(1) re: rockstar.esq -- Ah, the Taurus/S&W debate continues! I don't know that anyone was "whining" about snubbies. However, when your idea of "a quick trip to the range" is 200 to 500 rounds, and an all day session could burn significantly more than that, a slightly heavier frame is a little more enjoyable. Also, nothing wrong with a Taurus. I won a PPC "backup" match with a model 85. They're not bad guns at all, for the money. (Well, actually I won my 85 at a match, so it's a GREAT gun for the price!
) I have also not bought a new S&W for several years, so I don't know about the quality control of current production. I do prefer the trigger of my S&W to my Taurus -- granted, the Taurus gets fewer rounds through it than the S&W, but it's still gritty. Add that to the generally inferior sights (not unusable, just not as good) on most snubbies, and I'd still have to give the nod to the S&W 4" L or K frames. I understand that the typical Ruger's trigger smooths out after enough rounds -- good for marksmanship to get the round count up anyway.
(2) re:mnrivrat -- Definitely. Even buying from a company with good QC simply increases the
probability of purchasing a suitable product, but doesn't guarantee it. There are good and bad samples of product from each company. This is also related to why we have to develop loads/select ammunition lots for each firearm individually. Even guns of the same model are not identical. If they were, there should be one common best ammo for each model.
(3) re: cz75bdneos22 -- Yeah, the ejector rod on most snubbies is too short to guarantee clearing the cases. It's simply a result of the barrel being so short that you'd have to extend the ejector rod out beyond it. This would expose the rod to more damage, and make the product look really odd as well. Most of the time, you can still get positive ejection by pointing the muzzle upward and SHARPLY rapping the ejector rod downward. Works a lot better than the guy I saw trying to teach his son to shoot -- he was swinging out the cylinder and banging the rear of the grip on the shooting bench! He didn't realize that you push the ejector rod!
You said you had the same extraction problem with other ammo, but I have noticed Blazer ammo often seems to stick a bit more.