.327 Federal Club thread

Just out of curiosity Frankenmauser, what would you consider to be a "fail" when testing a firearm
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If I am testing, it means the firearm has passed inspection. So, fit, finish, etc. are assumed to be acceptable.

At the point of testing, there are any number of things that can happen:
Breakage.
Parts falling off/out.
Function issues.
Timing issues.
Improper operation (sudden ineffectiveness of a safety, for example).
And more...

Or, in the extreme category, one of my favorites: The barrel falling off.
Unfortunately, my back was turned at the time the shot was fired, but I did turn back in time to see my bewildered uncle standing there with his brand new Taurus in one hand and the barrel lying on the ground in 1/2 inch of desert silt.
First shot. Barrel blew off.
It had been over-torqued and cracked about 1 thread in from the front of the frame.
BIG failure.

(Not the only barrel I've seen blown off a revolver, either. But the next one was a S&W.)
 
If I had my "druthers"...

I would rather have an 8-shot GP100 with a 6" barrel. This would make certain that the cartridge has enough "runway' for the Federal round and sufficient support for the rest. I enjoy the .32 S&W Long, .32 H&R Magnum as well as the .327 Fed.

You can load the Long and H&R Magnums hotter than you'd care to believe. The .327 Magnum has been loaded with 135-grain JHP bullets to some darned stiff levels. Make no mistake about it, it will kill game up through the size of small deer and it is easily handled.
 
QUOTE: When I carry the LCR, it's stuffed with either 115 gr Gold Dot factory ammo, or 85 gr Hydrashoks.

So, FrankenMauser, I plan on replacing a Colt Cobra, chambered in .38 Special, with a Ruger LCR chambered in .327 Magnum, as a primary carry concealed revolver for self-defense. In your experience, what load would you recommend in terms of the inevitable compromise between controllability (overcoming recoil to achieve accurate repeat shots) vs "stopping power" (the necessary minimal amount of recoil required to generate the energy to "stop a man in his tracks")?
Thanks for any advice you might have.
 
That's a very tough question for me to answer, since I haven't fired the 115 gr Gold Dots in the LCR, and I'm not sure if I fired any of the Hydrashoks. (The first 6 rounds may have been Hydrashoks, but I'm not sure.)

After typing up several paragraphs on the matter, and weighing my experience in the GP100 and Blackhawk, I decided to just come back to one short point and the explanation:

Any of the defense loads should be fine.

The reason I carry 85 gr Hydrashoks in the LCR is because they were on top of the ".32 revolver" ammo can when I needed carry ammo. I was too lazy to dig for the Gold Dots (100 and 115 gr) on the bottom of the can.

And the reason I wanted one of the 'official' defense loads, is because the 100 gr AE SP was meant to be a small game bullet. While I'm sure it would work on humans and charging lawnmowers, the other bullets were specifically designed for that purpose (in this cartridge, too - not just adapted for it). The defense loads also seem to have a little less muzzle flash.

Just my opinion, but does it help at all?
 
Look, the .327 Federal Magnum is far better than it's detractors would have you believe. As it has been said before, the .327 Fed Mag would be well-served by creating a Marlin or Rossi lever action carbine (a 16" barrel is all that's needed). Such a piece would be an excellent "woodswalking" carbine.

The options of shooting the .32 S&W, .32 S&W Long and .32 H&R Magnum are good ones:

The .32 S&W is a good "garden gun" cartridge (routing pests is a very good application for this stubby little relic). Think about it, shooting pests with this round will not disturb the neighbors.

The .32 S&W Long is a nice, tame short-range cartridge for killing larger pests and rabbit hunting as well. Believe me, you can get some great "pot meat" with some 98-grain round-nosed lead pills!

Now the .32 H&R Magnum is a bit more potent than many "shooting authorities" would have you believe. At it's most potent levels, 30-yard coyotes are in definite jeopardy. (Hell, it would probably kill them as far out as 50 yards)! It's a good small game-getter up (to about 100 lbs.) at close ranges.

Of course, the .327 Federal Magnum is the stellar performer of the bunch. This can easily strike down small deer as if it were a bolt of lightning at 100 yards. (150 pounds would be the limit for the cartridge). Pests? Not a problem. Bobcats, wolves, marauding dogs, no sweat. These are excellent "targets of opportunity" for either a lever-action rifle, or a 6" barreled revolver. (I have seen a Bobcat killed with an S&W .32 Magnum that's been re-chambered for the .327 Federal Magnum. It dropped as if it were struck by the "hammer of Thor". (I can imagine that Cougars would succumb quickly to the 135 grain JHP launced at the same speeds).

If you need anything heavier, you should probably move up to a full-blown rifle cartridge. In the meantime, the "smallbore magnum" should serve you rather well.
 
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I owned a .327 LCR for about a week, it had to go back to Ruger and they cant replace it so they offered me a different gun. While I am a but bummed that I will no longer have a small 6 shot snub, I will be getting a .45 Colt New Vaquero in it's place which I am happy with. With that said if anyone is interested in buying my .327 ammo I have a couple 20rd boxes of .327 and .32 H&R both from Federal, will ship for free.
 
I owned a .327 LCR for about a week, it had to go back to Ruger and they cant replace it so they offered me a different gun.
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Does that mean they aren't making any more? That is the same story as when sending in a Lipsey's special edition Single Seven. At some point they should be offering refunds or at least credits to use later when a truly desired gun is available. For refund, it really should go to the seller, who received the retail price and who can go back to Ruger for his part of the money.
 
Does that mean they aren't making any more?
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They have been waiting on the necessary parts since November to make more of them and there is no end in sight. They couldn't give me an ETA so they offered to replace it with an LCR in a different caliber, though the only reason I wanted the LCR was because of the caliber so I declined. Though in the end I will be getting a 5.5" stainless Vaquero in .45 Colt, a gun I have wanted for years though could never think of an excuse to get one until now.
 
I got the SP101 back from Ruger last week. I believe it was an eleven-day turn around time, including shipping (which, itself, included sitting in a distribution center over a weekend); and I got it back last Friday.
I hadn't mentioned it sooner, because I had some family business that required my attention and I was hoping to be able to shoot the thing by now.
Last week, I pretty much just opened the box, checked the serial number, made sure it was in one piece, glanced at what Ruger claimed to have done, and locked it up.

Today, I finally had some time to pull it back out and take a better look. I still haven't shot it, but at least I got to 'play' with it.

Ruger's repair comments were:
"Repair cylinder fit and barrel."
...That's it.

Upon inspection, I can see that they fit a new hand; new crane and cylinder; either cleaned, machined, and refinished the barrel, or replaced it; and may have fitted a new cylinder stop.

My guess would be that it's a new barrel.

Lockup is tight.
Timing looks and feels great.
And the cylinder gap is half of what it used to be (eyeballed).

Looks good. If the weather is half decent, I may be able to take it out on Tuesday. Otherwise, I have no idea how long it will be...
 
Excellent! Let us know how well it shoots, Then see if you can find some 135 grain .327 Federa Magnums from someplace such as Georgia Arms or another place that will "load them heavy" for heavy-duty use.!

It has been done with an S&W Model 16 chambered for the .32 H&R Magnum fitted with a cylinder that has been reamed to accept the longer cartridge . The man's screen name is Hammerdown and the game that he's taken with the .327 Federal Magnum has been rather notable.

I wait with bated breath to hear how well your revolver performs... (I must stop eating that bait)! :D :p
 
Got a call this morning and Ruger said they are going to scrap my brand new SP101 so disappointing. and they do not have another 327 to replace it with :(
 
It seems like September through December production is always plagued with more problems than January through August, when it comes to Rugers...

When was yours made, or at least when was it purchased, superspirit?
 
Got a call this morning and Ruger said they are going to scrap my brand new SP101 so disappointing. and they do not have another 327 to replace it with
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That may mean they don't have time to repair it, as was the case with my gun. I got it back as-is and had my gunsmith fix it.
 
When was yours made, or at least when was it purchased, superspirit?
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About march or april of last year, the upside is they are going to replace it with a 454 casull I have been considering, so I can just go buy another 327 SP and come out ahead in the end. IF I can find a servicable one. this is the 4th Ruger I've had to send in in the last 2 years and the second that has to be destroyed according to Ruger.:rolleyes:
 
Here is my Single Seven .327 along with its big brother, Super Blackhawk in .480. Sorry about the photo, from my low quality cell phone.
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Those are a couple of beautiful guns you have there. I would love to hear a bit more on that .480 but don't want to derail this thread.
 
I truly believe that the best .327 Federal Magnum Ruger is currently producing is their 7 1/2" barreled Single Seven. A great varminter by any stretch of the imagination.

I'd like to see a double action version of this revolver.
 
Just a little heads up for any 327 guy looking for a Taurus M327.
Do a search on Armslist in Minnesota. There is a guy selling one. Gun, Holster and ammo for $250
I already have one other wise I would be on it.

These things have been going for around $400 lately.
 
I'm curious about LCR serial numbers.

Having noticed the other day that my serial number falls with the "approximate" first 60 produced, it made me wonder where the other LCRs on this forum come in.

Ruger started at "approximately" 547-08400 for the .327 Federal LCR and the serial number block does not interchange with other models/variants.

Where does your serial number fall?
First 100?
First 1000? (If they even made 1000...)
 
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