Good firearms for Montana.
Yes they are, but my Rossi snub-nosed revolver gets carried more than any of them 99.5% of the time. The .38 Special has a proven track record against two legged aggressors. I know there will be those that argue about it, but prove me wrong. If there ever is an encounter, it will be at arm's length, and I do lots of drills for such an encounter... I've also done other drills with my other revolvers as well. But if I have to use my Rossi, it screams hey leave me alone in every language of the world.
For the outdoors, the Taurus mod 66 .357 Magnum gets the carry. Back in 1987 FWP Game Warden Louis Kis proved it's worthiness against a grizzly bear, with a S&W mod 66, 4" .357 Magnum with his duty ammo of 158gr JHP that they carried back then... again others will argue about it, Phil Shoemaker an Alaskan Guide of I believe 45 years will back up it's effectiveness as well.. yes he used a 9mm to stop a Kodiak, but his whole family carries .357 Magnums where he lives and works. I do use a 200gr WNFP cast bullet for bear loads. Since 1990 living here in Montana I've not had any issues with bears when we go out photographing wildlife or hiking.
The Taurus Raging Bull mod 444, 44 Magnum, would be my go to for handgun hunting, they cylinder lock up on the Raging Bull was not designed as a self defense double action revolver like a S&W mod 29/629 they are for handgun hunting. I do practice with this one using the cardboard deer targets at a reasonable range for our Montana woods.
Since my first response to this original post, the Ruger SP101 is down the road.. if you've ever had to disassemble a Ruger revolver for deep cleaning with arthritis hands , you might too.. I just don't like the way they disassemble.. give me a S&W, Taurus, Rossi or Colt double action revolver any day of the week, but no more Rugers for me.