The .327 Federal Magnum is a hot little pill. Think of it as a .32-20 on steroids or a .32-40 for revolvers.
According to Ruger/Federal, the idea was to jam a 6th shot into the SP-101 sized frame using a cartridge that produced near-.357 magnum performance from a short barrel. And they did it.
An 85 or 115 grain bullet at 1330 fps from a 3-inch requires some swift powder and high pressures. The 100gr JSP runs 1400 fps. This puts the skinny "little girl's .32" round squarely on a par with the 9mm, .40 S&W and .45 ACP in terms of energy. See the chart below.
Given the 1300-1400 fps range, JHP ammo should perform exceedingly well, even if they're not Gold Dots or XTP designs. And remember, these figures are from a
three-inch barrel! Put this cartridge into a 4-6" barrel and you have a serious amount of power. A six-inch barrel adds between 25%-30% to the muzzle velocity (e.g. 1675 fps and 1808 fps)
¹
Market failure? Not yet.
The slow start for the .327 Federal is probably due, in part, to the events surrounding its debut. We had a huge spike in demand for arms & ammo around November 2008. Plus the military's voracious appetite for ammo kept ATK/Federal busy producing 5.56/7.62/.50 and 9mm ammo 24/7, consuming a lot of material that could have gone into other products.
No doubt the lack of brass for reloading has hurt the cartridge's acceptance. And availability too. I discount people who want a cartridge "Wal*Mart ready" before they'll accept it. Sorry, but that's a self-propagating fallacy to use that logic on a "new" cartridge.
The nay-sayers and most critics have never looked at the ballistics seriously, nor fired the cartridge. In terms of "paper ballistics" it would seem to be a winner. In terms of small game hunting, it seems well suited for the job. The lack of self-defense shootings leaves open the question of its effectiveness in that role although I'd expect it to do at least as well as the 9mm.
Some ask what the .327 does better than more established loads like the .357 Magnum. First,
compactness. It's smaller size means +1 or 2 shots in a similar frame revolver. Second, within its limits it performs as well out of a shorter barrel as low to mid-range .357 loads in 4-6 inch barrels. And while the .32 H&R Magnum isn't a barn burner, it's equivilant to the .38 Special in a "step down" in power. This means there is a
defensive revolver for those who dislike the violence of the .357 magnum in small guns and those for whom the 9mm (or semi's in general) are not an option.
Perfect gun?
This is when I wish Colt still made wheelguns. A Colt Detective Special or Police Positive Special (Colt's "D" frame) would make a perfect home for a .327 based platform (provided it was structurally sound enough). So would a Scandium K-Frame make a good home defense gun with a 3" or 5" barrel. For hunting, any of the Ruger SA's would make a nice home as 6, 7, or 8-shooters with five-inch or longer barrels.
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Per Ballistics by the Inch published results