The point is to mirror the Smith line up which is enjoying decent sales for a revolver. Why Ruger selected the 2.75" tube as the lead punch, got me. Maybe the contractor had the most of those barrels? Don't know, but there will be more SKUs in this.
Yeah I can't answer the why either. But I have a 627 in the 8 shot configuration with a 2.7 inch barrel and shoots the .357 mag. My only defense for even owning a 8 shot snubbie is that it's pure fun to shoot.