A primary reason for the P-R shift "hardness" is that the line pressure does not go through the "Accumulator" in the valve body as it does when shifting into "D" from "P". The accumulator is a chamber with a floating piston, floating against spring pressure. It provides a cushion against the fluid pressure as it fills its particular "apply" circuit. This is the way they were designed.
On the earlier lock-up torque converter TFs, the torque converter clutch was applied when the trans was in "P", then "unapplied" when shifted into a drive range. With time, the "release" time took a little longer than when new, so it made for a harder shift into "R" or "D", as a result. A friend had a '76 Charger SE 360 which had that issue. Chrysler warranty bought a new trans assy for it, which did the same thing as it got some miles on it. "Part of the breed", it appears. The shift from "P" to "R" on my '80 Newport is harsher than any of the TFs in my other cars.
The ONLY time the "P" to "R" shift is "soft" is upon first "P" to "R" shift in the morning, if done immediately after the engine fires. Converter drainback is an issue as the front pump re-fills the converter after sitting over-night. Back then, this happened after the OEM-production factory-fill fluid was changed. The factory-fill fluid was a multi-vis fluid, which flowed easier when cold. Using the later Chrysler fluids, approved for earlier TFs, are supposed to be multi-fix, according to our former Pennzoil rep.
For good measure, before you re-check any adjustments, put some trans cleaner in the fluid and run it a while, then drain and refill with new fluid and see how things go. Sometimes, the new fresh additives can soften older seals and such, if that might be an unseen issue. Then, play with the adjustments, but as long as every thing is functioning reasonably well, adjustments might not make any difference. As long as the bands and clutches fully apply with no slippage now, an adjustment might be meaningless, as the old Chrysler service manager told me one time years ago. I suspect that if an adjustment does make a difference, presuming it used to be adjusted correctly years ago, you probably need to plan on a rebuild with new frictions, steels, and band.
AND, of course, make sure the engine idle speed is not too high! That just makes any designed-in issues with line pressure in "R" worse.
CBODY67