RE: What pistol for self defense?
Hi DTLarson,
The S&W 642 is a fine choice! We have one, (my wife won't let me touch it......"It's her's!"), and it stays in a Galco leather pocket holster. Cindy either has it in her right hand front pocket, or she has two separate purses that accept the holster and gun and maintain them in a constant, protected, position. She is extremely comfortable with it.
BTW, Speer developed a .38 Special +P, 135grain Gold Dot load that was specifically designed to work at the velocities from a 2" barrel. (One of the large northeastern police departments that issues "snub guns" for back-up and off duty carry requested these to meet or exceed the general law enforcement parameters for bullet performance.) CCI-Speer developed the loads for that purpose and also released them for sale to the civilian market as well. That is the load you will find most often in either our S&W 642 or our S&W 649 when they are carried for CCW.
Good luck with a nice choice!
Dave