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I know you're talking the 3" Ruger, but here's my journey. I spent a lot of time conflicted between the SP101 4.2" and the S&W 60 3". I wanted adjustable sights and portability. I envisioned this as a trail gun more than anything else. Unfortunately I couldn't compare them side by side at the same time because no one had both, so I ended up buying the Ruger- mainly because it seemed to have better sights (on the 4.2" version it has a fiber optic front) plus it had a unique sexy look to it too.

After playing with it for awhile, I realized it had an awful (to me anyway) double action trigger pull. This was my first double action Ruger since 1987- and I sold that so long ago I can't remember the trigger pull on it, but I've owned several Smith & Wesson revolvers since then. So I dry fired a few thousand times. Negligible difference. Watched the tutorials for polishing the parts and did that. Negligible difference. Then I bought a spring kit and experimented with it. While much, much better, it still REALLY stacks just before firing. It's doable, but... meh. Single action trigger pull is fine.

I also experimented with grips. The factory ones felt too "round". I first went with the black Hogue Overmolded and they felt better, but later I went with a set of pretty wood grips, also by Hogue, with a "Top Finger Groove". Feels great now. Sights are still a work-in-progress. I've always liked the white outline on a rear sight. Swapped it out for one that was taller and needed to raise the front quite a bit. Didn't want to lose the fiber optic, so I cut it in half and experimented with JB welding it higher. Kept getting it crooked one way or another. Eventually just bought a new factory front and put it back on, then ground down the rear. Got a little warm and the white outline kind of faded. Point of impact was finally back within limits of adjustability though.

All this has happened over the course of the last couple years. I still have it, but a month or so ago, I finally went out and bought the S&W 60 3" I've wanted for years. Even though it's only a few ounces lighter, it feels much lighter. Factory rubber grip was hard as a rock and the arch hits right in the center of my hand. Changed those to some pretty Altamont Altai's- they feel like a dream. Rear sight had too narrow of a window- widened it out with a file. Sights were still hard to pick up, used some fingernail polish. Trigger pull, while much smoother than the SP101, was WAY too heavy- off my Lyman's 12 lb trigger pull scale. Swapped the springs out and now have a great trigger at about 9 1/2 lbs.

I still have both, and did a fair amount of side by side shooting them just a few weeks ago. The first thing that stood out was.. 5 rounds goes quickly! Seems like after I loaded and started getting warmed up.. time to reload again. Wouldn't want to depend on that as my home defense gun. I like the idea of keeping the 1911 for that. Otherwise, both were doable with full power loads, but the .38's were much more fun to shoot. With the extra weight, the Ruger was a little more comfortable on the stiffer loads, but I think I enjoyed shooting the S&W a little more, probably because it was brand new to me and this was my first time shooting it.

Added a photo with the wood grips and one of the experimental JB Welded front sights that are no longer there.