I Became a Member of the 327 Federal Magnum Club Today

W

weblance

New member
Ive have wanted a 327 Federal Magnum revolver for some time now. I wanted a 6 shot centerfire snub nosed revolver I could shoot lower powered ammo in for plinking, then load the full power stuff for defense. I also wanted this for my wife, as she has difficulty with limited hand strength, and cant control even the lightest 38 Special ammo very well. When its under her control, I will load it with 32 H&R Mag, when its under my control, 327 Federal Magnum.

I have been watching for a deal on my local Armslist for a couple years. I wasnt going to pay the ridiculous prices the 327 revolvers command on Gunbroker, and the other internet sources. A few days ago, this Taurus 2" stainless 327 showed up on my local Armslist. The original owner claims he shot less than 50 rounds through it. That looks to be true. Today was MY day. $300

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I hope it serves you well but do note that testing on the .327 Federal has shown (conclusively) that the cartridge simply will not get the velocity up near it's potential in barrel lengths of less than three inches.

Yes, every handgun squeezes more velocity from a longer barrel, it is not news. And yes, a .327 Federal round WILL give more velocity from a 2" snub than a .32 H&R Mag from the same revolver. But truly, the very high velocity that is the calling card of the .327 Federal is lost from barrels under 3" in length.

As to "ridiculous prices on Gunbroker", with the recent additions of NEW and available Ruger Single Seven and the 4.2" barreled SP-101, they simply go for new gun prices and I don't find them overpriced... at least any more so than other comparable new quality revolvers.

Great thread on handloading the .327 Federal in the H&R area if you are so inclined.
 
Ive been watching for a few years. The new Single Seven, and the New SP101 in 327 Federal Mag ARE reasonably priced, but have only been available for a few months. BEFORE they were introduced, the older GP100s, and SP101s, along with the S&W revolvers chambered in 327 were WAY out of my price range. They still are.

I wanted this because I was curious about the .32 calibers, how they shot, and the felt recoil. Its going to be my wifes sock drawer gun, loaded with H&R Magnums, IF she is comfortable with the felt recoil from those. Im not looking for max performance from the 327 cartridge. If I was, I would buy the new SP101.

For a carry gun, Im sure a snub nose .327 would get the job done, and it has the advantage of 6 shots, as opposed to 5. The loss of velocity from a short barrel isnt my concern.
 
Then I would say you are totally good to go! Just wanted to put it out there because it's not always obvious to folks. Most anything about the .327 isn't known or talked about a lot, and the 3-inch cut off is one of those things.

The GP, shorter SP-101 and Blackhawk .327's are not in production, which has made the Gunbroker prices go beyond sanity. I would only suggest to anyone who wants one that Ruger has a very long and established record with plenty of precedence of taking some things in & out of production. It was only months back when people on this forum started getting goofy over the Redhawk which was also suspended from production... and as I expected, came back.

Heck, my .30 Carbine Blackhawk was -out- of production when I decided I wanted one. A few months later, I got a new one, shortly after they went back in to production again. That's Ruger. Nobody knows for sure what will happen, but if I were a betting man, I would say that all three of the .327's will come back.
 
327

Congratulations on your 327. I've owned Taurus before and had no problems.
My wife has the same problem as yours but we went a different route and got her a 5 shot 22 mag derringer. She's in absolute control with this and its loud as heck
and fits into her tiny purses that she likes to carry now.
I have the GP 100 4.2 " 357 mag. as my go to gun and I also am waiting to purchase a Ruger 327 mag 3'' or 4".

Doc
 
The 85 grain Hydrashok is probably about right for that smaller gun. I find it too light for the SP101, but it would work for anyone who wants to back away from any recoil sensitivity.

The 32 H&R concept is probably a good one but it may not be as tame as she would like, when you put it in that little gun. 32 S&W Long might be where you end up for her.

I just returned from shooting my Single Seven...such a great shooter. I have it dialed in and am getting 2-3" groups freehand at 50 feet, right on bullseye.
 
Welcome to the world of .327!

Yeah, you waste a lot of energy in barrels that short but that's true of snubby .357s too. If I had that particular model, I'd probably be shooting a lot of .32 H&R magnum in it. I've always felt that cartridge was better suited to smaller guns. I grew up shooting .32 S&W Long and it is a lot of fun. People knock its defensive potential but it is just so sweet for plinking. Just make sure you scrub out the chambers after shooting shorter rounds. You can get a lot of build-up in there behind the little edge that's spaced for .327-length cartridges.
 
Its a surprisingly heavy little revolver, at 25 oz. Thats the same as my 2" SP101. Dry firing with 32 H&R A-Zoom snap caps, it has a very nice Double Action trigger, but a rather heavy SA break. I had the same style grip, in a full three finger size. I like how the longer grip feels, and the balance is perfect. I do have mixed feelings about Taurus, as I have 2 good examples, and one bad. This M327 is very nicely put together, the fit and finish are top notch. If it shoots as good as it looks, it will certainly become a favorite very quickly.
 
A longer grip makes it a holster gun instead of a pocket gun. The grip poking out increases the concealment challenge. I don't think that type of gun should be expected to offer a nice feeling grip, since the concept really requires some compromises.
 
A little over a month ago my son bought a new Ruger Single Seven (327) .
It is or was a Stainless gun and shot well until it no longer shot at all .

At about two weeks and 50 rounds of 327 Mag the cylinder pin fell out in the river never to be seen again . ( no reason for that ) At three weeks and around 100 round it locked up tight with six rounds still in it . It took some work to get the cylinder out and unload it .

He sent it back to Ruger and a week later was told he would not see that Ruger again ? Ruger told him they (Ruger) were going to destroy the firearm and he could pick any new Ruger (not a 327)and they would send it to his FFL . He finally settled on a SR-1911 only for something to trade on a firearm he would like .
 
Welcome welcome welcome!!!! 1st thing your gona notice is just how accurate that little snubby is.
Even with full blown 327 loads you will have no trouble keeping them on target.
And thats the point after all.

H&S 32J speed loaders work and any J frame holster will work.

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I hope it serves you well but do note that testing on the .327 Federal has shown (conclusively) that the cartridge simply will not get the velocity up near it's potential in barrel lengths of less than three inches.

Yes, every handgun squeezes more velocity from a longer barrel, it is not news. And yes, a .327 Federal round WILL give more velocity from a 2" snub than a .32 H&R Mag from the same revolver. But truly, the very high velocity that is the calling card of the .327 Federal is lost from barrels under 3" in length.

As to "ridiculous prices on Gunbroker", with the recent additions of NEW and available Ruger Single Seven and the 4.2" barreled SP-101, they simply go for new gun prices and I don't find them overpriced... at least any more so than other comparable new quality revolvers.

Great thread on handloading the .327 Federal in the H&R area if you are so inclined.
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My testing using 85gr XTP's ahead of 2400 and a standard primer.
I chronoed my load from the Taurus at about 1400 fps.
Thats plenty fast enough for any social situation I may encounter.
the 100 gr XTP's fly around 1275 fps. Still pretty good.
Now when I use H110 and a SRP I do get better performance from my longer barrels.
So its a matter of mixing and matching the loadings for the intended task.
That 2400 load only increases the fps in the longer barrel by a slight margin.
That tells me I am getting as much burn as possible in that 2 inch window.
H110 in the 2 inch is a flame thrower and has a very evident loss in velocity.
That has been the extent of my testing. The 2400 load performs so no real need to keep chasing.
The H110 load is my hunting load for the Single 7
But yes I guess, factory loadings are tweeked to give best results from a 3 inch barrel.
But we can do better.

Weblance: I will give one warning though. The Taurus is not a rough and tough Ruger. I dont give mine a steady diet of Heavy 327 Mag loads.
I shoot 25% 32L, 30% 32 H&R, 30% 327 mag light cast loads, Then the remainder full power stuff.
I had read a few warnings about the Taurus not holding up to a steady diet of big BOOMERS. Just before they quit making them. That also coincides with Federal toning down their 100gr load from what was originally released.
The 1st box of the old Federals I fired were very hard to eject. newer ones have not.
 
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85gr XTP's from the 2" Taurus at 1,400 is definitely impressive results and flies very much in the face of what testing of factory ammo revealed by the BBTI guys:
http://www.ballisticsbytheinch.com/327mag.html

That is a very formidable load!

And Keybear, that's a terrible story about that Ruger Single Seven!
Any new gun can fail (nothing is perfect) but shocking that they could neither replace nor fix it!
 
85gr XTP's from the 2" Taurus at 1,400 is definitely impressive results and flies very much in the face of what testing of factory ammo revealed by the BBTI guys:
http://www.ballisticsbytheinch.com/327mag.html

That is a very formidable load!

And Keybear, that's a terrible story about that Ruger Single Seven!
Any new gun can fail (nothing is perfect) but shocking that they could neither replace nor fix it!
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Testing factory loads I guess tells a story. But it does not tell the whole story (conclusively) about a particular caliber or fire arm. It just tells how that particular load fared in that particular gun.
Since Ruger instigated the 327Magnum and their intended fire arm was the 3 inch SP101 and the longer GP100. Makes sense that the factory loadings would favor that configuration.
As hand loaders know. Thats just the beginning of the story.
The same rules always apply. Just because its a 327 magnum does not mean they dont.
Its simple " Shorter barrel go faster powder" The fact that the 327 mag can with stand quite a bit more pressure than most normal cartridges opens up a wide swath of potential that you just dont have in other offerings.


I had read of others and I have also had a issue with my own Single 7.
Allot were sent back with a loading gate issue. Thats what mine has and it is going back..... Maybe.. If they wont give it back I am gona keep it as is.
I already have a SP101 so what could they offer me???
 
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I am considering trading/selling my 4" 357 SP101, for a 4" 327 SP101. I dont like trading/ selling guns I like, but the 4" 327 SP would be a great addition. Maybe I will just keep my 4" 357, give up haircuts for a year, buy cheaper dog food, and bank the saving for a 4" 327 SP.
 
COZ, yes I realize that the testing the BBTI guys did is simple chrono testing on factory loads, but it is a pretty good baseline because it's not simply "one load in one gun", it's a Contender barrel that is cut down inch by inch so it's not like they grabbed a random 4" barrel revolver and a random 2" barrel revolver and said "Hey, look!" ...I find it to be pretty good information.

For sure, I do realize that handloads can change the game, no doubt. I'm the one that started the thread we have in H&R forum with everyone's different load data including a number of different handloads and chrono results of my own. I also find that thread to be a fine resource; I'd love it if more .327 handloaders would add their experiences to it.
 
Weblance wrote:

I am considering trading/selling my 4" 357 SP101, for a 4" 327 SP101. I dont like trading/ selling guns I like, but the 4" 327 SP would be a great addition. Maybe I will just keep my 4" 357, give up haircuts for a year, buy cheaper dog food, and bank the saving for a 4" 327 SP.
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While it would be great to have both, consider the following:

In your daily decision tree, how often are you really going to choose to carry the 4" 5-shot .357 over the 4" 6-shot .327? Seriously think about it. Run your decision-making process for various circumstances. In what circumstances will that relatively small increase in power be enough to sacrifice a round? Why wouldn't those circumstances just bump the choice up to a GP100 or other larger-framed 6/7-shot gun in .357?
 
Well... since I already have 4 GP100s, thats not a consideration. Im wondering if the 327 SP101, with its 6 shot capacity, and the capability of the 327 cartridge, would be a better choice for a camp/kit gun, as opposed to a 5 shot 357... IF I were to buy the 327, then will I ever use the 357? Probably not, at that point.
 
Weblance wrote:

Well... since I already have 4 GP100s, thats not a consideration. Im wondering if the 327 SP101, with its 6 shot capacity, and the capability of the 327 cartridge, would be a better choice for a camp/kit gun, as opposed to a 5 shot 357...
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I certainly think so. :cool:

IF I were to buy the 327, then will I ever use the 357? Probably not, at that point.
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Yeah, that was the point. :p
 
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