Tatume: I consider the lock unsafe because it requires something other than the gun itself to make the gun operable. If I need the gun I don't want to look for a key.

Also, a friend had significant problems with the lock on his .44 Mountain Gun which Smith tried several times to fix. The lock on my .45 MG was sticky but the overall quality of the that sixgun was so poor I got rid of it. On the S&W forum there is, I believe, still a continuing post referencing ongoing lock problems. I'm sure there are many guns that function fine, but evidently there are many that do not.

I certainly do not consider revolvers thenselves "bad" in any way, just not my cup of tea for the uses I have for a pistol for the most part. For example, a really good one i liked a lot was my ruger Single-Six convertible .22 Mag/.22 LR. With Mag cylinder in place it really was a different gun. I made about my best handgun shot ever with one. Call it luckiest. On the farm in Kentucky, I saw a groundhog run for its hole. It dove in, then peeked over the top and at 60 long paces, leaning over the hood of the pickup I shot it thru the head with a round from the .22 Mag. That was about a 2-inch target and the Mag got it.

Colts, Smiths, Brownings, High Standards, Rugers; I can't say the Ruger MKII's are the "best", just merely my favorite horses in a very large stable of fine riding stock.

I will say this though, if I could only have one pistol, it would be a .22 LR.