.327 Federal Magnum snubs?

baddarryl

New member
Hi all. I like what I have read about the round and may pickup a snub in it. Who makes them and what are your experiences with them? Thanks.
 
My two are Taurus. I have a 2" and my wife has a 3" ported. She was wanting a self defense gun and was not strong enough to rack the slide of a semi auto. The muzzle flash of the 357 was a bit much for her and I though a 38 special was a little lame. She can shoot the .327 mag with full loads without flinching and we practice with .32 longs. I liked it so much I went out and bought me one for a cheep glove box gun. At the time they were around $200 each at CDNN sports. But I have not seen them advertised lately.

Doug
 
Ruger made an SP101 in it, but it's not currently listed on their website as an option so you'd have to find one used. They're nice guns though.
 
The whole .327 thing was pretty much dead on arrival. Ruger made a SP chambered in it but ammo was pretty tough to find.

If I were interested in this round, I'd try to hunt down a Ruger. I'd also look to take up reloading. Otherwise, I'd just buy a .38 or a .357 snub and call it good.
 
I bought an SP101 earlier this year and I love it. It's a great round. I regularly see ammo for it. But if you don't reload, ammo will get spendy real quick. I don't think you will find many people out there who own a 327 and don't like it.
 
Got 2 Taurus bobbed hammer snubs. Bought 'em when they were on fire sale for something like $225 each. They are probably one of the more versatile revolvers. Shoots anything from 32S&W Long, 32 H&R Mag, 327 Fed Mag, & 32 ACP. Soft shooting with 32S&W Long - like a 22LR. Still pretty soft with H&R Mag. With full house 327 loads, it bites a little. But if you've ever shot a 357 snub, it's not that bad.

Taurus stopped making 'em. I think the only new mfr ones out there are the S&W 622 & the Ruger GP100. Neither of which are snubs.
 
357 magnum will already cause permanent hearing loss if you fire it indoors. 327 federal is FAR louder. I'd never use it for SD
 
If Ruger were to chamber their LCR revolver in .327 Magnum and have six holes drilled in the cylinder, I'd probably buy one for pocket carry use.
 
Anything that causes a ringing in your ear will do permanent damage to your hearing.

And I don't know of any handgun that wouldn't make your ears ring if fired indoors.
 
.327 performance really suffers in barrels shorter than 3".

This cartridge relys on very high pressure (for a handgun) to drive a light bullet to ludicrous speed (for a handgun) to get the energy levels advertised ...... they use fairly slow powders and long barrels to get that speed.

Using a short barrel turns a lot of that speed into blast and noise ..... you get lower performance and more blast/recoil than the thing was designed to produce......
 
357 magnum will already cause permanent hearing loss if you fire it indoors. 327 federal is FAR louder. I'd never use it for SD

I don't think so. I own and shoot both a and the .327 is plenty loud but touching off a full power .357 round in my 3" is no comparison.

The price of the ammo is fairly high so I am saving the brass to reload so I can adjust the load for the 2" barrel should help a little.

If someone breaks in the last thing I am going to be worrying about his hearing loss.... :D
 
I worked a few shops in Northern Ohio. When the Guns were popular the ammo was not. Now the Ammo is available and the guns are not. I'll take mid range 357 or 38+p. For my Carry Guns.
 
A .32 H&R Magnum had been on my want list for a long time. With the ability of .327 Federal-chambered guns to assimilate this and .32 S&W Long, it seems that picking up one of these would be a no-brainer.

But not in a snub. As a 4" or longer working gun for woods or field use. For defense, I (and nearly everyone else) have quite an investment in .38/.357 platforms.
 
This has been argued endlessly

Boils down to whether or not you like the round and which firearm you like.

Ammo is expensive, so loading your own is beneficial. Has been hard to find brass.

In my opinion the 327 Fed Mag is not as loud as the 357 mag. in SP101. Subjective opinion---being kinda deaf my judgment may be off.
 
A .357 magnum will already cause permanent hearing loss if you fire it indoors.

And that is why - reluctantly - I have decided to switch my in-home self-defense piece from a .357 to a 45ACP. I'm a big fan of revolvers, but they're better suited for outdoor use.

(Sorry to get off subject.)
 
where are you finding 38 special/357 that is still cheaper than 32 H&R/327? they are pretty similar in price these days.
 
Taurus made a 2" that isn't hard to find.
They also made a 3" ported and a 3" unported, that can be difficult to track down.
Ruger made the 3" SP101, but it is currently (temporarily) out of production and hard to find.
S&W makes the 632, but it is currently backordered into the next century. I've only ever seen a handful, in person.

Velocity really takes a hit, when going from the 3" to a 2" barrel (or the 3" ported barrel), but that's true of nearly every cartridge. If you want maximum performance, you're still better off shooting .327 Federal in the short barrel, than you are with .32 H&R.


Krezyhorse said:
The whole .327 thing was pretty much dead on arrival. Ruger made a SP chambered in it but ammo was pretty tough to find.
If .327 Federal was dead on arrival, Ruger wouldn't have backorders for more GP100s in .327 Federal than they sold in the last 4 years, ATK wouldn't still be producing ammo, S&W would have discontinued their 632 (which is also backordered neck-deep), and no one would be talking about it. ;)
And, if you talk to the distributors about those backordered .327s, they'll tell you that every one of them is already sold and they wish they could order more ...but S&W and Ruger won't accept any more backorders, because they're so far behind.

As for ammo....
We've been over that, many times before. It depends on what part of the country you're in, and what your local shops' opinions are on the cartridge. If the shop thinks it's crap, then they don't carry the ammo (like Sportsman's Warehouse). But, if the shop respects the cartridge, they stock plenty of it.

Around here, .327 Federal is almost as easy to find as .38 Special / .357 Mag, and is usually a few dollars cheaper, per box. (Sometimes, 30-40% cheaper than .357 Mag, for the American Eagle loads. :rolleyes:)
 
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