I faced the same question as you and just put my deposit down a couple months ago. I went with the 500 NE Sidelock. My advice would be to call, or better yet see, Butch and speak to him. He will give you a very honest recomendation as to caliber and model for your purposes. If I were you I would try very hard to get your order in before January as Butch gets a flood of orders at the SCI and DSC shows. I would agree not to get the 577 as a first DR, it is very specialized and very heavy. Go with the 470 or 500, I'm pretty sure Butch will say the same thing.