As far as reliability goes, gun are machines and some will fail, auto or revolver, revolvers less. Some people on the Smith and Wesson forums are having failures where the "lock" on the revolvers, are locking up the gun. But you will hear a lot more about problems with autos. I carry 4 different guns at different times. A Colt Government Model in .45acp, a Colt Python .357, a Glock model 19 9mm and a Smith model 60 .38 special. All have been stone cold reliable with no failures at all. I only shoot 230grain ball ammo in the Government Model cause that is what is was made to feed. The Glock has fed and ejected everything I have put in it. The revolvers also go bang everytime the trigger is pulled. The gun I keep by the bed is the Glock, mainly for the 15 rounds it holds and also the trigger takes a little more to pull than the Government Model and it a nervous sitiuation I think it would be best. Just my 2 cents worth.