Help with my first big bore revolver.

[Eb1]

Jaymo, don't mean to lead to think I am lying, but we regularly kill hogs with .22 LR that have been born and raised in the wild. Some up to 350 lbs. A 40 grain solid to the ear or right behind the ear makes for a dead hog.
We never shoot the shoulder with .22 LRs though. That would be a bad idea.

 

[Zaydok Allen]

Beyond those you get into silly stuff like X-Frames that are best ignored as the fantasies of bean counters counting on foolish buyers.

This is a backup weapon so it needs to be easily handled - a 4" barrel would be best, it seems to me.

Well how Highroad of you wlewisiii. Way to call a whole bunch of people foolish simply because you don't like something........... Comments like this that are stated as dismissive fact just irritate me to no end.

By the way, don't assume that because you can't handle an X-frame quickly, that others can't. Not all of us are built the same, and to some of us larger folks, it isn't that hard. Also, don't assume that all X-frames are built the same either. Carrying a full size XVR would be silly as a back up gun, I agree. Owning a 3-6" bbl X-frame makes a lot of sense, for a lot of reasons.

Personally I do agree with you, and think in this case the OP would be better served with a 4" .44 mag or .45 Colt, but don't be so arrogant or short sighted to think that because you have no need or desire for an X-frame, that no one else in the world does. Different animals, conditions, and regions of the country require different responses. Have you ever come around a bit of brush and trees and found yourself looking at a grizzly bear that is about 30 feet away? Suddenly an X-frame doesn't feel silly. A .44 or hot loaded .45 would probably work fine, but I'm just saying don't knock something purely because you you have no need for it.