I think Vernon1956 has given you some excellent advice . . . .
Here in Michigan . . . we have "open carry" . . . . the only time I would ever do that is if I was hunting . . . and I'm 61. There are too many "antis" out there who either don't know the law or will cause a stink . . . regardless of what the law says. To be honest . . . if I was an LEO and saw a young man walking around open carrying . . . I'd be concerned and would be checking it out.
In AZ, where I winter, we also have "open carry". I see it quite often but I still carry concealed - and I have a concealed license for both states. Just because you "can" . . . doesn't mean you "should". Others may disagree but that's strictly my opinion. When I carry, I carry for SD purposes - and I hope I will never be in a situation where I need to use my handgun. I carry concealed for a reason - the last thing I want is to have another person know I'm carrying - for two reasons. One - the "antis" - they can cause too many problems and two, if I should ever get in to a situation where I feel I may need my handgun, the last thing I want to do is to loose a tactical advantage by having the BG know that I'm armed . . . and hopefully the situation can be defused before there's a problem.
To get back to your original question on barrel lengths - I have sever 6" - a Smith and a Colt - I use them for range shooting only. I have a 5 1/2" and a 5" barrel - again, range use. I CCW a snub Smith but also have a 4" Smith Combat Masterpiece that I sometimes CCW - but 4" is the longest I want to deal with for those purposes. To me, other than a snub for conceal carry, a 4" revolver is what I consider to be about the handiest length - it's accurate but not all that extra wasted steel sticking out further.
Good luck in whatever you choose for a barrel length. If you get one - take time to "learn" it and get all the training you can. Good luck to you.
