22-rimfire, I agree on it being difficult to not choose a .22 LR over a magnum. I am old enough to see that magnums are becoming less fun to shoot, and certainly more expensive. As for my choice of .357, it was based on the lack of really large critters in Texas, the South, and Southwest. I am sure that if I walked among living relics of the Pleistocene, I might have chosen a heavier sixgun, and I do have a couple of them. But, remembering Phil Shoemaker's recent article in one of the Wolfe Publications magazines, on back-up handguns for Alaska, I see that a properly-loaded .357 is far from useless even in that environment. Edited to add: Phil Shoemaker is an experienced Alaskan guide. Please note I did not say he uses the .357 himself in Alaska.