As has been mentioned, this thread was supposed to be about
current production revolvers. That it quickly devolved into a new/old S&W rant was sadly predictable. Nonetheless, I know a few things about shooting a wheelgun competitively, so I'm gonna add to the thread veer just to clarify...
To claim new S&Ws are used by competitive shooters only because they're easy to fix is a gross oversimplification. Competition is hard on wheelgun. Sometimes they need tune ups. In rare instances, they'll even break. New
and old. Loan me your chamois-babied revolver for even a single range session, and I may just make you cry.
Nonetheless, my primary match gun has 50k-ish hard rounds through it, and it's held up just fine. If newer guns were relatively unreliable, they simply wouldn't be used by top wheelgunners.
Truth is, newer S&Ws just make better competition guns for a number of reasons: They're available in numerous configurations, they're as accurate as ever, easier to tune, aftermarket parts are available, ands frame-mounted FP make for lighter hammers. And they can be made (i.e. bobbed) far lighter than hammers with FPs. Replacing firing pins just
happens to be much easier on newer guns that have frame-mounted FPs, but that's just a side benefit.
If you're convinced new S&Ws are used in competition only because they're easier to fix or because of someone's sponsor, I suggest making your inquiry at the Brian Enos revolver subforum, where many really excellent revolver shooters hangout. Be warned, though - they may not be as polite as me.