I had a 4" model 28 and carried it for duty use for a while. It was actually my very first gun. It fell out of favor when the model 66's came out. I switched to a 4" for duty and a 2 1/2" for off duty. I had both in constant use for aver a decade. They became my favorites. I also got a 6" model 28 and that was my combat competition gun for several years. I switched over to a Glock17 then later a 19 when the department allowed semi's for duty / off duty. The 17 was traded but the 19 is still here. Grand sons have dibs on the 4" 66 and the G 19. The 4" 28 went away during a nasty breakup with a former fiancé. Just wasn't worth the hassle to try and recover it, I considered it a small price for having dodged THAT bullet.
I am still a wheel gun guy at heart even though I have easily transitioned to a semi. There is just something more satisfying about shooting the old Smiths, at least until it comes time to clean them. Then the Glock really shines.
I went with the 19 for both on and off duty. I did compare it to a 1911 commander and other than being a tad wider it was about the same size, but a heck of a lot lighter and more shells to boot. The Officers model is a little smaller but still heavier. I found that comfort in carry was a big deal to maintaining carry as opposed to leaving the heavy iron at home.
That heavy iron has an advantage at times. In all the years on patrol I had to draw it plenty of times, never had to fire it though. One time had a guy rush me, but he had no weapon and I didn't have time to reach the nightstick so he had 3 pounds of Mod 28 smack him upside the head. It laid him out just as good as a cast iron frying pan would have.
I always keep a few wheel guns around, semis are ok, but i've never had a feed or jam problem with the wheels.
They can get bad ammo though. Grandson in law had a beautiful Colt .357 and for some reason bought a box of cheap steel case garbage which over expanded in the cylinder. He brought it over and I was able to remove them and told him to spend the couple extra bucks for brass cased rounds.
