One of the guys is retireing and handed me a handful of his duty ammo.  Now I 'need' to get one.

ps. must be able to handle +p loads

Smith and Wesson is about as good as it gets.  What do you wanna do with it?  Single action?  Double action?  Carry, hunting, target, or standing in front of a mirror sayin' "you feelin lucky... Punk."

Taurus, Ruger, Beretta, Rossi, Colt, etc. all make revolvers that will work.  Remember that a .357 will safely shoot .38 spl.  Most people will practice with .38 spl when getting used to there .357 snubbies.  

Your pal isn't the only loyal law enforcement type who's retiring. Lots and lots of .38s and .357s are hitting obsolescence, too, with many of them in essentially unused condition (fired only for Weapons Cert once a year and kept clean and oiled for inspections).

Take a look around at gun stores, shows, or, if you've a friendly FFL holder available, Shotgun News. You'll see bunches of nice S&W K-frames in both .38 and .357 as well as a number of Ruger Security Sixes. Prices are generally quite good. I just passed up a 2" Airweight K-frame for $275 because my AK build budget overruns prevent gun purchases at the moment -- as my Afrikaner friends would say, vat a Dipschitt!!

I bought a couple of new Ruger SP101s last year for what was, at the time, a serious personal protection need in a foreign country (one for hard-core practice here and the other left at my "home away from home"). They are great pieces for their purpose, but in general I must say I regretted buying them when there were so many excellent fine used copguns available for a hell of a lot less (especially since I sadly ended up giving one away).

Mr. Bickle (or should I say Lumpy) gives good advice on the 66... and, if my last gun show foray was any indication, there are plently of those out there, too.

Quoted: Buy his old duty revolver! I snagged a S&W Model 10(?) from a retiring cop for $25!

Yeah right.  I'm lucky if these guys shot once a year for requals.  It'd be a 50-50 chance that it works.

Quoted: Smith and Wesson is about as good as it gets.  What do you wanna do with it?  Single action?  Double action?  Carry, hunting, target, or standing in front of a mirror sayin' "you feelin lucky... Punk." Taurus, Ruger, Beretta, Rossi, Colt, etc. all make revolvers that will work.  Remember that a .357 will safely shoot .38 spl.  Most people will practice with .38 spl when getting used to there .357 snubbies.

DAO. carry/back-up for the back-up. I think .38 spl would be too small a caliber for the mirror.

cann't beat a S&W .