Some of ya guys might enjoy this thread I did a while back bout cowboying.
https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/cowboying-up-north.1584993/
In it a Russian BF member asked why we carry a gun on the ranch. Post #12 outlines that pretty well and might be worth a read for a lot of folks.
Lots of great guns mentioned here and I'd darn sure like to have each and every one in the safe for sure. However, I'd like to offer the opinion that the same gun you would take fishing or hiking in Alaska is not the same gun you would have horseback, long trotting 10 miles on a big circle. Just ain't, I've tried it. Unless ya attach it to the saddle which a lot of folks do but then ya don't have the gun with ya when ya get down, so might as well be a rifle. I use to do a lot of horse packing in big bear country and I wore that big Ruger Vaquero with heavy loads always and had a .45-70 Marling Guide Gun with Buffalo Bore .45-70 magnum loads in it under my leg. But that ain't ranching. My ranching partner has a Ruger SP 101 in .327 mag. He bought that to replace his Vaquero in .45 that was too heavy to carry. The Ruger .327 now lives under the truck seat, too heavy. He carries a svelte Colt 1903. The wife recently traded in her Shield and her Springfield EMP (well didn't trade em in, just stopped carrying em, I've carried that EMP quite a bit myself since then sweet piece) and replaced them with a Sig P365.
Not sure about your area but around here self defense from two legged varmints is becoming more and more. We recently found a whole crankster/meth head village up on top of a ridge we hadn't rode in the last couple of years. My buddy Tyler and I, with young Emma (the three of us had the big circle horses that day), were making a last sweep looking for remnants. Once we topped out on this ridge we saw this blue tarp tied up in a tree. We had Emma hang back and rotating the cylinder on our snake guns so that the snake shot was the last round not the first, Big Tyler rode in from one side and I rode in from the other. Fortunately, it had been abandoned for about a month according to the expiration date on a jug of milk in the ice chest we found. What really worried us was that we found a lot of young girls clothes scattered about including a ripped bra. Emma who was 16 at the time offered her more expert opinion than mine, that it was for a 12 to 14 year old girl. We were really concerned this might be kidnapping, rape kind of deal. Turned out not to be so once the SO did some investigating but phew, could of been a bad deal if we'd just rode into that unawares and they were home.
Bout a month later we were able to get some friends together and pack and drag all this shoot down the mountain to where we could get to it with a quad and then haul it to a truck. Took a whole truck load to the dump. The ranch bought everybody pizza and beer that night.
Spoke to a friend that runs a nearby ranch. He recently found 5 miles of hose leading from a spring to an illegal grow on his place. Everybody I know has a story or two of similar. I know you guys there in the midwest are starting to have a meth epidemic like we have had for some years now.
So I'd still recommend that Mod 60 as a ranch gun. Small frame, so that you'll always have it with you, (not on the saddle, in the truck, on the quad or in the side by side, on you) and its not gonna beat ya to death long trotting a big circle or pull your pants down all the time fixing fence. A medium, very effective caliber (for your and my part of the lower 48 anyhoo), very versatile ammo choices (.38s, .38s+P and .357 from mild to wild), double action firing if necessary as well as single action ability for exacting shot placement on that coyote across the canyon. A little practice with a speed loader and you can reload very quickly. Much better than punching out those empties from a thumbbuster and reloading one at a time from a handful of loose cartridges in your pocket. Three inch barrel gives quite a bit more sight radius for accuracy than my little snubby and is a good compromise with carry-ability, its not gonna be rubbing on the cantle of your saddle and you have adjustable sights (which are always easier to shoot with, at least for me, at anything over belly gun distance). The round rubber grip absorbs recoil well and will conceal well if ya ever need to run to town for lunch or something. Just untuck your shirt. Win, win deal for me, been looking at em on Gunbroker myself.
and I bet a lighter .44spl round out of that thing is smooooooth 
