Daved20319, that's a fair question. In all honesty, there are certainly others here on p-f with immensely greater knowledge than I regarding Smith & Wesson revolvers, particularly since I've only owned three; a World War II Victory model with a 5" tapered barrel for British use (mine was apparently destined for the Australian Army), chambered in .38 Smith & Wesson (38/200) (NOT .38 Special), a beautiful 4" 586 (chambered in .38 Special, not 357 magnum; reportedly a contract overrun from a Brazilian police order) and an early production 640, with the abbreviated boot grips.
Out of the three, the 586 was by far my favorite-and most comparable to your Smith vs. Ruger question. The blueing on it was magnificent, and the action quite nice; I got it at the time I was heavily competing in steel plate matches, so the .38 Special chambering was quite ideal. It was concurrently owned with my current, and heavily customized blued GP100, which at the time I was running with the OEM full-size Ruger grip.
Frankly, I shot the 586 marginally better, but I preferred the ruggedness of the GP100 as an all-purpose revolver. I left the action of the 586 untouched; frankly, I don't recall making any modifications or changes to it whatsoever. After owning it for a few years, I sold it to a close friend, who significantly modified it for his wife to shoot in ICORE, where she's very successfully using it to this day. Essentially, while it certainly shot nicely, I had decided to concentrate on the GP100 with greater singularity, so good as it was it had become surplus to me, and an attractive distractant-so it went to a home where it would be appreciated and used.
The Victory model was a neat period memento, but best left for that, particularly in it's anemic 38/200 .38 Smith& Wesson chambering. The 640 I kept for only one season; it was a total beast with .357 magnums and the OEM boot grips-uncomfortable at best to fire much more than a cylinder or two. Although I've never experienced, or heard of any breakage issues with them, I was unimpressed with what I perceived as the delicacy of the action components, particularly compared to those n a Ruger. I carried it in a Kramer horsehide ankle holster; hopefully it's current owner is enjoying and appreciating it more than I did.
Action wise, the 586 was smoother, and more tunable if desired to that on a GP100; it approximated the action on my tuned Security Six, but the 586 I had was box-stock so I'm sure it could have been (and was eventually by my friend) significantly further tuned.
Where the Rugers (in my case, GP100 and Security Six) excel is in their overall ruggedness, durability and accuracy-combined with an action that can be smoothed and tuned, albeit not to the degree possible with a comparable Smith & Wesson 19/586/686. I also prefer the Ruger ergonomics, especially those of the cylinder release, grips and sights (Ruger's adjustable rear sights are a bit more protected in the receiver body than are those on S&Ws), and I like that a Ruger cylinder and crane assembly is retained without the use of a screw (which can loosen in use). You can easily field-strip a Ruger if necessary for a more detailed cleaning, where in Smith & Wessons the internals are accessible only through removal of the sideplate.
Ruger GP100s and -Sixs are also noted for the durability of their timing; you simply very rarely hear of one of them going out of time. And while the L frame S&Ws have achieved a good reputation, I think that a GP100 in particular is simply a better choice in the long run for heavy usage of .357 magnum loads, particularly the hotter 125 gr stuff.
Those are my thoughts and experiences comparing the two; I hope it helps.
Best, Jon
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. And being a cartridge that I already load for is a big plus, I'm even getting over my antipathy toward moon clips, there are some definite upsides to them that I wasn't aware of. I did look on GB for a Security Six, all they have currently were Service and Speed Sixes, if I went that route, I'd definitely want adjustable sights. So if I were to go with a more modern .38/.357, the GP 100 is probably my first choice. Anyway, thanks again for all your help and info, it's been invaluable. Later.
Originally Posted by daved20319
. Of course, that means something "old" will need to go to finance it, most likely my CZ 97 BD 
. Later.
. Really looking forward to it's arrival, I already got a shipping notification, although I suspect that's simply a label being generated. My local FFL is closed on Mondays, and local is a bit of a misnomer, they're 45 miles away 