Charter arms professional vs ruger sp101 327 mag/32h&r mag

G

Gulfcowboy

New member
I've been looking to dive into the 32 world. I've narrowed my choices down to two the charter arms professional in 32 h&r mag or the ruger sp101 in 327 mag both with a three inch barrels. The ruger shoots 327 mag so it can fire the whole 32 family of cartridges. The professional holds seven rounds, but only fires the 32h&r mag. and not 327 mag. The charter arms runs two hundred dollars cheaper. Does anyone own either one on these revolvers? If so how do you like it?
 
Professional has a better trigger. 327 fed pretty much can’t be fired without hearing protection or you’ll have hearing loss, which for me rules it out as a self defense cartridge. 32 mag is sufficient for self defense or small game hunting. Professional gets my vote.


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Never a better time to start hand loading.

.32 H&R seems to cost about $30 for 20 and .327 seems to cost about $30 for 50 rounds. I would not know, I reload for .32 H&R Magnum for a strong Ruger Single Six.

The sort of fellow that would carry a .32 is a contrary that would not join any club that would have him. The sensible snob would carry the .38 Special while the practical man would simply get a little Glock in 9mm and join the herd.

As such, the Charter is a Charter in a rare obscure cartridge best suited to hand loading. I hope I don't see one in a store counter soon as it would cost me.

The Ruger is the more practical choice as the difference in cost is about 250 rounds fired and then the Ruger is cheaper. I suspect the Ruger will have a higher resale value as it's "More Power" and a familiar quality name.

I would make handloads for the Ruger that fall between the weak .32 H&R Magnum pressure set by saami for the weak H&R revolver and the frankly impressive supersonic .327 Federal Magnum. Launch 100 grains of hollowpoint at something at 1050 fps and see what happens. I would make hand loads for the Charter that are above SAMMI pressure by a reasonable tad after considerably research and calculation and discussion.

My friend, do you want to be obscure obscure, or simply obscure?

both seem like cool revolvers to me and you can't go wrong with either.
 
I own the SP101 in .327FM, 4" barrel. It is not my carry gun, simply a fun gun.

Either one of these guns is really a handloader's special, as ammo on the shelf is difficult to find and is reasonably expensive. If you're going to handload one way or the other, I would (and did) go with the .327. It's not too hard to come up with loads that are basically 32H&R energy in the .327 brass. (.327 brass is only 1/8" longer than .32H&R, but with a considerably higher pressure rating.) For full power loads, the American Eagle ammo is still pretty hard to beat. Federal makes defense loads for .327. I found them to be accurate but seemed to shoot an inch or two below point of aim. And they sell for about a buck a round.
 
Charter are in the process of adding a extra hole in the small frame Undercoverette....

So a person will have a 12oz to 16oz option 6 shot 32 H&R ,,,

Mr Ecker told me himself ...
 
I have the 4.2" Ruger SP-101.

If I did not have it and a gun store had both, I would handle them both. I would factor in the extra cost of Wolff replacement springs for the SP-101 as the trigger pull is way too high with the factory springs. I would buy based on feel and whether or I thought the Ruger is really worth the extra. Unless I just did not like the way the Charter felt, it would most likely be my choice.

Although the Ruger name is solid, the price point of the Charter is a lot better and there seem to be more than a few die hard Charter fans.

The SP-101 production in 327 has not been "problem free", but Ruger service is top notch.

Charter quality is probably not quite as good as Ruger's but from what I have heard, their service is also darn good.

As far as ammo, the 32 H&R should be good enough. A large percentage of SP-101 handloaders with SP-101s seem to load closer to 32 H&R than to full power 327s.

My 327 does not really like 32 S&W longs. A 32 H&R will have less bullet jump and is more likely to be happy with 32 S&W longs.

However, if you are going to reload, I would not even bother with S&W longs. There is a good chance you will end up buying Starline brass (I did). If you are leaning that way, just do it up front as the minimum is 500 rounds (a lifetime supply) for either with 32 H&R at $93.50 and 327 at $132 (shipping included).

Note: If the small Charter gets 6, it will be 6 for the small frame and 7 for the bigger frame.
 
got a chance to shoot the professional 3 inch charter.
…. grips suck, must be to prevent tearing your web or pinching fingers. as noted it does shoot low if you bury the green dot down in the bottom of the rear notch. put it on top and it shoots point of aim. recoil and noise very comfortable. I like it a lot.
…. no rugers available in 327 right now that I could find without buying retail koolaid pricing. bob
 
In fairness, I didn't like the OEM grips on the SP-101 either, they felt tiny. I replaced them with a Hogue grip which is much more satisfying. I have been toying with the idea of getting some aftermarket wood grips for it.

I also have an SP-101 in .357, I use a Pachmayr grip on it that I like.

In reference to the SP-101 and Wolf Springs, I tried the Wolf springs and had to replace them with the OEM springs because I was getting consistent light primer strikes. But while the trigger will likely never be S&W quality, it does improve considerably with use. If you are looking at a gun for concealed carry, I have read posts from several folks that the .327 Ruger LCR has a considerably better trigger design. I have never handled an LCR so I can't offer an opinion.
 
I spoke to Mr Ecker about two years ago about possibly coming back out with a 327 , he answered “probably not“ .. they had a 6 shot 327 in the past , The Patriot... it was built on the Bulldog frame ... one with a 2.5 inch barrel the other with a 4 inch .... didn’t sell well .. I remember they were discounted deep ...Now that the have the 32 H&R Professional ... they have the barrels ...I wouldn’t take much to slap a 6 shot 327 cylinder in the Bulldog frame
or a 7 round 327 cylinder in the XL frame ...

If a few people would call , it could happen ..

Myself Im happy with the 6 shot 32 H&R 12oz Aluminum framed Undercoverette,,, hopefully the name will change to Undercover Six
 
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I personally have had horrible luck with SP101 .. 2 great ..3 not so great .. canted barrel on one , two with horrible crane assembly/frame fit .. Ruger said in spec ...

I do like their LCR’s and no problems with GP100 or Six series... Im leery of the newer production SP series ... My rule with Ruger SP101 ,, inspect first ...
 
For carry ... Charter or Ruger LCR.
For range, plinking, miscellaneous use ... SP101 3" or GP100.
For hunting use ... SP101 4.2" (sights on the 3" suck, and the GP is too heavy).

I own several .327 Federal revolvers: LCR (1.8"), SP101 (4.2"), and Blackhawk (5.5"). I also owned a GP100 (4.2") until this past January.
And I have shot my brother's 3" .327 Federal SP101 a bit.

If I wanted another, just to have one, I'd buy a Charter. "Lesser cartridge"? Sure.
If, for some reason, I didn't feel Charter met the quality level that I wanted, maybe I'd go searching for a S&W 632.
But I primarily shoot .32 H&R in my .327s, anyway. And I have been carrying with only .32 H&R in the cylinder for a couple years. (I value my hearing.)


There are also the original Taurus and Charter offerings for .327 Federal. But they don't come up for sale often and were discontinued because the revolvers couldn't handle the cartridge.
 
Every thing so far is spot on. I do own a sp101 chambered for .32 H&R, and I own an undercover and bulldog from the Stratford CT era. The charter arms professional will have a better trigger, lighter weight, and one more round. I've always been leery of the thin cylinder bolt on the charter arms revolvers, but it has worked OK on mine for 20 years. I don't like the looks of the "backpacker" grips on the charter arms professional. I would replace the grips with a set of classic bulldog grips, but that's just a personal issue.

The sp101 has a heavy trigger and there's not much you can do about it. Wolff makes a spring kit with a 8 pound trigger return spring (factory is 10) and 9, 10, and 12 pound hammer springs (factory on centerfires is 14). I've replaced the hammer spring with a 12 pound and have had no light strikes, but I suspect you might have a problem with the lighter weight hammer springs. There are some other things you can do to smooth up the ruger trigger and there are several videos covering that on youtube. But still, these will be marginal improvements. The ruger factory grips were too small for me. However there is a grip maker (out of thailand I believe) who makes hardwood sp101 grips in various styles. You can order directly from them on their website, or order the grips through amazon. Just go to amazon and search for the vendor: "handicraftgrips".

I like the .32 H&R. It serves me as a sort of reloadable .22lr. For the trail, a 115 grain cast at 850 ft/sec is dandy and for more serious work, there are published loads which will allow you to drive jacketed bullets to 1,100 ft/sec. There is also factory loaded "boutique" ammo which will achieve the same velocities.

As for which to choose, I would opt for the ruger, simply because I feel that it is more robust and with the .327 federal, possibly more versatile. The best answer, though, is to buy both. Lately I've been avoiding gun shops, fearing that I would find a charter arms .32 H&R nitride professional in the display case, and it would be impossible for me to pass it up.
 
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You are correct about the CA Patriot in 327. Why, because I own one and it's my carry revolver. Mine is the 2 1/2" fixed sight one. It's larger than a S&W J-frame, but smaller than the K. Six shot and fun to shoot with my reloads. And so easy to carry. I found an old 80's era Biancchi 5BH basket weave leather holster for a snub S&W K and it's perfect.
I load 32 S&W Longs and 32 H&R. The longs are like a .22 and I push the 32 H&R's to their limit because it is originally chambered for 327's. I also load 32 H&R specs in my 327 brass to their limits. StarLine makes nice hefty brass.
Factory 327's are brutal, so I don't shoot those, or even reload to those specs anymore.
I can see why CA dropped that line. 327's would wear the Patriot out over time. With their Professional, they went with the milder 32 H&R, added an extra round and released it to the public.
The grips that came with mine are perfect. Looks like Pachmyer's, but with the CA logo and bigger than what is offered on the Professional. I'll have to get some pictures up to show you all, but I like mine a lot. I even shot 32 ACP's out of it with no problems. Where else can you get a revolver that will function with five different 32 ammo? (32 ACP, 32 S&W Shorts, 32 S&W Longs, 32 H&R, 327 Fed Mag).
Pics will up up soon.
 
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Here are my loads for the 32's I use in my Patriot:
S&W Long brass with 100 grain poly coated hard cast. A joy to shoot and it's my reloadable .22
H&R Mag brass with the same bullet just a tad below max data.
327 Fed Mag brass at 32 H&R max data with a 85 grain FMJ SP.
A box of 50 costs me around $11-$13 a box, calculating initial costs (including the reloading equipment and dies). And just gets lower per box as I load more.
A reloaders dream!
 

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My CA Patriot with that old mint Biancchi holster:
Notice the grips that are the perfect size.
 

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