In the late 70's and early 80's, the only time period I can speak for, we shot the PPC with snub noses, at the yearly police convention. It was one of a number of side matches and taken less seriously than the standard course. Most of the top shooters did not want to be distracted by the side matches.
Many used their off duty revolver, so many were fixed sights and five shooters. The course of fire was altered in deference to the five shooters. 50 rounds instead of the normal 60. 20 rounds at 50 yards is challenging with any snubnose, let alone a Smith J frame.
The year I first fired it there was a rule change that allowed adjustable sights and a two and a half inch barrel. I borrowed a Smith 19 which I found would allow me to adjust the sights all the way down and use a "neck hold" as we were using in the full course with our bull barreled revolvers. The sight picture was like a six o'clock hold on a black bullseye.
It gave me a tremendous advantage at 50 yards (where the match was won or lost). It was one of the few times in my life where I was ahead of the curve. It was good for 2 years then the rest of the world caught up and left me in the dust.
The snubby in the picture appears to have a full length extractor so is likley a 3 inch barrel and is a very serious PPC gun.