Seems this light primer strike problem gets a lot of air time on this forum so let's see how prevalent it is given the forum's population.

If you have a R8 I'm sure we all would appreciate your input into the poll.

Thanks in advance!

Count me in for yes haha. I LOVE this gun and within 2 weeks of ownership I had to send it back to smith to take care of the issue. I bought it about 2.5 weeks ago. The gun got back to them yesterday. I will advise everyone of the current turn around time.

None the less, it has made me a die hard revolver fan now and the list of revolvers I want to get is growing....and growing....and the wallet is getting lighter and lighter.

I voted no and that is with many brands of ammo.

James

I have a perfect TRR8. Do I get to vote?

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Accuracy supercedes Speed

My friend and I both have light striking R8's.

Sure do...

Not on my R8, and that gun is a tack driver. Bought it used on a whim original owner put C&S (I think) fiber optic sights on it. I honestly think I shoot it better than my prelock V-comp which was my best shooter. I am now looking for a TRR8.

Light strikes. Firing pin randomly gets stuck and won't retract. Purchased March 2013 but only fired about 200 rounds. Either someone on the performance team has been assembling these incorrectly or the gun is prone to this problem by design flaw. I hope it's the former, but I suspect the latter.

Sent mine back to Smith a week ago. Will report back.

I've been shooting mine at Steel Challenge competitions and have not had a problem for about two years. I only use Federal primers for my reloads. This may make a difference.

I have the TRR8 and couldn't be happier....Not a glitch so far

I voted yes even though I don't have a TRR8 or a R8. I have a 327 Night Guard bought used. I can't be sure the previous owner didn't cause the problem by messing with the main and rebound springs. I have replaced all springs with factory but it's still not 100% reliable.

I bring this up because messing with springs is #1 kitchen table gunsmithing trick.

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Bob.
SWCA 1821

150+ rounds through the R8 today so that accounts for 350+ rounds through the pistol since repair by S&W and all is well.

You should not have voted since it will screw up the poll. We are talking about a specific revolver. I mean this in a nice way even though it looks like I'm being a jerk LOL!

For those who have voted yes, how old is your R8? It seems that the ones that were made this year are the ones having the problems.

James

No clue how old mine is since I bought it used. Is there a place where I can look up the serial number to tell?

Just bumping this up to the top to make sure folks see the poll

At the moment it looks like 4 out of 10 have had light primer strike issues. That's 40% and is HIGH!

Mine is a 7/18/2013 NO troubles.

Mine has a 10-14-11 date. I have only used full moon clips with my reloads with Federal primers.

Reloads are 38 sp. 120 gn FP

If we can find out the production dates of the malfunctioning ones; that may help?

Received my R8 back from Smith today. They replaced the firing pin and firing pin spring. I will probably have to put about 500 rounds through it before deciding to keep it for any type of defensive use. But since this is my second scandium-frame Smith to malfunction and require a factory repair, I may trade it toward a non-lightweight model.

Don't be to quick to dump it. Really liking mine!!!

If anybody wants to dump a TRR8 let me know I will take that unreliable piece of scandium of your hands but that kind of junk ain't worth much.

Would a R8 suffice?

Just kidding - been real happy with mine!

It would but I already have one!! Looking for the TRR8.

Purchased my Model 327 new. Fires fine WITH moon clips but has a 40% fail to fire rate WITHOUT moon clips. Have tried several different types of new ammo and have checked strain screw. Dead on accurate with smooth as silk double action. But I ordered $75 worth of speed loaders that will not be worth a penny to me!

Send it back to S&W.

I bought mine 7-13 and its OK but i only use it with moon clips. My LGS [gun smith] said the gun was made to ONLY use the moon clips. If that true or not -mine it working great.

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My TRR8 is dated 5-19-06 and hasn't had a problem. I heard this is only a problem on double action shooting, not single action. Any truth to that? By the way, I never use the moon clips.

Update: My TRR8 developed the dreaded light-strike problem in January. I sent it back to the mother ship and they replaced the firing pin and strain screw under warranty. They only had it for 11 days and it came back good as new.

I've shot my both double and single action without moon clips and works great since it's been back for some TLC from the mothership

I purchased my TRR8 new in September of 2013.

I have less than 300 rounds through my gun. At first I was getting 10% failure to fire without moon clips. Last week at the range I shot 24 rounds, the last 8 were 100% failure to fire. All FTF's were light primer strikes.

The firing pin is not sticking. All failures are without moon clips.

I like everything else about this gun! I assume a new, longer firing-pin will solve the problem.

Just asking but why do you have an aversion to using moon clips and do you have any failures when using them? Cheers.

have a TRR8 and love it now that I have fixed the light strike issue that seems to plague some of these scandium shooters.

I tried all primers, Win/Fed/CCI/etc, same result. With or without moonclips, same result. Installed extended firing pin, same result. I have two other 627's and decided to compare headspace. Using an empty starline brass case, I measured the distance between it & the recoil shield. Both 627's had .006-.007 clearance. The 327 had .012.

I "adjusted" the headspace by removing material at the extractor boss, adjusted the endshake & ran the barrel back to get the B/C gap I wanted. I have put at least 500 trouble free rounds through the 327 since then.

The single action trigger pull had some grit to it also...I slicked both SA & DA up quite a bit.

I do still have one more complaint about it though.....if cocked really slow single action there are three chambers that consistently do not engage the cylinder stop. Same ones every time. I may try to lengthen the hand. If used as normal or DA there is no problem at all but I think I got a bum one that got shoved through quality control. Shame on me for not inspecting it closer when I purchased it.

Anywho.....I LOVE this gun. It is extremely accurate & well balanced.

All I can say is, DO NOT use non jacketed bullets in your R8 unless you want to spend hours cleaning the barrel to get all the lead out. NOT FUN!!

JAmes

Does that hold true to gas checked ammo too?

I just bought a new M&P R8 and have been getting 2-3 out of 8 rounds consistently not firing with light primer strikes. I've read TONS about this on the web (couldn't test with moon clips as the ones that came with the pistol were for a different pistol model!). But now apparently after a weeks delay, S&W told my dealer that I need to use moon clips instead of sending it back for service. ???!!!

Any new info on this? Anything official from S&W saying that you DON'T need to use moon clips? Every review I've ever read or other posting says you don't need them. Confused!

Thank you,

I purchased my TR8 lightly used. I did experience a few light strikes on it's first time out but a quick pull of the grips (at the range) found the hammer spring strain screw was backed out 3/4 turn. Not sure if that was from the previous owner tinkering or just vibration. It's reset with purple Loc-tite now and have had no further issues with/without moonclips.

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Dave

Yuup. Check the strain screw on the hilt. It may be loose.

Mine gives 0 problems.

I ran my 629 last week and started getting a few light primer strikes. Hit it em again and they went off the second time. Checked the screw and you guessed it........it had loosened. 800 rounds since i last checked that one....