Ok I'm convinced. I'm gonna go back and look at the 686 and the Gp100. I don't see on SW sight that the model 66 is still sold new. Not really concerned on the recoil. Most of the time I'll be shooting 38s just due to ammo cost, and the fact that that was all my dad shot so I have about 2000 38 shells and maybe a couple 100 357 shells.
The reason I was looking at the small frames was because of how heavy my dads was when I was hiking. But honestly it could have been the old style leather heavy service holster too. Looks very similar to this one. But it also had a extra leather piece that fit inside your pants to make it more steady. Easily another lb in weight.
