Who has a S&W M&P R8 ? I DO ! :)

[NathanB]

What ammo were you shooting?

[ett]

What ammo were you shooting?

My reloads consist of Berry's 158 gr FP plated bullets, Power Pistol powder with starting grains, Winchester WSP primers, and mostly Starline brass.
The factory ammo was Herter's 159gr, brass cased, FP, FMJ.

[NathanB]

The herters uses s&b primers. They are a little harder than most. Winchesters are my number two behind federals. And with my tuned up guns ill get an occasional light strike. Most times its due to higher primers. Are your primers flush or below flush or a little high? I’ve learned that the hammer guns with a tuned up trigger really need to have good ammo to run properly. That means buried primers or federals for consistent ignition.

Just some food for thought. I know its a stock gun and all but you never know

[Brick]

Your new revolver is a Performance Center piece so it should be good to go. I'm with Nathan above regarding high primers, and Winchester should work just fine. You might try Federal for grins and giggles, they are reputed to be the most sensitive, but hard to get these days. Not for nothing but they are MY standard for revolver reloads. All my revolvers are tuned to fire reliably with them.

[stainless]

Sweet wheelgun Ett. I wouldn't expect a Performance Center piece to be that fussy. It might be time to give them a call.

[ett]

OP here,

I just got off the phone with S&W customer support.

Now their answer to the light primer strikes is:

"YOU MUST USE MOON CLIPS WITH THIS REVOLVER."

They also said there is no other way around light primer strikes.
And they do not offer refunds.
My reply was this is the last S&W product I will ever buy.

When I rented one of these back a few years ago; which caused me to place it on my wish list.
The one I rented did not require moon clips.
And there is no mention of it's description on their website or in their printed catalog that it requires the use of moon clips.
And of all the reviews I saw and read about the M&P R8. I do not recall a single one of them mentioning that moon clips are required.

Not happy. I am now pondering if I should sell it.

[gghbi]

Am I missing something? Moon clips for a rimmed cartridge? That's a new one for me.

[Brick]

Not really. The S&W Mod 627 is a .38 Spec. +P/.357 Magnum set up for moon clips. In fact it uses a shallower face so the revolver may be used with or without moon clips.

[bripro]

I was going to ask if you were using moon clips? I know I’ve read that the cylinder is cut for them but wasn’t sure if they are required. Years ago there was a member here who picked one up as well and I remember his excitement turned to disappointment as well. I think I’m pretty sure when they were first introduced they came with two moon clips. If yours was new I would go through the packaging, maybe under the padding in the box. Personally, for its intended defensive purposes eight round moon clips would would not be a deal breaker for me.

[Gunsnwater]

OP here,

Thanks for the holster ideas everyone !


Now for some bad news.

Turns out there may be a problem with it.
I'm getting a large percentage of rounds not firing.

When I took it to the range the day after buying it.
I only shot 24 rounds. It was cold, windy, and I had others things I had to do.
Of those 24 rounds; 4 did not fire on first strike.
I did not think much of it at the time; and did not report it in my original post. Because all rounds were reloads.
So I just assumed I did something wrong.

Well yesterday myself and a friend shot it at the range.
Together we shot two boxes of factory ammo; aka 100 rounds; 50 rounds each.
Of those 100 rounds, I had 12 that did not fire on first strike.
And those 12 were all when I was shooting double action.
He shot nearly all single action. And did not experience any failures.
So that basically means 12 failures out of 50 !

I looked at a few that did not fire on first strike.
And none of those displayed any signs of the firing pin contacting the primer.

I called S&W yesterday. They said the Strain Screw might be loose.
So last night I took the grip off and checked the strain screw.
It was very tight.
So tight I was worried that if I attempted to unscrew or tighten it; I might bugger the screw head.

But I proceeded any way.
I loosened the strain screw and then re-tightened it.
I think at most; I tightened it 1/4 turn more than before I started.

So today I took it back to the range.
I shot 40 rounds.
I had 9 failures due to light primer strikes.

I'll be calling S&W on Monday.

I hope this R8 does not become to my hand guns. What my Moto Guzzi Griso is to my motorcycles.
Which is; looks and feels great. But ultimately became an unreliable, expensive mistake.

OP here,

I just got off the phone with S&W customer support.

Now their answer to the light primer strikes is:

"YOU MUST USE MOON CLIPS WITH THIS REVOLVER."

They also said there is no other way around light primer strikes.
And they do not offer refunds.
My reply was this is the last S&W product I will ever buy.

When I rented one of these back a few years ago; which caused me to place it on my wish list.
The one I rented did not require moon clips.
And there is no mention of it's description on their website or in their printed catalog that it requires the use of moon clips.
And of all the reviews I saw and read about the M&P R8. I do not recall a single one of them mentioning that moon clips are required.

Not happy. I am now pondering if I should sell it.

Hold on.

Odd to have 357mag moons.

Maybe 9mm but S&W site says 357 and 38, no mention of 9 or moons.

Is your cylinder cut for moons?

I bet not.

Check the screw on the front strap that tensions the hammer spring. It needs to be all the way in. If the performance center used a light spring you have two choices. Regular strength spring or longer firing pin. The hammer arc is longer on single action, hammer is moving faster, spring was storing more energy.

One other thing. No strike at all on primer could be a short stroke on DA with a smith. Try it empty and you'll see for yourself.