As far as smoothness goes, ratchets seem to get smoother as they break in.
Another factor is how tolerance needs to made up, before work is performed. Also strength of design is a factor.
I complained to my snap-on guy about my ratchet wrenches not performing as well as my really old craftsman ratchet wrenches, his response was that they are not as strong though. So the intention of the design is different.
There are different designs, with a different focus in priority of function, within the design.
My 100 tooth ratchet is so smooth when using it it does not feel like it is ratcheting. It is lubed up with Lucas engine oil additive. I often have to look to make sure something is moving, it is that smooth.
I have mostly dual 80 ratchets, I have noticed that the ratchets that are lube up, have less drag. I wonder how those high number tooth GWs would do with some lube.
I really like the dual 80 ratchets, and usually wish I was using one, when I am not, especially when it comes to speed.
There are many good ratchets out there, but I would not suggest using a Dual 80, unless you were ready to buy one, or maybe tools really do not matter to you.
The professional craftsman look nice too, the U.S. made not cheap ones. I am surprised not to hear much about them in this forum. U.S. Made craftsman, that appears to be of high level quality. They feel good in the hand and are quite smooth. I played with one at the store, but I feel that I would have to give it a workout to have a good opinion of it. The head seemed similar to the Matco family of designs, for lack of a better description, thinner head than snap-on.
I never paid full price for any of my snap-on ratchets, and have gotten some essentially for free by the time the deal was done, or I bought one and got something else free, or received a pretty good discount. My Snap-on guy offers me all kinds of deals, I love the BOGOs, especially when I get a discount off of that. Even when I order something 95% of the time he either gives me a discount or gives me something for free. I know it is marketing, but I like getting deals on the things that I want anyway. I say this for the people that say snap-on is too expensive.
I also think it is funny how people say well having a cheap tool is ok because I do not use it everyday. I figure if you get hurt and you are a computer science engineer, or whatever else you do, and then hurt your hand, then the money you saved will cost you in the end. Also how valuable is your time. If your time has a high value then, having tools that save you time, may be worth investing. I do value my time and body highly. This is how I justify buying tools that are not cheap, plus I do love to crank hard on stuff, and feel like I earned something. I. Try to be careful, but it is nice to have confidence that something should not fail, most times when high force is needed.
