Taurus 608
Re the 608: Well, I really like mine. Someone else will hate theirs. You pays your money and you takes your choice. I have the 8" bbl because I like the longer sight radius. Have shot with it in weekly target league and hunted with it, as well as plinking. To your Q's:
1. Problems include accumulating lead in the barrel porting, with cast bullets. Some of it actually needs to be pried off with an awl. If you don't do that between sessions, accuracy suffers, to put it mildly. The shaving of the bullets doesn't seem to affect accuracy for 100 rounds or so, but cleaning between range sessions has been madatory. Some brands of bullets seem to leave less lead than others, but I don't have firm data on that yet. If I were offered a choice I'd get one w/o a ported bbl. As with any firearm, cheap poorly built ammo will not shoot as accurately as high quality stuff which costs more. This is from having tried a large variety of both. I handload for the target shooting and my handloads work fine too. Part of the fun is finding exactly which bullet/powder brand/powder amount will shoot most accurately.
2. The gun is basically a pirated Smith & Wesson, although Taurus has done a good deal of update work on the design. You may have noticed the general similarity. (The Forjas Taurus factory was once a S&W factory. In the sale, the factory kept all the plans, specs, machinery, etc.) The point is that any gunsmith that can work on a Smith can work on a Taurus. Nothing wierd inside. Your gun may not need a 'smith, anyhow. I'm a pretty serious target shooter, and my 608 did not need any doctoring.
3. Accessories: Bianchi makes a nylon holster that fits fine. I expect there are others. The 608 should fit anything made for a Smith with a like bbl. length. Dillon carries a one-piece rubber speedloader for 8 shot revolvers, which is the only one I've found. It works on the target range, where your time to reload is limited, but it took some getting used to. Unless you have very small hands I would not reccommend the Ribber gripsÑto me they feel squashy, but I have large hands. Others' opinions may differ.
Happy New Year to You!
God Bless America
ÑSmokey Joe
