...just spent the last two days at a pseudo-family reunion, since I will be moving across the country (I usually avoid these gatherings
). We ended up getting a good shooting session in, earlier today.
There was a great .327 "incident". Only my father and one uncle had ever even
heard of the .327 Federal, and both of them had shot my Blackhawk (and Crankylove's SP101) in the past. I had about 12 separate conversations that followed almost exactly the same line. They went something like this:
"It's a what? A .357?"
FM- ".327 Federal. Think of it as .32 H&R having a roid rage."
"What good is it?"
FM- I was never able to answer this question. I was always interrupted by:
"Is it even as powerful as a .38?"
FM- "It puts it to shame. I don't even need a .357, now that I have these two (.327s)."
The reloading junkies would add: "What are the bullet weights and how fast are they moving?"
FM- "The 100 gr SPs (AE) are doing 1,700+ fps out of the Blackhawk. The 85s are loaded in .32 H&R brass, doing about 1,300 fps. The .32 S&W and .32 S&W Long can be used, too. They're fun, light plinking loads."
And, that's where some comment about it being useless or "puny" would be made....
And, then... I made it all stop. I handed one of my uncles the GP100 with a cylinder full of AE 100 gr Soft Points.
As soon as that trigger was pulled, all eyes were on him. He fired again, and turned his head toward me:
"That's incredible. It's got some serious bark, a little bite, and blows things up just as well as a .357 Mag; but it's SO controllable. Even a kid could handle full power loads."
And, that was all I heard about, for the rest of the day. I let everyone shoot the Blackhawk and GP100, that wanted to (I have a lot of empty brass now
). They shot my super-wimpy .32 S&W Long load (94 gr LFP @ 600 fps), my .32 S&W load (94 gr LFP @ ~800 fps), my wife's .32 H&R load (85 gr XTP @ 1,300 fps), and the AE 100 gr factory load (1,700+ fps). Everyone went from doubters to absolute believers.
There was an unending torrent of praise for the controllability and comfort of the .327 Blackhawk and GP100 (
especially the GP100). If I was a salesman, I could have sold at least six .327 revolvers today. They LOVED the pair. (Crankylove's SP101 was not available to round out the trio of Rugers.)
From, "That's a useless cartridge."
To, "That's incredible."
...In 20 minutes.
To impress them a bit more, I hit a metal target (18"W x 48" H) at 450 yards with each revolver. The group was dumbfounded. They had never seen a cartridge like the .327 Federal, in their lives. (Don't tell them that I had been practicing that shot, while they were eating lunch. It took a bit of practice to walk it in.
)
It was a great day for me... but, the .327 Federal was the
star of the show.
Another note that may be of minor interest to some members:
My wife shot the GP100 for the first time, today. I told her she couldn't shoot it, until she put full power loads through it. Since her reaction to full power loads in the Blackhawk was, "Ah! I don't like it!," I was wondering what she would do with the GP100 (she doesn't like the way single-action revolvers roll in the hand). First she insulted the grips I put on it -- a set of the older OEM grips with Rosewood inserts, that Crankylove had laying around. (It now looks just
like this, for those unfamiliar.)
Her reaction was a gigantic smile, and three sentences: "It's mine. You get the other one. This one is fun."
...Can't argue with that.
) Heck, the .40 S&W was born because of the request to "settle down" the 10mm in the first place.