327 Magnum ?

[Flexmoney]

[While I thought it had been brought up before?...I haven't had much luck with our search engine. Seems like a search with 3 numbers is going to be rough until the software gets tweaked. Maybe somebody recalls a thread and has better search criteria than I do ?]

I've been digging around the last few days, reading up on the 327 Magnum. When I first heard about it, I kinda shrugged it off. Seems like many did. The 32ACP came to mind, with 70g bullets at 900fps.

But, when reading up on the 327Mag with an open mind, I realized this round will spit out 115g bullets at 1300fps...in a short barrel. It will also allow for an extra round in most revolver platforms.

In fact, I recall reading that the 6 round 327Mag S&W had a smaller diameter cylinder than a Model 10 ?

I asked about this in another thread (and I'll copy and paste one of the replies in here), but thought I'd see if anybody that hangs out in the Revo forum had any experience with the 327Mag.

Anybody have any hands-on with the 327 Magnum?

[Flexmoney]

Reply from the SP101 thread in the Ruger forum (probably ought to move that thread to Revo?):

I have some limited hands on experience with the .327 Federal from a SP101. It does recoil less than a .357, and ballistically it's on par with a 115 9mm +P that is fired from a four inch barrel semi-auto. But, ammo is still hard to find. I would not sneer at a .357 SP101. Solid, reliable, enough weight to absorb recoil and it points well. I carried one for years. I would avoid shoving .357 Magnums into it. The Speer 135 grain Short Barrel .38 Spl +P JHP was developed at the specific request of NYPD to be used in their short barrel revolvers. They are very happy with it's performance in the field. It has noticably less recoil than any .357 Magnum. One advantage to the .357 over the .327 is that .38 Special practice ammo is much easier to find (WW White Box 130 grain standard pressure is very close to POI compared to the Speer, in the guns I have tested it in). As for revolvers having more malfunctions than semi-autos, I can only say that I've been shooting both for over 40 years in the field and competitive events and cannot agree. Semi-autos can have a number of "jams"... (some related to gun, some magazine, some ammo)... that will take the gun out of action until corrected... and jam clearing drills (rack & tap, etc) can be learned. Revolvers don't normally suffer those.. at least as long as your coil main spring(Ruger) hasn't been lightened to the point where it won't light off a primer. When a revolver does have a rare malfunction it is normally of the catastrophic type... squib load leaving bullet in barrel, or bullet "walking out of the case" under recoil to tie up the cylinder. With quality ammo and minimal maintenance those are so rare that I have never experienced one... although I have seen and heard of them. The SP101 will deliver five good rounds reliably and quickly. If you can live with five, it's a good choice. If your wife likes the gun and can hit with it, you have a great choice.

Chris Christian

[Carmoney]

S&WIowegan has a couple of these. Maybe he'll chime in here. He also bought the reamer so I could ream a couple of his .32 H&R Mag revolvers out to .327 Mag chambering.

They're noisy, I know that much!

[Flexmoney]

They're noisy, I know that much!

Yeah, they are super-sonic and high pressure. I'd guess they'd have some bark? One of the articles tested the sound levels with a meter. They weren't 357 loud, though.

Sweeney did an article on them too. (If I get too it, I'll dig up links to those various articles and post them here.)

[mwx40x40]

Just wondering.............could a 9 shot cylinder be made for an N frame??

[Bubber]

Just wondering.............could a 9 shot cylinder be made for an N frame??

Well.....maybe.. Vic Maehern has a 9 shot on an Astra Frame, Kirby Goodman has a 10 shot on the N frame. Theese are the 32 mags not the 327 though. But neither one relly wants to go through the trouble to make them. Not really enough demand for them. But it can be done. Enough of the history lesson. When I first heard of the 327 mag I toyed with the idea of using it for ICORE but I thought it was a 5 shot revo. But been wrong before and it MAY happen again. later rdd

edited for the caveat. new wurd fer me..

Edited February 26, 2010 by Bubber

[S&WIowegan]

Did I hear someone ringing my chimes?

Many years ago I shot the ICORE IRC at Montrose with John Baumann on my squad. John had a .32 H&R Mag. revo with a 9-shot cylinder he had made. The gun had an unusually long barrel which John said was necessary in order to make MINOR I don't remember the bullet weight but he was using as much H110 as he could and needed the long barrel to get a full burn. Word at the match was that Vic Maeheren had a 10 shot revo in .32 but I never saw it. The long barrel made the idea a bit impractical for action shooting.

Last summer I bt. a Ruger SP101 .327 Federal with a 3"bbl. and a case of Federal Americal Eagle ammo with 100gr. JSPs. The ammo is loaded with fast powder for the short barrel and has substantial muzzle blast

I have owned an S&W Model 16-4(6") and a Ruger Blackhawk(6 1/2")chambered for .32 H&R for many years. The guns are way heavy for the under-powered .32 H&R but I figured they'd be fine with the .327 Federal. As Carmoney says, we reamed the chambers of both guns. I have shot them a bit with the American Eagle 100gr. factory load and accuracy was poor. I have yet to handload the round but expect it will shoot fine with a slower powder.

The round could easily do 9 or 10 rounds in a S&W N-frame but you would be shooting minor. The only advantage gained would be having 10 in the gun and then that advantage would depend on stage design.

Bob.

A16841

[scottyinAZ]

I still shoot with Vic, he has a 9 shot in 32 H&R mag. they make icore minor easy with a 6" barrel. they have a sharp report since the bullet is only .311" and is fairly light. sounds kinda like a M1 carbine. he has some blueprints for a 10 shot cyl and i think maybe 11 or 12 in the x frame. the 32H&R cylinder could be reamed longer and fit the 327 fed as i recall. the 327's are too long to be loaded quickly. the H&Rs are fairly long too. the major/minor thing means nothing as you can only fire 6 shots in uspsa with a revolver of any power factor before a reload, in the revolver division. limited 10 or production on the other hand can be shot with a revolver, L10 can be shot with major, but must be .40 cal or larger for major. ICORE only has a min power factor of 120, so anything above that counts the same. thats where the "hi cap" cyls could be an advantage. the down side is icore has 6 shot strings. if you have an 8 shot and need more than 2 extra shots, your not going to be very competitive anyways.