.327 Federal Club thread

[DG2244]

Received my Starline brass yesterday, very nice. It took about 3 weeks from my order date for enough orders to accumulate for them to run a batch. Starline is a great company.

[Low Friction]

The new L.E. Wilson 327 case length gage is now available. I know you can use a revo cyl hole as a gage but it's handy to have a special tool for the job.

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/852...federal-magnum

[Cesure]

Got my brass from Starline, but the headstamp says FC, same as the American Eagle ammo brass. I was expecting the *--* logo. I'm not complaining, just surprised. I got 504 cases in an order of 500.

[Sevens]

That is both interesting -and- odd. At this point, it makes you wonder if Starline produced the recent run of brass for Federal, or if Starline somehow purchased a clear-out of component brass from Federal to resell.

Not that it really matters, but I'd like to know the answer to that one.

[Cesure]

I suppose it could matter, since Starline brass has a reputation for being thicker and lasting longer, the cases could be inferior if they aren't made by Starline to Starline specs. But it could also be that Starline has a contract for making Federal's brass and can retail it.

[tulsamal]

I suppose it could matter, since Starline brass has a reputation for being thicker and lasting longer, the cases could be inferior if they aren't made by Starline to Starline specs.

Exactly. When I first started to reload .32 H&R Magnum (many moons ago) I just kept having case mouths splitting. A crack from the case mouth and halfway or more towards the head. With loads that weren't anywhere near too hot. I was getting really frustrated and thinking all this .32 stuff is a problem when somebody told me it could be the once fired Federal brass. I got some Starline brass and literally _never_ got another split case. Even with very hot loads.

Hopefully it is different with .327. And, as was said, maybe Starline is making the Federal .327 brass.

Gregg

[Tractor]

First post to this forum. Informative thread and support for the .327 magnum. I currently shoot a double and a single action .327, ordered a barrel for my TC, reload, and enjoy the caliber. Now I have to read the entire thread.

[Sevens]

Tractor, this thread is a MONSTER!
Some folks think that TFL members have gone completely mad over the .327 Federal Magnum, but that's not really what has happened here, unfortunately.

More accurately, there is precious little serious .327 Federal discussion, so those of us who are absolute enthusiasts of the round have taken to hanging out in this thread.

It's a good thread, and on some long, rainy day, I'll probably re-read the whole thing!

In the mean time, please be sure you don't miss this thread also:
http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=454312
This one is for handloaders and it hasn't grown nearly as well as our fun little "Club" thread. If you have anything to add to the handloading thread... please do!

[DG2244]

My 500 cases from Starline also came in head stamped FC. Funny thing is that I also received 2 bags of 100 from Graf & sons and it's head stamped with Starline stars. I'm wondering if Federal in doing a run of ammo and Starline got the contract for the brass? Might be more economical for federal to do it that way on low volume ammo.

[Billy Shears]

Hmm, I loaded my 300 "FC" stamped cases at least five or six times each with no signs of splitting or bulging at all.

Now they're sitting in a box in the garage waiting for Ruger to bring out the ".327 Single Six."

Wish I still had a way to use them, but my SP-101 was a disappointment so it's gone.

Keeping my fingers crossed though.

[rc]

I would love a 92 copy in 327 Federal with 16 inch barrel and stainless. In the meantime, I'm tempted to convert a collectable browning by just changing or setting back the barrel and modifying the carrier. I've tried cycling them and they eject fine.

[Rusty W]

I also rec'd a batch of brass from Starline with FC headstamps. I wrote an email to them saying I thought it was odd since it didn't have their headstamp. Here's what they told me.

Rusty



We produced the 327 for Federal and overran the batch and that is why the different head stamp is on there. I am sorry for any confusion. Please know that Starline did produce that brass.



Thank you for your order.



Ginny Zinck

Customer Service

Starline, Inc.

[FrankenMauser]

Interesting.


On a sad note...
I haven't fired one of my .327s in so long that I can't even remember the last time.

September, maybe?

[Cesure]

I also sent an email to Starline to make sure they made the FC brass to Starline standards. According to Hunter Pilant of Starline:

The FC brass that we sold was produced by Starline to Starline Standards for Federal. You will notice the headstamp reads .327 FED MAG, unlike the Federal produced brass that reads .327 FEDERAL MAG. It was just an overrun and we were trying to take care of the backorder since it will probably be a while before we run the .327 again.

The American Eagle ammo that I bought must have had the Starline brass, because the headstamps are an exact match to the brass Starline sent me.

[JohnKSa]

I haven't fired one of my .327s in so long that I can't even remember the last time.

If it's from lack of ammo, here's some... Decent price even!

http://www.sgammo.com/catalog/pistol...ion/327-magnum

[Glenn E. Meyer]

I've seen the Federal SD loads and the American Eagle John references on the shelves in San Antonio.

I also bought a case of Fiocchi 32 SW Long to plink with.

[FrankenMauser]

I have plenty of ammo, and there's more on the shelves around here. I just haven't had many chances to shoot, and the two shooting trips I have gotten in were pretty much rimfire-only.

[LOLBELL]

Broke out the 327 yesterday to empty some brass so I can try to work up some loads for it. I missed out on the Starline I guess. After reading here that they had some, I got on line and they were backordered already. I guess I'll just have to empty some more of the American Eagle stuff. Fun way to spend time with the wife, making water filled soda bottles explode while empting factory filled brass

[Kev]

I tried to become a member of the 327 club!
I had a Taurus 327 on lay away with an online guy and after a few payments they couldn't find the gun.

Applied my payments to a 2nd gun I had on lay away so it sped up that purchase.

I was buying the 327 for my other half as she shows properties and has to meet random people alone in known empty houses.

[Sevens]

It gets knocked down a few pages every time, but always seems worth mentioning what simply isn't obvious to anyone who doesn't dig deep with .327 Federal:

For whatever reason (the extremely high pressure? the long, lean cartridge?), the .327 Federal Magnum only appears to run it's impressive velocity numbers when it's furnished with a 3-inch or longer barrel. When the barrel is shorter than 3-inches, velocity drops off dramatically.

"Velocity isn't everything, right?"
Sure, I hear you. But with the .327, we don't have extreme bullet weight and we sure don't have a big, fat diameter, either. We have .312", and 115gr is the heaviest (purpose built) defense load. To be what we want or hope the .327 Federal to be, defense-wise, we simply need 3-inches of barrel minimum.

The Taurus snubs don't bring it. Ruger, Smith & Wesson, Charter, Freedom, USFA and even the good folks at Bond Arms never even attempted to market a .327 Federal with a barrel shorter than 3-inches. I believe it's because they know.

The "Taurus" argument is out of place here, and we have it weekly elsewhere anyhow. In this case, however, it's not about the "brand", it's about the barrel length. I say...skip the snubbie in this chambering.

With all that said, however, I don't think ANYONE sells a new Taurus .327 snub cheaper than CDNN out of Texas does, if they still have any.

[Cesure]

The Taurus snubs don't bring it. Ruger, Smith & Wesson, Charter, Freedom, USFA and even the good folks at Bond Arms never even attempted to market a .327 Federal with a barrel shorter than 3-inches. I believe it's because they know.

The "Taurus" argument is out of place here, and we have it weekly elsewhere anyhow. In this case, however, it's not about the "brand", it's about the barrel length. I say...skip the snubbie in this chambering.

With all that said, however, I don't think ANYONE sells a new Taurus .327 snub cheaper than CDNN out of Texas does, if they still have any.

I can't understand why anyone would repeatedly rail against a .327 snubby. So the velocity drops off. It's still more impressive than any other .32 or smaller short-barreled gun and for those of us who think that's good enough, repeatedly hearing that what we like isn't worth liking just sounds like willful ignorance or worse, an inability to let go of a losing argument. The .327 snubby performance is impressive. It just isn't as impressive as the performance of 3 and 4 inch barrels. The same can be said for pretty much all snubbies. The .327 isn't made by more manufacturers because it hasn't been popular, not because it isn't adequate. For pretty much the same cost of manufacture, they sell ridiculous .357 Mag and higher recoil snubbies because that's what more bozos want, not because the .327 is inadequate. Popularity is not a measure of what's good enough for everyone. It's only a measure of what more people think is good enough for them. And that simply doesn't change, just because you don't agree.

CDNN ran out of Taurus 327 snubbies. The supply dried up. On gunbroker.com, they've recently been selling for as much as $500. 327 snubbies are popular now and those manufacturers that didn't have inventory ready to feed into this market missed an opportunity. They didn't see this market coming and they were caught without a product for it. But them's the breaks.

[Sevens]

I'm not, nor ever have I attempted to "rail against the .327 snubbie", at least not from my point of view. You can judge what you see, but back off when you try to paint with "intent." My purpose is to make genuine note of the fact that unlike many other rounds, there is a genuine (LARGE) break point at 3-inches with this round.

The .327 Federal is looked at as a viable defense round because of the speed and energy it can bring, knowing full well that it needs exactly that because the other items that typically make up defensive handgun ammo are simply NOT available. You don't have bullet weight and you don't have bullet size. It's a .32, and you might hope to argue that a ".32" is a viable defensive round, but that's a whole other (worn out) discussion. A ".32" as we've known it for a hundred years is a subcaliber defensive round and not a primary.

The .327 Federal, with it's small size, light weight, small diameter... becomes S-L-O-W also when shot in the snubbie barrels.

The snubbie that nobody makes and nobody other than Taurus did make, and they ceased them also.

Enjoy all the 40,000 PSI blast and fireworks of .327 Federal from the Taurus snubbie. At least you'll get all that...everything else is lacking.

(unless your argument is how much better it is than a .32 Smith & Wesson Long, in which case, *WOW*, you were right all along... )

[Cesure]

Passive aggressive much?

Please continue to be overtly obnoxious. It speaks volumes.

Overly sensitive when your argument is being trashed much?

When someone focuses on the irrelevant and avoids answering questions it's pretty clear that they plan to stick with their invalid argument no matter what. Can you honestly say that you would prefer to get shot by a 327 Fed Mag snubby vs. a 38 Special snubby? Bullet for bullet, I would fear the 327 more, but when you add in that 6th bullet, it's not even close. If you're going to tell me that both snubbies are inadequate, then say that the next time you feel like revisiting the 327 snubby topic. I'll still dismiss your argument, but only because it's anti-snubby instead of being anti-327 snubby.

[Glenn E. Meyer]

Cease and desist personal insults in the discussion. Discuss the facts and your evaluation of such without innuendo.

I will not close this as it is our semi-offical 327 thread (which I made a club thread). I have two 32s and want the discussion to continue without rancour.

GEM

[gak]

I believe Smith's NON-ported stainless 632 ("Pro" series IIRC) is a sub 3" gun. I've been tempted on it but cost has been an issue to this point for me, though I think the gap with others' offerings has narrowed somewhat..or that may be wishful thinking on my part.