Personally I like the four inch barrel on my Colt .357.
See my avatar to the left. <--
If you want to carry a .357 for self defense then you don't want a real long barrel because they're too easy for an assailant to grab and too hard to get out of a holster quickly.
If you get a 2 inch barrel then the bullet will likely exit the gun before all of the powder is burned and you lose power, may as well shoot .38 special, although a .357 snubbie is loud and scary if you're in front of it!
If you're not going to use it for CCW then I would suggest a six inch barrel. Longer barrels typically yield better accuracy and more weight means less recoil.
Overall, my vote would be for a 4" like my gun, it just looks right and shoots great!
If you want to carry a .357 for self defense then you don't want a real long barrel because they're too easy for an assailant to grab and too hard to get out of a holster quickly.
If you get a 2 inch barrel then the bullet will likely exit the gun before all of the powder is burned and you lose power, may as well shoot .38 special, although a .357 snubbie is loud and scary if you're in front of it!
If you're not going to use it for CCW then I would suggest a six inch barrel. Longer barrels typically yield better accuracy and more weight means less recoil.
Overall, my vote would be for a 4" like my gun, it just looks right and shoots great!