.327 Federal Club thread

Okay guys. I'm struggling here. I am about to buy a revolver for ccw/fun and can't decide whether I want to go the .327 route or the .357/.38 route.

First off, a little about me:

-Reloader
-Caster
-Not recoil sensitive, but I get my hoots from hitting what I'm aiming at, not making my hand go numb
-I like unique stuff :]
-Looking at the taurus 327, 2"

I know .357 is the practical choice, but the .327 intrigues me. In my imagination, I would be able to load up or buy the hot defensive .327s for carry, but plinking with .32 sw longs would be pretty hand-friendly, no? How are the .32 mags, recoil wise? I doubt I'd shoot many of them, but I'm just curious where they fall between the ultra low pressure(sw longs) and ultra high pressure .327 loads that gun of that chambering could handle. How is brass life of the three cartridges? Any chance of brass/loaded ammo being available any time soon?

Now, for comparisons sake, would someone mind describing the recoil characteristics of the following cartridges (maybe just rank them?) available to be fired in either a .327 or .357 of the same size, such as a taurus 605 vs 327. I'm thinking the .327 is probably snappier than the .357 due to the increase in peak pressure, but I'm also wondering how .32 sw long or .32 hr mag loads compare to .38 plinking loads.

-32 sw long
-32 hr mag
-327 fed mag
-38 spl
-38 spl +p
-357 mag

I'm just trying to get a gun that will do it a lot of different tasks and it seems like the .327 is up to that standard, it will just take more leg work to get my loading/casting setup than it would for .357.
 
The .32 H&R's noise and recoil is about where you might expect - half way between the .32 Long and.327. Definitely enough pop to let you know it's "no .22 anything" or one of the lesser .32s, but still less sturm und drang than the average 158 gr .38 practice load. Dollars aside, you can shoot the H&R virtually all day by comparison. Try just part of an afternoon with a Detective Special shooting "standard" cast/SWC. Not that fun. (Obviously escalate that observation with virtually any .357). Not so the H&R, whether 85, 95 or 100 gr. Of course out of the Airweight, the warmer the load, the less apt you are to just "plink" with it,...but, the warmest .32 (but no experience with BB's new offering) is a pure delight out of a 4-3/4" Single Six. I would expect a similar response--but a bit more noise and kick--out of even a shorter barreled SP101, whether chambered "discretely" (ie, at most) for H&R or the .327 chambering.
 
First off, a little about me:

-Reloader
-Caster
-Not recoil sensitive, but I get my hoots from hitting what I'm aiming at, not making my hand go numb
-I like unique stuff :]
-Looking at the taurus 327, 2"
Click to expand...



Hello Catzor
You have all the qualities in Place of a Person Begging to own & shoot the Federal .327 Magnum. ;) I must warn you though that this round in a 2" snub Air-Weight style revolver will ring your bell. It's recoil in a short barrel light weight revolver is very pronounced as my S&W Model 431 chambered in .32 H&R Magnum will sting your Palm and make your Middle finger sting from it's recoil when firing it if it is hand loaded with my own Loads....so I can only Imagine what it would be like to fire the Federal .327 Magnum in a 12 OZ Gun...:o Hammer It
 
If a new cartridge does not offer significant advantages over well established predecessors, however, it is doomed to failure.
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I'll amend my above statement to "doomed to obsolescence".
 
I'll amend my above statement to "doomed to obsolescence".
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Well good thing the .32's have it all over the .38S and .357 in small frame revolvers (including the Single Six). Of coarse, according to you the small frame revolvers are now obsolete since they offer no significant advantage over semi auto pistols right? Yawn.

Definitely enough pop to let you know it's "no .22 anything" or one of the lesser .32s, but still less sturm und drang than the average 158 gr .38 practice load.
Click to expand...

A very good description of the .32H&R. When you fire off 6 rounds it just brings a smile to your face no matter if you prefer big bores or .22's. Easy to hit with and you will definetly get the feeling it's not some toy.

LK
 
I apologise in advance, but I don't have time to read the whole thread to see if anyone has posted the ballistic differences between the .32 federal and the .32 H&R mag? Is it similar to the 38/357, simply a slightly longer case?

Either way, I've had a couple of the single sixes in .32 H&R, and liked them at the time. The only thing negative I could find about them is the same "problem" with the .30 carbine.... they are LOUD! :eek:

They were a blast to shoot, however. (ok, pun intended) It wouldn't hurt my feelings to have a nice little SP101 in .327 Fed, if they make it that way. The 6 shots and a 3 or 4" barrel would be nice.. a great little walking around gun.. cast boolits at about 850fps would be great for defense against the occasional rampaging beer can or horse apple.
 
-Reloader
-Caster
-Not recoil sensitive, but I get my hoots from hitting what I'm aiming at, not making my hand go numb
-I like unique stuff :]
-Looking at the taurus 327, 2"
Click to expand...
I cannot, in good faith, recommend the Taurus 2-inch for this round. The chrono results are unbelievable when you chop it down to 2 inches.

Go for the Ruger SP-101 with the 3.06" barrel and you'll get what the cartridge has to offer.
 
+1! %'s and numbers don't mean much to me in this case. I have all three. SP-101 .357, Taurus .327 Mag and the SP-101 .327 Mag, and of the three the Taurus has the most severe felt recoil.

Latigo
 
Well, the numbers don't have to mean much... until you ask yourself WHY you want the .327 Federal and what you are asking it to do for you. And if part of the reason you want it is because it eclipses .38 Spl +P and maybe even 9mm +P in performance...

...than you simply can't stuff it in to a 2-incher, lop 200 ft/sec off your bullet speed and expect it to eclipse .38 Spl +P and 9mm+P because it won't anymore.

But keep it in the SP-101, and the numbers are better. ;)
 
you simply can't stuff it in to a 2-incher, lop 200 ft/sec off your bullet speed and expect it to eclipse .38 Spl +P and 9mm+P because it won't anymore.
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Yes, you can and it will, at least in 38 Special. The setup you have above calculates to 308 ft-lbs ME, whereas the 135 grain Speer designed for two inch barrels come in at a puny 222 ft-lbs.
I think the problem comes with firing the little monster with all the flash and blast it must perpetrate.
 
Hornetguy said:
I apologise in advance, but I don't have time to read the whole thread to see if anyone has posted the ballistic differences between the .32 federal and the .32 H&R mag? Is it similar to the 38/357, simply a slightly longer case?
Click to expand...

Here's a chart to show you the energy levels of the respective cartridges.
Each bar represents the typical energy ranges for each cartridge, using factory load data. Obviously handloading can tweak these bars somewhat.

327_32HR_energyChart.jpg


As you can see, the .327 FM produces similar energy to the .40 S&W and .45 ACP and part of the .357 Magnum's spectrum. It is important to note that these ballistics are out of a 3" barrel while the other cartridges show ballistics from a 4" barrel. That means to make apples to apples comparison, we can slide the .327 FM to the right a bit. (I haven't calculated it yet).

You can see there is a gap between the .32 H&R and the .327 FM. A sizeable gap. The .32 H&R is loud because most of the guns chambered for it have short barrels. I'm told it's only slightly quieter from a 4" barrel.

Recoil Performance.
I'll stick with J-frames for comparison purposes.
I'm neither recoil shy, nor a recoil junkie.

My S&W 649 .357 Magnum weighs in at 23oz.
Federal AE .357 Magnum 158gr @1240fps produces 13 ft-lbs of not-so-fun wrist-wrenching recoil. That's my limit.

Using the .327 FM, 100gr American Eagle @1400 fps (435 ft-lbs) compared to a .38+P 135gr Speer Gold Dot (@860fps) we get:
12 oz ultra lightweight: 14.79 ft-lbs vs. 11.25 (Speer .38+P)
16 oz alloy lightweight: 11.09 ft-lbs vs. 8.44
18 oz alloy lightweight: 9.86 ft-lbs vs. 7.50
23 oz Stainless J-Frame: 7.72 ft-lbs vs. 5.87
28 oz Ruger 3" SP-101:.. 6.34 ft-lbs vs. 4.82
31 oz S&W K-Frame M10 5.72 ft-lbs
36 oz S&W K-Frame M15 4.93 ft-lbs

The Speer Gold Dot 135gr .38 +P load was chosen because it represents a fairly well known load for many people. The Speer 125gr GDHP is "close enough" in recoil energy, adding only about 1/2 ft-lb.
 
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You can see there is a gap between the .32 H&R and the .327 FM. A sizeable gap. The .32 H&R is loud because most of the guns chambered for it have short barrels. I'm told it's only slightly quieter from a 4" barrel.
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My single sixes had barrels that were in the 6" range, whatever strange length Ruger calls it... 5 7/8? 6 1/2"? Whatever. They were still WAY too sharp/loud for walking around shooting without ear protection. I vividly remember the first (and only) time I shot a Blackhawk in .30 carbine without protection... it felt like someone had eased up behind me and jammed 16 penny nails in each of my ears. They rang for a couple of hours afterward. I imagine that was most of the cause of my low-frequency hearing loss and tinnitus.

I probably should have been more clear on my statement about the 38/357... I was wondering if the difference in the .32 HR and the .32 Fed was similar to the difference between the 38/357. It appears from the chart that this is probably fairly accurate.
Does anyone have the cartridge dimension comparison handy? I'd look it up, but I can't access anything "gun" related here at work. Somehow, our online nanny has missed this site.... thank goodness..
 
I appreciate the time you put into your post, but I'm not sure what you're referring to here:

Using the 100gr American Eagle @1400 fps (435 ft-lbs) compared to a 135gr Speer Gold Dot we get:
12 oz ultra lightweight: 14.79 ft-lbs vs. 11.25 (Speer)
16 oz alloy lightweight: 11.09 ft-lbs vs. 8.44
.....
Click to expand...

With the, "100gr American Eagle ...", I'm assuming you're referring to the .327 Federal load. However, it is almost universally reported within (+/-) 30 fps of factory claims of 1,500 fps out of the SP101's 3" barrel.

With the "(Speer)" reference in the first comparison, are you referring to one of the Speer .327 Federal loadings, or back to the 135 gr .357 load?
 
So what all guns are available to me in this caliber?

Smith 632 carry comp pro (3", adjustable sights)
Taurus 327 (2", fixed sights)
SP101 (3", fixed sights)
Charter Patriot (4", ? sights)


What other guns/configurations are available for .327? What about .32 mag?
 
Freedom Arms makes a pretty snazzy single action, but it's not cheap.
USFA makes or made a single action also.

Bond Arms has a 3-inch double derringer.
Ruger has the 5.5" 8-shot Blackhawk and the 6-inch 7-shot .327 GP-100.

Hammer It has a Hamilton Bowen converted S&W Model 16-4 that all of us .327 guys just love. :D
 
FrankenMauser,

Thanks for the feedback. I was less than crystal clear.

Yes, comparing the recoil of the 100gr Federal AE to the Speer .38 +P 135gr Gold Dot.

The last I read up on the cartridge ballistics, there were 3 published factory loads for the .327 FM. From a 3-inch barrel they were described as:
- 85gr JHP @ 1330 fps
- 100gr JSP @ 1400 fps
- 115gr JHP @ 1330 fps.

These may have changed, of course, but those where the numbers I started with from several publications.

I've edited my previous post, so now it should be clear what I was rambling about. :p
 
Does anyone have the cartridge dimension comparison handy? I'd look it up, but I can't access anything "gun" related here at work. Somehow, our online nanny has missed this site.... thank goodness..
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Dimension ......... .32 H&R ..... .32 FM ..... .38 Spec
Ctg Case Length: 1.075 in ..... 1.20 in ..... 1.155 in
Ctg Overall Len.: 1.350 in ..... 1.47 in ..... 1.55 in
 
Thanks for the reply Bill.
I still don't like those figures (not your fault). I have all of those loads available, and will have to toss some across a chronograph with Crankylove's SP101, next time I'm out. Every report I've seen is pretty much on the money for the factory claims. So, I guess it's time I verify, for myself. ;)

Now I just have to talk my father into letting me borrow his chronograph....
 
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