I've also had problems with Rugers quality control.
One new .357 my brother had been offered at a greatly reduced price was probably the worst I've seen.
The store owner let him take it out for a test firing.
He asked me to fire it first .
The bullets, .357, could be seen spining sideways through the air, and not a one came within a foot of can no more than thirty feet away.
When I looked down the bore, which I should have done to begin with, I found the lands with concentric cuts from one end to the other.
Apparently a chip had been caught in the reamer before rifling and no one even looked before finishing out the barrel.
How anyone could let a pistol leave the factory like that I'll never understand.
Years before I had to take a Bearcat back when it spit lead in my face at every shot. I never figured out why till I ran across a page on the bearcats a couple of years ago. It turns out that quite a few of the early production Bearcats had made it past inspection with no forcing cone cut at all.
the bullets were being engraved right at the gap with the displaced lead being blasted off the base.
How lead got from the cylinder gap all the way to the shooters face at arms length is still a mystery, but could be it somehow bounced off the inside of the frame.
PS
For the main question, for a Single Action I'd prefer a Colt. For a Double action I'd prefer a Colt to a Smith if both were in new or excellent condition, but if both were worn to any extent I'd prefer a Smith to a Colt.
The Colt lock up handles wear less well than the Smith.