Been carrying for 15 years now. Started out with my S&W M640 Centennial in .357 Mag. I was a big believer in the original 125 grain JHP Magnum load and wanted to stick with that. That is a full stainless gun but still... some serious blast and recoil with those full blast loads.
Then I discovered a S&W M296 Airweight Centennial in .44 Special. 18.5 ounces. I swapped out the tiny boot grips for some larger ones and that was that. Carried that gun for ten years or so. Still go pull it out on occasion when I want ultra light weight. IMO, the high speed load in .44 Special is the Barnes style bullet CorBon loads in the 200 grain DPX load. Long bullet since it is all copper and huge hollow point. Doesn't have to be loaded to absolute max to expand every time. Very nice round.
Am I carrying that now? Being a revolver guy, I'm sorry to say no. The Colorado theatre shootings were in my mind for weeks. What if I was in a theatre like that, would I be carrying a gun that would at least give me a fighting chance? The M296 had decent accuracy for a small five shot fixed sight DAO gun but if you were under fire from 30 yards away... in the dark... with muzzle flashes swinging your way... and the bad guy wearing some type of vest? Sounds way too much like the Tyler, TX shooting and that guy ended up dead despite multiple hits on the bad guy. So I sighed and moved to an auto but it did let me switch to a cartridge I've loved and loaded for for a long time now. HK P2000 LEM in .357 SIG. 12+1, very good long range accuracy, ability to penetrate a lot of the vests out there. Put a spare mag on the belt, 25 rounds of high performance Gold Dots.
I actually own both versions of the Rossi 720 and they are fine guns. I still use the adjustable sighted version as a farm gun. Killing gun for medium to large animals that need to be put down. I bought the fixed sight gun thinking I would carry it. Turned out to just be too heavy IMO for daily carry. No comparison between it and the M296. I like the Rossi... but I'm not willing to carry around solid steel guns all day. After all these years carrying guns... I've come to the conclusion that weight trumps everything else!
Gregg
I believe both are very good, viable, SD revolvers. That said, I prefer big bores in snub barreled guns, not relying on expansion but rather big holes and shot placement. I carry a 2 1/2" 44 Bulldog. But again you really cant go wrong with either your Rossi or Ruger.
