Wow! looks like 158 gr. projectiles are extremely popular, and Ill be no different. My personal favorite is the 158 gr Hornady Gold Dot loaded with 9.5 gr of AA #5. It will yield approx 1092 fps. I am using a S&W Hwy Patrolman as well. my usual "plinkng" loads consist of125 gr Win JHP with 9.1 gr of unique. I feel that any load will work EXTREELY well in a self defense sitiuation against another human, but with a mointain lion of something of that nature I would lean MUCH heavier towards the Gold Dot round, primarily for it's heavier round which will hit the target with more momentum.