>>2441109A fixed rear sight on that revolver means it's not as ideal for fine tuning accuracy. 357 mag in a j frame revolver also makes it more difficult to shoot accurately. Of course with practice you can make almost anything work but if you are going for a specific role I think its fine to minmax your choice a bit.
-light weight
-optional concealable for CC states to carry in town
-semi or revolver (can also be seen as capacity choice, would be comfortable with just 6-7 rds on tap or prefer double stack semi with 10-19 rds on -tap per mag)
-manual safety or no manual safety (revolvers exempted)
-rear sight (dovetail pref IMO)
-performance (ie able to adequately take down black bear up to 400lbs and cougar up to 150lbs in a few accurately placed shots as possible, and thus also quite effective on crackheads/crazy people as well)
-affordability (within your budget, affordable to shoot and purchase accessories/extra mags or quick load clips for revolvers)
-reliable (has a good reputation for reliability, revolvers have a slight reliability advantage over semis IMO but most semis are fine as well)
-comfortable in your hand/easy to shoot and train with (more of a personal choice)
Considering some of these traits I'll give some basic recs in the $200-800 range that fill some of these that I am aware of/own/shot before and are generally quite reliable.
Semi (no manual safety)
G19, compact 9mm (124gr JHP for people, 147 FMJ for bear is ok IMO) 15rd mags (can take 17rd and 33rd as well)
G26, subcompact 9mm I believe 10rd, 12rd, 15,rd 17rd, and 33rd mags available
G43, subcompact 9mm single stack (thinner), 6 rd mag
Semi (manual safety)
Ruger Security 9 compact, manual safety (has one without safety as well I believe), compact 9mm 10rd and 15rd mags
Ruger American Compact 9mm basically the same as the security 9 but has a different fit in the hand and 17rd mag
SW MP 9 2.0 compact 9mm double stack, manual safety (comes without safety as well) 15rd mag
cont
