My only 8-shooter is a Smith M63; a J frame with a fiber optic front sight. When I bought it, I was looking for a cheap to shoot .22 cal. stand-in for my Smith M60 in .357. New, right out of the box, it had good/great accuracy even with the 3" bbl. and that abominable fiber optic front.
But a cpl of serious issued cropped up on day one. After a half dozen cylinder's, the gun locked up tight and couldn't be fired DA. Too, it was spitting lead shavings on at least two of the chambers.
A call to S&W's service dept. got me a FEDEX label for a factory repair. And while it took two plus long months to turn around, the gun came back totally fixed and with a better than average DA trigger pull....this last, is something not often encountered in Smith's J frames with their coiled mainsprings. And, as it should; the total cost of shipping and repair was covered by Smith.
Accuracy since remains excellent & with a variety of bulk and more expensive ammunition: CCI Mini Mags, CCI Standard Vel., Federal Auto-Match, and a cpl others. Standing with an unsupported Weaver two-handed grip, the gun will give me ~1" groups at 10 yds; at 77 yo, that's all I'm capable of...The gun's fun to shoot, easy to tote while doing chores on our farm, and a great understudy for my .357's.
I was a little peeved that it needed factory attention for the lock up and lead spitting issues, but S&W came through with a superior revolver. If you get one, (and I do recommend the 3" bbl. for its convenience), I think you'll find that it's every bit as accurate as any 4" bbl'd models in my experience, despite the shorter sight distance.
Best Regards, Rod......Pic below shows it with an old pair of S&W target grips installed as I find they give me a better grip to trigger distance so necessary for good DA trigger manipulation.
So my buddy got an R8 then the pug nose, now he found me a Trr8! He just picked up the Tr today and hopefully I can pick it up soon. Let’s see your 8 shooters! And holsters if you have em. I want to carry the Trr8. I believe Kramer makes leather for the R8 platform
