.357 S&W with 6" barrel. You would not like a .44 mag! Too noisy and jumps out of your hand. No fun to shoot and pretty much overkill for what you desire. It might be okay for feral pig backup. Think I'd rather have someone standing behind me with a shotgun and slugs.

As much as I respect 007's advice and previous posts, I can not agree to avoid the .44. With adequate ear protection, Houge grips, and light .44 special loads, the .44 is no worse in the noise/recoil category than the fully charged .357s. Also, it will stop anything short of a charging elephant dead in its tracks. Hogs are no problem if hit solidly.
Answer to latest post: Find a friend that is a gun nut, or a shooting range with a rental policy.
Good luck,
crm

the Judge will shoot 45 long colt and 410 shells

I'll go with the .357 for having the punch and being able to step down to the .38 when wanted good loads both of them.I'm not to much on that shotshell stuff on the snakes it hasn't proven out end emptying the gun and put a real load into them to finish it.Even the ones too close.

If you want to shoot shot shells you cannot have a ported barrel.

Atta' boy for admitting you have no experience. By all means avoid the .44 at this point. Do start with a .357 but shoot .38's until you get your feet wet. I can't say much about a .357 for wild pigs as I have no experience with them but a good .357 will handle pretty much everything else you mention. If you handload, it's even more versatile. Regarding individual revolvers, I'm personally partial to Ruger single actions, which for general outdoor use, are top drawer. Good shooting!

spartan88 - single action revolvers are fun but require skill and trained muscle memory to shoot quickly in panic situation. You have to pull back the hammer for every shot. Try that quickly one handed ... with an empty gun. I love them for hunting or plinking.

Double action revolvers allow you to just pull the trigger to fire the round. Easier to shoot quickly and reflexively with one hand, especially if your other hand is full of fur or injured. The double action pull on the trigger is long and heavy but workable. You can also set the trigger, just like on a single action. Since the hammer is set the trigger doesn't have to do the work of pulling it back. The trigger is now set with a much lighter and shorter pull for methodical aiming.

You have to be careful dropping the hammer on either if you decide not to fire. A friend shot himself in the leg with a .44 Mag when he hammer slipped - spent 6 months recovering while they pulled rotted muscle from his leg and grafted on new skin.

45.colt should do the trick if not the 44. will definatly do thejob

spartan88-
My personal preference is S&W for double action, and Ruger for single action. All of my double actions except the .357 are the same configuration, i.e. 6" barrel, adjustable sights, and Hogue grips. These include a .22LR, .41 Mag and .44 Mag. They all shoot to the same point of impact at 25 yds. The .357 is different, in that it has a 4" barrel, resulting in a shorter sight radius, and is a little harder to be accurate with.
The Ruger I like to carry is a SS 4 3/8" barrel Vaquero in .45 LC. With the right loads, it will stop a hog dead in his tracks, and the shot loads are wicked on snakes. Being raised on a single action, I find that I shoot most double actions in SA mode, but that is just my life long habit. The DA will definitely be more accurate fired in SA mode.

A .45 cal is the best cal for all around good handguns

Oooh! A .44 mag with ported barrel. OUCH! Makes my ears ring just thinking about it.

.357 Big enough for pigs or black bear, can afford to practice with .38 load

Find you a good used older model 19 or 28 S&W. Lots of them around in good shape. Any of the recessed and pinned K or N frame guns are my choice for reliability and quality.

Just to be different, my choice for the best all-around revolver caliber would be the .38 Special.
I'll admit there are bigger blasters out there that would be superior for extreme circumstances, but you did say "all-around." The 148 grain wadcutter is ideal for target shooting, small game and in a pinch, self defense.
The best of the hot loads, IMHO, would be the 158 grain +P lead hollowpoint semi-wadcutter. This is the famous FBI load of years ago, AKA The Chicago Load and The Metro Load.
My choice of make and model is the S&W Model 15 with 4 inch barrel.
Good luck.

I used to have a Ruger Super Blackhawk with a 7 1/2 inch barrel that I handloaded hot up to about 1250 fps. It shot real good. I once hit a water mocassin swimming at 25 yards. Traded up to a Super Blackhawk with a 12" barrel .44 Mag. It was a lot less hassle to get more velocity with off-the-shelf ammo. I could consistently hit 9-out-of-10 shotgun shells at 25 yards with it. I went to an indoor range with it one day and shot the center of the target out so completely that a police detective came running into my booth and looked at me in fear. He clearly needed to seek another career. Then I got a S&W stainless .44 revolver and put a scope on it. The Rugers were clearly 10 times more accurate. I guess mebbe the Desert Eagle .44mag was the most accurate with the scope.

You got some great answers here, but I have tried the shot shells and they really suck for the money. So if you use them stick with .38 cal. and above.

If the late great Skeeter Skelton were still around, he'd cast his vote for the .44 Special, custom loaded for the situation at hand.

Assuming you're experienced with magnum handguns, a .44 magnum can't be beaten, especially if you handload. .44 Special loads from one end of the spectrum to the other, ditto the magnum loads, plus shotshells, make it good for anything from plinking or miscellaneous playing around, to big game. I have a 5 1/2" Ruger Super Blackhawk that is my constant companion during archery and bear season. Once in a while I even carry it for CCW. You can't beat a .44!

Until you got to the wild hogs, I was thinking that anything would work for you. When you add in the hogs, that quickly brings things up to the .44 mag level. I have personally seen a hot .357 bullet stopped dead without even entering the shield of a 350 pound boar. It was like throwing pebbles at the beast. I have learned that a .44 mag won't stop a PO'd and charging boar in his tracks either but it will stop him eventually. I use a .44 mag for backup but don't go looking for a fight with it when it comes to hogs. Like 007, I like the versatility of a .44 too and the recoil doesn't bother me with recoil absorbing Pachmyer grips.

CRM3006
I always appreciate your comments and know our experiences do vary from time to time. I personally don't consider the .44 mag to be a hog stopper and I doubt that an elephant would notice its impact. With mine, I shot a charging 325 lb boar right between the eyes at 20 yards and not only did it not stop him, it didn't even slow him down. It richocheted off the skull, traveled under the skin, clipped a couple of back vertebreas and exited high on the shoulder. Later, after it attacked again and severely slashed the tracking dog right in front of me, I shot it through the center of the heart from about 10 yards, penetrating nearly all the way through and breaking the far front leg. The hog never flinched with that shot and continued growling for another charge for about 15 or 20 seconds before dropping dead. I would call that a pretty solid hit and I still feel lucky that I did not get sliced after my last shot. People should realize that a .44 puts a big hole through big dangerous animals but it doesn't shock them enough to drop them in their tracks.

CRM3006, good point. I've had my .44 for so long that I didn't consider the learning angle. I started with a Blackhawk in .357 and then went to the Super. You are absolutely right, good call, and thanks for your kind words. Best...........

Spartan, did you end up with a gun yet? One thing I wish is that people would list what type of ammo was used when shooting the pigs. The outcome can vary dramatically depending on the bullet used.

For the original question, I'm assuming pig protection is your #1 concern. If so, I'd go .44. If you already had a 357, I'd say you could make do and use that (with some Buffalo Bore loads), but since you don't have a gun, I'd just go for the .44. I'm in bear country and only have a 357 (loaded HOT), but if I had to do it over again, I'd go for the .44. You can never have too much caliber for wild animals.

As far as brands, Ruger is my choice (currently have a GP100). Built like tanks and reasonable prices.

10mm S&W with a 4"barrel :D