S&W may dominate in those other competitions, but in IHMSA, where you're shooting to knock down 55-lb steel rams at 200 meters, S&W was rare. Ruger Blackhawks dominated (.44 mag) followed by Dan Wesson in calibers like .357 Maximum or other more powerful wildcat rounds. The S&W's in the 1980's had a reputation for forcing cone erosion and for "shooting loose," which I take to mean problems with the timing and cylinder end-shake.
I was in the minority shooting my S&W M29. I love it, though.
In the early days of Silhouette, late 1970's to early 1980's, the rams were "hard set": the feet were placed fully on the rail. To topple them you needed a center or high-on-the-back hit with a full power .44 mag load. If you hit the ram, but it didn't topple, that's a zero score. What revolver shooters were doing was going over max loads or creating new wildcat rounds. Some simply started using T/C Contenders in 7mm TCU, .30-30, or even .35 Rem. Or using XP-100's in 7mm BR. Eventually, for safety, the rams were placed on the rail where only half the foot was on the rail and the other half hanging over, making it easier to topple backwards.
Generally, I like S&W. I have only one Colt and many Ruger single-action revolvers.
One thing that surprised me about my Ruger GP-100 was that I think its cylinder release latch is the best of any revolver I've ever used.