IDK about "better trigger pull;" the last few times I visited a gun shop the new (stock) S&Ws didn't seem to have any better trigger pull than the equivalent Rugers.
The Performance Center guns did, but then again you'd expect that out of a gun tuned from the factory. The M-19 Carry Comp I handled had an excellent trigger pull, which for $1100 out the door it darned well better have had. I also noticed that the breech end of the barrel on the newer K frames is a bit beefier than on the classics, perhaps because of the flame-cutting issue. (Since my preferred load in that size of gun would be the .38 158-grain +P LSWCHP, flame cutting probably wouldn't be an issue anyway.)
Still, given a choice between a 686 and a GP-100 and the price differential I've seen locally, I'd go with the latter, particularly the Match Champion version, and save enough money for a couple boxes of shells to go with it.