Under $300 .38 Snub?...

[Beagle333]

Another vote for Taurus 85 here. It's a sweet little pocket gun. My wife loves hers and I know I like carrying it and shooting it. I feel confident that 5 SD rounds from a 38+P would allow me to move to a safer location if needed.

 

[Deus Machina]

I got my 2.5" Taurus M85 Ultra-Lite for about $300 out the door.
Love the little things, but I avoid super-hot loads. It's locked on me a couple times with super-fast +P. Never did figure out if it was the original firing pin spring locking up or just the rounds jumping crimp, but it's never done it to anything in standard pressure. So I save the money and carry some basic semi-jacketed HP until I can find some semi-wadcutter HP.

 

[TimSr]

How confident are you in those wadcutters getting the job done?

My 148gr cast DEWC are handloaded and come out of my taurus 85 at 950fps. I think they'll suffice.