Hi,
Kevin, I have a 3" GP, and two friends have 4 inchers. A buddy shot an 8 3/8" 686 at silhouettes for a while, and one of my hunting buddies has a 4" 686 (I think his is a six shot.) None of us has had any work done to the guns except to shoot them.
I believe it fair to say most triggers improve with use. My silhouette shooting buddy swears my GP's had trigger work. Nope, just a pretty fair amount of live ammo after hours and hours of dry firing. And I can honestly say that today, that trigger is right up there with what the Smiths' triggers were like out of the box. Thing is they, too, have improved with use. Just saying, Smith does a nicer job on the triggers.
Comparing the same size guns, which means the 4 inchers, the Ruger FEELS a bit heavier and doesn't bite MY hand as much as the Smith. It MAY also hold up better under a steady diet of full house loads, though I haven't heard any complaints yet on the 686s shooting loose or anything like that. Aesthetically, I'd have to give points to Smith, while purchasing a Ruger will leave you with some money for a box of ammo or two over buying the Smith. And though today's Smith QC doesn't seem to be what it was decades ago, I think it's still way ahead of Ruger's. Some folks will argue they've never had a problem with a Ruger, and good on them if that's the case. My luck hasn't been that good. I'd still buy a new Smith sight unseen (as in online or special order from the LGS.) I learned the hard way not to do that with a Ruger.
All in all, if you can shoot both guns before buying either, it may well be a coin toss!
Rick C
