As you can tell from my "handle" I am a TCR fan. I've been acquiring and collecting them for many decades now. I have been a fan of single shots for many years and collected Rugers No. 1-3's and TCR's.
The 83's most often had the better wood than a 87 but not always. In my younger days humping up and down mountains in Colorado I appreciated their lighter weight and and (some) shorter length in dark timber. Since pushing 80 years, those days are done but I still enjoy going to the range and poking holes in paper with them.
As some folks have indicated, not all barrels were sub MOA and I've had a few that wouldn't go better than 2" groups. Oddly, a 20 inch a 308 I have on a 83 frame will shoot consistently a 1" group if I hold it correctly while a 280 barrel has given me fits. Factory Norma 150 gr's will shoot 1-1.5" but few of my reloads will match that.
The light weight of the TCR made them somewhat painful with 45-70 and magnum calibers and for that reason my collection has settled on no more recoil than a '06. I have SSK, and other 3rd party barrels as well as those from the TC custom shop.
Many folks don't care for the double (set) trigger of the 83. I used it for the 22-250 and other 22's for prairie dog and similar shooting and found them very light and crisp when set up, but did not use them for larger animals and in the mountains. When shooting prairie dogs on the eastern plains I would trade off 22 hornet, 223, 22-250 and 243 barrels on a 83 frame changing the barrel it got too hot (gloves being necessary to hold and remove the barrel).
As I say, if you are a single shot fan, it is/was one of the options, especially if you wanted something hammerless. The European break action single shots come very dear in price... though as TCR's become scarcer, they are no longer low in price.
Like cars, trucks and scotch, one man's preference is another man's pass.
