New Smith and Wesson revolvers with steel frames are very good. Their problem is that they're expensive, in my opinion. Notice, I didn't say "overpriced." They're probably charging what they need to charge. The thing is, you can usually buy a more desirable (from a collector's perspective) older one or a slightly used newer gun for less money - sometimes a lot less. So S&W is kind of competing against itself in that market.
The new alloy J frames seem pretty reasonably priced and, therefore, popular.
Some people hate the locks, non-case hardened triggers and general construction of the new traditional Smiths, but I think that's a matter of principal more than practicality. The folks at Buffalo Bore claim that the barrels on the new Smiths are better than the barrels on the old classic guns because they're able to get higher velocities out of them.
