Personal preference. I say find the one that fits you best and out of the two choices you can not go wrong, period.
I have owned a 686 and still own my GP-100, the GP-100 just fells better to me. I personally love the Ruger grips.
Nothing wrong with the Smith's, it just comes down to personal preference.
If you can get ahold of a shooting times, i think it was July or August of 1999 they did a test between the two revolvers.
The RUGER won on brute toughness and the Smith won on the accuracy from a ransom rest.
In the real world, who knows, who cares.
Buy what you like and dont look back.
Hope this helps
Judge Blackhawk
Governments ability to control is directly related to its ability to disarm -- Judge Blackhawk