For whatever it is worth:
I own both Rugers and S&W revolvers (GP100, SP101s, 686+ and several J frames) and I like all of the ones I own. I haven't bought a new product from either company in more than ten years. Both companies have stood behind their products 100% for my limited needs of their services over the past 20 years.
I do not like what S&W has done with their revolver design changes: locks, barrel inserts with invisible rifling, MIM parts (they are done very well but are not the same actions as original forged parts) and their current pricing structure (over priced by 20% IMHO). They seem to have made their engineers subordinate to marketing types and bean counters.
These days I prefer Ruger's more traditional designs and their history of not messing with their proven designs. They have also spent considerable money on updating and improving their tooling and manufacturing capabilities even though their financials took a hit.
For the price differential between S&W and Ruger for similar products you can get a good gunsmith to do great things to a Ruger that IMHO will make it surpass a current S&W at the same final price point.
In this age, newer is always cheaper to produce but seldom better in intrinsic quality at least as firearms are concerned. I agree with modern manufacturing but not if the only goal is to charge more for less.
Just MHO from an engineer's perspective with more than 50 years in the shooting sports.
I own both Rugers and S&W revolvers (GP100, SP101s, 686+ and several J frames) and I like all of the ones I own. I haven't bought a new product from either company in more than ten years. Both companies have stood behind their products 100% for my limited needs of their services over the past 20 years.
I do not like what S&W has done with their revolver design changes: locks, barrel inserts with invisible rifling, MIM parts (they are done very well but are not the same actions as original forged parts) and their current pricing structure (over priced by 20% IMHO). They seem to have made their engineers subordinate to marketing types and bean counters.
These days I prefer Ruger's more traditional designs and their history of not messing with their proven designs. They have also spent considerable money on updating and improving their tooling and manufacturing capabilities even though their financials took a hit.
For the price differential between S&W and Ruger for similar products you can get a good gunsmith to do great things to a Ruger that IMHO will make it surpass a current S&W at the same final price point.
In this age, newer is always cheaper to produce but seldom better in intrinsic quality at least as firearms are concerned. I agree with modern manufacturing but not if the only goal is to charge more for less.
Just MHO from an engineer's perspective with more than 50 years in the shooting sports.