Doing a little experiment on a couple different boards. Pick the one you prefer. Concealed. Hiking. Home defense. Just all around.
3" model 65 .357 Magnum.
2 3/4" Speed Six .357 Magnum.
For all practical purposes, they are as close a match as I can get between a Ruger and a Smith. I'm curious to see how they rate in others eyes. Feel free to elaborate on your reasons for choosing one or the other.
It's just for entertainment, I appreciate everyone's input.
(65 is Shown with bobbed hammer, feel free make either one bobbed or full hammer)
To me it's really more features of the gun and roll specific for the decision. For urban settings I'd rather have my DAO Speed Six with it's XS big dot front sight but for rural areas I'd rather have my 19 with the adjustable sights and SA ability. Of course with the 686/GP100 it's opposite my 4" 686SSR is the more urban ready and the 6" GP is the rural one.
I think in the end....it boils down to what you're the most comfortable with and what is the best fit in your hand. You gotta truly like what your holding. When I was shopping I held several different manufacturers firearms and different ones from each manufacturer.
I loved my S&W 686. It was the most accurate revolver I have ever owned. A frien shot it off a bench at 88 yards and put three shots into 11/2". The thing I didn't like about it was that the barrel was 83/8" long. I prefer my Ruger Blackhawk 45/8" barrel. I just bought it and it is very accurate with 38 specials. I have powder and 158 grain bullets coming to work-up loads for the .357. The bullets are 158 grain Xtreme JHP.
Carry gun is a S&W 360J. House gun is Ruger Sp101. Both great; S&W lighter and a bit smaller for carry. Ruger bigger and heavier so good "hand-Full" for the home
686 versus GP100 is so over-argued that I will skip it for this thread. I have a 686+ 4" and two Rugers and I would hate to have to pick between them.
A more interesting discussion would involve the Ruger SP101 .22LR versus the S&W 617. (Haven't got or seen the Ruger GP100 .22LR so can't comment on that. And yes, that would be a more apples-to-apples comparison)
I own both an SP101 .22LR and the S&W 617. Here are some comments.
The 617 has the better trigger. It is not really fair to compare these two guns because the frames are not comparable. The 617 is a big sucker while the SP101 is lighter and smaller. The Smith's trigger is smoother.
Can't say enough good things about the trigger on the S&W 617. After about 1000 rounds, mine is now as smooth as silk. In fact I cannot remember another gun that smoothed out so much after some serious shooting.
The Ruger trigger benefits hugely from the Wolf Spring Kit. The Ruger also smooths out a lot after serious shooting. But the trigger is not as smooth as the Smith. On the other hand the gun is considerably smaller and less expensive.
To directly answer the OPs question is his post......to pick between the two he showed would be the Smith all day. The reason? Neither would be a choice of a "keeper" for me and the Smith would be worth more money
I have a keeper Security Six with a 6" barrel, but only because it was my dads. Have a couple Redhawks, but wish they were 29 Smith's. Although I don't own one, a GP100 would be OK, because I like full lug revolvers. Of course if I had a choice of full lug 357 revolvers, it would be a Python. But since I can't afford that, I make do with this.
I've had S&W's but they're all gone (29, 28, 10, 36). They are nice, they are good. But when it came time to pare down, the little Ruger snubbies stayed as did the DWs. I cannot see myself letting go of my Dan Wessons.
RETURNING TO THE OP and his comparison on the Speed-Six with a 2 3/4" barrel vs. the S&W Model 65 with a 3" barrel:
The OP wrote: "......For all practical purposes, they are as close a match as I can get between a Ruger and a Smith. I'm curious to see how they rate in others eyes...."
I totally agree that those two examples are a very close match despite their different manufactures.
It would be extremely difficult to select one of those two models over the other.
The 3" S&W model 65 with a round butt grip frame is a near perfect balance between size, weight, power and potential accuracy. The Speed-Six is its Ruger twin.
The round-butt grip frames on those two revolvers, combined with the 3 (ish) inch barrel allow those guns to be carried concealed with ease. For the lack of a better term, they are very "packable".
The 3 (ish) inch barrel allows for a decent sight radius but is easier to carry and conceal than a full sized 4" duty gun.
The last revolver issued by the FBI was the 3" round butt S&W model 13 (the blued steel twin of the 3" RB Mdl. 65). I'm not a huge fan of the feds, but I'll give credit were it's due ; that was a pretty good idea.
If I was limited to only one revolver; it would be either the 3" Model 65 or the stainless Speed-Six with a 2 3/4" barrel but please don't force me to pick one!
Being a Ruger guy for most of my ccw life(started at 24yo) I found s&w n frames at 62yo.
Why did I wait for so long. I like rugers, colts and s&w revolvers.
I have and like both.
My favorite revolver is a GP100, but the trigger on my S&W 586 is like a fine target rifle in SA mode. Zero creep and breaks like a glass rod. Very nice trigger on the Smith.
I like the GP100 best because it is modular and so easy to take down to the bare frame whereas the Smith you need to disassemble the guts to get to the frame.
While I much prefer Ruger everything to S&W, I do have a 329pd which I love to carry while hunting Hog's and bears. It replaced my .44mag Redhawk which shoots great but heavy to carry. Then there's the gp100, Blackhawk .41 mag, and .22 mag lcr. which all have their specific roles. The gp and bh mostly sit in the safe, since the .44 does what they do and more, and the lcr is good for summer carry.
I love my 329PD, not much else like it, Taurus tried but failed and Ruger has nothing like it.
Although when I shoot it with heavy hard cast Buffalo Bore rounds, my mother living 1000 miles away can hear me whimper "Mommy".
For CC I like my S&W 642 Airweight. For is stunning good looks and for the joy of shooting nothing compares to my Ruger Bearcat Shopkeeper. Like people, I like a lot of them. I just like some more for one thing and others for other things.
My first revolvers were ruger and a colt Python. Now I like the s&w revolvers too the N & K frames. I like all three brands in revolvers.
For 9 mm it's the cz.
For 1911a1 it's colt, SA, AO & norinco.
Ever see tales of the gun s&w on you tube? S&W is about history. There revolvers are still used today in there 100 year old designs. Gun history.
Take a look at the s&w m28, m27, m24, m57, m58 and m29, fondle them then tell me you don't like them. I love rugers, colts and s&w revolvers. Colts are classy, s&w are sexy, rugers are work horses.
For autos I don't have them on one page. The S&W below is very nice.
But the Ruger is nice also and one can almost buy two Rugers for the price of that little Perf Center pistol.
Now for full disclosure I do like my Python the best of all. The problem is these days you almost want an armed guard if you take it to a public shooting range. I bought it for about $1K, new, back when Colt was still making them.
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