Back to the OP's question, is an R8 worth it?
I always said I'd never buy one back 30+ years ago, I own and shoot a large number of rifles, my workhorses over the years have been, stainless / zytel Ruger M77's that have done a lot of work, once the triggers were polished they were as good as any other rifle I've owned. I purchased my first R8 with driven boar shooting and lot's of travel thoughts in my mind.
Yes an R8 is a different gun, I had a few "clicks" at the beginning due to the bolt not being fully closed, but you soon learn and get used to it. Now several years in, I have come to really like my R8's and they have become my go to rifles. They handle well for me, I like the shortness due to the action design and the accuracy is amazing. I love the break down and travel ease, I just got back from Africa from a buffalo culling trip where both my son and I were both shooting R8's in .375 H&H. I like the fact that I can shoot from .243 to .375 all from the same gun. Between my son & I we have 3 R8's, 9 barrels, 11 scope mounts, it's been a serious financial investment. However to travel and hunt with my 21 year old son and see him shoot deer, plains game and dangerous game confidently with his R8 is just priceless. In summary my thoughts on the R8 is that it is an excellent platform. I plan to do a lot more stalking and travel hunt trips with my R8 for as many years as I can.
Is it worth it? That really is another question, I think that depends on your financial situation, it's like discussing if a Rolex or a Ferrari are worth it, there are lot's of cheaper options that do the same job. If you are on the fence about purchasing an R8 because of cost, I suggest that you don't, owning R8's is expensive and extra barrels and scope mounts are all very expensive. If you can easily afford the R8, try one and enjoy it. My conclusion is that the R8 is worth it.
One issue I personally have is that I found swapping barrels and moving scopes around was a pain as it would require the re zeroing of the scope to a new caliber / barrel. I have nearly finished buying a scope and mount for each barrel, again another very expensive investment but one I decided to pursue because I swap barrels often for different types of hunts etc. The quick detach scope mounts make it very simple to change between a regular scope, red dot and a thermal scope all coming back to a zeroed setup. To