.327 Federal Club thread

All of their firearms that are out of production (temporarily or permanently) are gone.

They probably don't have any production planned for 2014, and dropped them to clean up the website for the new year (and the coming SHOT Show announcements ;)).
 
I recall reading that Ruger had a banner year with something like a 40% increase in revenues or something equally astonishing. They've been working hard to fulfill orders and don't need to market anything that's a slow seller or has a low order volume right now.
 
Too bad about the GP100. Hope this is only temporary. My 327 GP has become my favorite revolver. I definitely prefer it to the SP. It travels with me on a lot of hikes and gets shot a lot.
 
Ruger has also suspended production of different things until they get their newest facility up & running. Also it's relevant to note that this is a normal process for Ruger with much precedence: they have suspended different items from the catalog numerous times over the years and then brought them back. The most recent example is the .480 Ruger chambered Redhawk revolvers. My .30 Carbine chambered Blackhawk is another example, that one was ceased multiple times and just keeps coming back. Actually, I ordered mine when it wasn't even a currently cataloged item. Had to wait a couple months to get it.

When Ruger makes a grand announcement that a model has been retired from production (as they did quite recently with the P-series semi-auto pistols or in the past with the Service Six line of revolvers) that's when you can starting ringing the death knell.
 
Well, if Smith and Wesson will make an 8 shot version of the S&W Performance Center 327 which is currently chambered for .357 Mag, I'll buy one.
 
That's the problem. I don't know if this cartridge came out at the wrong time, if it was poorly advertised, if it was a lack of good guns chambered for it, or all of the above. I feel like barrels were too short to take advantage of the round in too many cases. The porting on some of those short barrels seemed an odd choice for the muzzle flash and residue spray involved. If they had a 4" SP-101, a 6" GP-100, or higher capacity revolvers in L or N frames, I'd already have bought at least one of them. I was interested enough to seek out the old 4" SP-101 in .32 H&R mag for conversion and that's money Ruger just left on the table...

If a company is going to put all that time and energy into developing a new cartridge, they really need to go all in on their investment. I mean, they didn't even get this one into a companion rifle! :(
 
Cosmodragoon,

First, understand the development of the cartridge was to put forth a revolver for defensive concealed carry that had better ballistics than the 9mm but without the abusive recoil of the .357 in a small frame gun. To reach that goal, the 3-inch barrel was used to provide the balance between power and compact size.

It's certainly true that the .327 is a hot rod pushed out of a 4⅝ to 7½ inch barrel. If more Ruger models chambered this round it'd surely raise its popularity.

lcpiper
An 8-shot N-Frame might be a good outdoors gun. I'd be happy with a nice K-Frame 7-shooter for home defense or hiking. Let the Model 16 return again, this time with the classic S&W partial underlug in a 4" and 6" version. It'd look much like the Model 19.

It seems most of us would really like a nice light rifle for the round too. Hopefully this will be the year Marlin makes one (I ain't holding my breath). Or perhaps we'll see a "Lightning" style pump rifle for it.
 
Why not "double down" on the lightening idea and go with the rifle in 327 Federal magnum and remake the Lighting DA revolver in 32 H&R Mag :D
 
Why not "double down" on the lightening [sic] idea and go with the rifle in 327 Federal magnum and remake the Lighting [sic] DA revolver ?
Click to expand...

I'd have to be convinced of a lot of things before jumping on that bandwagon. The Colt 1877 DA revolver was known to have a fragile action. It was often referred to as "the gunsmith's friend" due to the frequency of breakage. Stuffing a high pressure .327 Federal Magnum into the gun would require some serious beefing up of the frame design too, I believe. You'd probably be better off starting the design almost from scratch.

In technical terms, the 1877 "Lightning" fired the .38 Long Colt.
The unofficial nickname for the .32 Colt version was "Rainmaker". So that'd be in keeping with tradition for a .327 version.
And if you went that far, why not add the New Thunderer in .41 Magnum instead of .41 Colt?
 
Well, when I said remake the Colt Lightning I did mean re-engineer a DA revolver that had the looks of the lightning. There just are so few DA cowboy guns to choose from. And I said 32 H&R Mag for the pistol, not 327 Fed Mag. Anyways.
 
BillCA said:
I'd be happy with a nice K-Frame 7-shooter for home defense or hiking. Let the Model 16 return again, this time with the classic S&W partial underlug in a 4" and 6" version.
Click to expand...
I've been waiting for this very gun for several years, albeit with a 5" barrel. :)

Now that S&W apparently believes that they've got the forcing-cone splitting problem licked with the new 2-piece Model 66 barrel, perhaps they could apply this technology to a 7-shot .327 Fed Mag "Model 616". :cool:
 
"Why not a .327?"

Only because I already have two .32 H&R mag revolvers that I'm very happy with, also have a Colt .32-20 (that I need to get around to fixing).
 
lcpiper - my bad. I was looking at them as a "matched pair" like the cowboy rifle & pistol duos of old. :o

carguychris - oh, I agree. A blued 5-inch would be sweet. Offer the new Model 16 with a 3-inch barrel and a 5-inch barrel to visually set them apart from the earlier models. S&W could make them with the same profile as the Model 19 since there isn't the need for extra recoil absorbing weight of the 686-style barrel.

The beauty is that it's unlikely they'd need a 2-piece barrel on the .327. The forcing cone could probably be made smaller in diameter and thus avoid the whole flat-cut on the forcing cone altogether. At least, I think so.
 
My SW 632

I have a Smith & Wesson 632-1 pro, 3" barrel in stainless, not black. I have had it for a year and a half, and have fired less than 250 rounds. When did they go out of production? Looking online, it appears that some are now selling for over $1,000. :cool:
 
8 Round 327 Magnum...?

From lcpiper

"Well, if Smith and Wesson will make an 8 shot version of the S&W Performance Center 327 which is currently chambered for .357 Mag, I'll buy one."

My thoughts exactly. I check their website from time to time, hoping to see this. I have the 8 round 357 magnum in both 2-5/8 and 4", and carry them both alot. But I'd snatch up an 8 round 327 magnum in a heartbeat. Then I could carry it IWB along with my 632 in my pocket.

I don't understand why they don't produce alot of those 2" 632's and 32 H&R's. When I show or discuss my various pocket pistols with friends, these are what they want because of the extra round, but, they can't find them.
 
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