I have a 3” SP101 and several J frame Smiths in .22 and .357. Out of the box the Smiths tend to have better triggers, but the J frames tend to be heavy. That can be fixed by putting in a slightly reduced power mainspring and rebound spring. Wolff makes them among others. The 101 also responds to spring reductions and it really responds to internal smoothing. The cast Ruger internal parts sometimes have a bit of a rough texture that can be smoothed to greatly smooth the double action trigger. The single action trigger can also be smoothed, but it probably won’t be quite as good as the Smith. For defensive use, you are probably most concerned with the double action trigger. The bottom line is, both can be very good. Slightly different, but good. Your choice will be based on your personal preference.