my wife has a 38sp s&w airlite +p and I trust her life to it! its a great round with a lot of versatility. remember the 38sp was what police carried for many years, it is time tested and has stopped many BGs with proven results. one of the nice things with a revolver is reliability less moving parts means less to wrong, as with any carry gun shot placement is key so practice until you can hit the 10 ring with out thinking about it. doesn't matter how hard the bullet hit if you miss. get some speed loaders and practice reloading till you can reload with your eyes closed (use dummy rounds and practice when you watch tv)