. Had I done that I could have sold 2 of the 4 inch version and had a 4 inch 610 for myself at zero cost out of my pocket. In just one year I've seen the asking price for the 610 go from about 800 retail in a shop to over 1200 on Gunbroker.
As for why, MOON CLIPS. I currently have 70 moon clips for my 610, which means that should I wish to I can load up 420 rounds of ammo for the range. Then I could blast through 420 rounds in less time than any semi shooter I've ever met. Reloads happen as quickly as swapping a magazine but they are cheap enough that you can have a lot of ammo preloaded and never have to stop to reload a magazine. Finally, when you take all those shot up clips home with the casings still in them that means that you'll never lose a single casing.
