Three things would decide it, for me. Condition. Condition. Condition.
S&W and Ruger have, both, been through periods of poor production standards. I simply would not consider either, unless I could personally inspect it. When I was still buying Rugers, I could start by looking at the first three digits of the serial number, to help me decide whether to even bother asking to inspect the weapon. By now, I would have to look on-line, at a table showing production years, by serial number. (I stopped buying double-action Rugers when I had accumulated enough of them, coupled with a reduction in income, due to retirement.)
S&W revolvers? There are good discussion threads on this matter, pinned to the top, on several on-line forums.
Even if I just wanted a collector piece, I want it to be a good value. A flawed revolver is a bad value. Paying for a gun to be made right is not a good value. Even if customer service “takes care of me,” I am still out some amount of my personal time. My time is valuable.
To be clear, I am relatively brand-neutral, regarding S&W and Ruger revolving pistols. I have carried both into harm’s way, while LEO-ing. I have carried both for personal-time defense, and still do, in retirement. I was all set to begin a diligent, nostalgia-driven search for a couple of good S&W L-Frames, when age caught up with my index fingers, causing me to suspend most long-stroke double-action shooting and dry fire, earlier this year. (I still like S&W revolving pistols, but, have shifted my attention to post-WW2 models with more-cock-able “transition” hammers.)
