September 4, 2011, 12:27 PM | #476 |
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This voluminous thread, which shows no signs of abating anytime soon, is prima facie evidence of widespread interest in the .327 MAG. Nothing says home runs must be hit in the first inning.
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September 4, 2011, 12:36 PM | #477 | |
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Meh, there's a few things at work here.
Some guy buys a .327 for WHATEVER reason. Could be any reason of a dozen or more... but he ends up with one. If he's the hobbyist type that does more than simply buy a box of factory ammo and rip through it once every few months, he explores the round, probably makes his own ammo and learns to love it. The hobbyist takes pride in being a little bit different. And when you get a bunch of hardcore hobbyist-type enthusiasts gathered on a discussion forum, and roll a thread of THIS length, it almost seems like a loud, passionate army of hardcore .327 Federal guys. The reality is that it's simply not. Go to a gun show... You can find a dozen 75 year old gun cranks who eat, sleep and crap guns and haul their van load of stuff to a show 3 days out of every 7-day week that know absolute squat about the .327 Federal outside of the fact that they couldn't sell it, nobody ever asks about it and they maybe haven't even actually seen one with their own eyes. Quote:
It arrived at a really tough time in the industry and that has had a MAJOR affect on it's success. And it's parents, ATK, have their heads way, WAY up their butts. For the average Joe Sixpack gun store visitor (not the hardcore hobbyist type that hangs out at TFL Forums dissecting everything related to guns), it just barely even pops up on the radar. Wal-Mart doesn't sell .327 Federal Ammo. Glock and Kimber don't build a gun that shoots it.
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Attention Brass rats and other reloaders: I really need .327 Federal Magnum brass, no lot size too small. Tell me what caliber you need and I'll see what I have to swap. PM me and we'll discuss. |
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September 4, 2011, 02:18 PM | #478 |
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Explaining success and failure
Tyler,
If you truly want to understand success and failure of all things including this caliber, I strongly recommend you read, 'Outliers' by Malcolm Gladwell. Shed your opinions and guesses. Others, including me, have insight but opinions differ and then you have to try a figure out who has insight as what is bs. Some will be good, some won't. The answer is here but gets lost in the 20 pages of opinion. If this type of thing really has your curiousity, you will not be able to put the book down whether you like to read or not. It explainis, scientifically, why things and people are successful and why they fail. The product itself is just a small part of the recipe. I will give you one teaser. Most of the huge success stories where most of the billions was made over the last 2000 years happened twice over a very few years. Once was in the 1860s and once in the 1980s. A very few people made a ridiculous amount of money with their ideas and products. All this to say that you are looking only at the product (the 327 caliber). It has been discussed to death on here that the economy tanked right when it launched. It was also when a run on other bullets took place so no ammo was available. No military or police picked up on this as marketing failed to sell it-again the effects of the economy? The 1911 might have died a slow death under those circumstances. (not picking on you, I own them and love them too) Don't take my word for it or anyone else's. I challenge you to read the book so this makes sense to you.
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September 4, 2011, 04:00 PM | #479 |
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what did you say?
Went to the local range today-
I brought my own AE .327 wife in tow as well as some other pieces. This is 'the' place to shot indoors in a medium sized town. I asked if he had any 327 ammo. blank stare Do you have any 32 h&r ammo? blank stare finally, 'dude, I have been doing the ordering here for 4 years and you are the only one to ask for either of those.' to call this a niche caliber would insult the word niche right now in my neck of the woods. Anyway, I taught my wife to shoot and made her go to CC class a few years ago. This is her 5 shots (38 special, AE off the shelf, standing not resting at 5 yards). I know this off topic but next year I will be know as the reloader formerly known as the home protector.
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September 4, 2011, 05:28 PM | #480 |
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E-mailed Hornady asking for 327mag componets and if they where going to offer factory ammo , a good 100gr or a new 115-120gr. would be great . Waiting for a reply .
Long live the 327mag. and the 41mag. all I need in a hand gun ...well maybe a 22lr. |
September 4, 2011, 06:55 PM | #481 |
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Ok. Thanks for all the responses. I admit I was being a bit biased and subjective. I wasnt really providing anything other than my own opinion. Im not really that interested in the cartridge, however I will look it up and study it more. Thanks guys.
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September 4, 2011, 10:04 PM | #482 | |
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Quote:
That is, unless someone does a 25 round, double stack 327 Coonan. Now, that would get some attention. While waiting on Hornady to offer up the 327 MAG, find it at Buffalo Bore. As well as some beefed up 100 grain 32 H&R MAG ammo almost as hot as BB 327 MAG. |
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September 4, 2011, 10:17 PM | #483 |
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Wow, so Buffalo Bore finally delivered on their promised .327 Federal Magnum.
They advertised it as a "coming soon" product many months ago. http://www.buffalobore.com/index.php...t_detail&p=284 It's so very... UN-Buffalo Bore...ish. They are sending a 100 grain JHP at: 1. 1521 fps -- USFA Sparrow Hawk, 7.5 inch barrel 2. 1466 fps -- Ruger Black Hawk, 5.5 inch barrel 3. 1315 fps -- Ruger SP101, 3 inch barrel That speed out of the SP-101 doesn't even match what the BBTI guys did with the 100 grain American Eagle factory load... and even the factory 115 grain Speer Gold Dot is faster out of the SP-101. REALLY gotta wonder what Buffalo Bore was trying to accomplish... Most of their stuff runs really, really fast. This new .327 Federal doesn't even hang with the Federal & Speer factory loads. (and the picture on the BB site shows FC head stamped non-nickel brass) Pitch was lobbed over the plate and Buffalo Bore whiffed on it.
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Attention Brass rats and other reloaders: I really need .327 Federal Magnum brass, no lot size too small. Tell me what caliber you need and I'll see what I have to swap. PM me and we'll discuss. |
September 4, 2011, 10:34 PM | #484 |
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BuffaloBore and others like them do what they do by using new technology to achieve higher velocities without pushing pressures up too much and by banking on the sturdiness of modern guns. They did so primarily with older rounds that are often light-loaded due to safety concerns about older, weaker firearms and/or rounds that were loaded to far below their actual potential and/or rounds that were loaded lighter than what most modern guns can tolerate.
Gun and ammo makers these days aren't going to introduce new cartridges to be fired in brand-new modern firearms and yet leave a large margin for performance improvement over what is available right out of a factory box. So it doesn't surprise me to find that boutique makers are finding it difficult or impossible to improve on the factory velocity specs of brand-new rounds.
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September 4, 2011, 11:55 PM | #485 |
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The .32 H&R Magnum filled a niche and updated the old .32 S&W. The H&R was/is a wonderful round that gives magnum ballistics with mild recoil. Personally, I really like the H&R round.
Then comes the .327. It really, in my opinion does not really outshine the H&R round by enough to make it great. If the H&R is not powerful enough, jump to the .38 Special. I think the .327 was just a marketing gimmick to sell more ammo. |
September 5, 2011, 12:58 AM | #486 | |
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Quote:
Kinda hard to "sell more ammo" if companies are not producing or shipping the ammo (or componenets) for shooters to buy. Plenty of threads here dealing with the lack of ammunition availability, limited bullet selection (from the companies that are actually producing any), and non-existent brass supplies for the .327 Federal. You would think that if they were just out to boost sales, they would have product available for the consumer to buy.
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September 5, 2011, 06:42 AM | #487 | |
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Quote:
But Buffalo Bore didn't even MATCH the factory load. So it ends up being 20 rds of lighter ammo for $28 a box.
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Attention Brass rats and other reloaders: I really need .327 Federal Magnum brass, no lot size too small. Tell me what caliber you need and I'll see what I have to swap. PM me and we'll discuss. |
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September 5, 2011, 11:23 AM | #488 |
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Three-Two-Seven
After reading (most of) this thread and watching the .327 Magnum closely since its introduction...I think it's a decent cartridge with a niche...but the two main problems that I see are logistics and the fact that it's competing with a well-established revolver cartridge. Namely...Ammunition cost and availability...and the 3/4 century head start by the .357 Magnum.
That the small revolvers chambered for it will hold one more round is only important to those who carry small revolvers. If that were the only market, it would likely dominate it...but that's only a small part of the market. The majority of .357 shooters are just fine with 6 shots from a K or L-Frame revolver, or even an N-Frame. The other question is: "Does the .327 do anything any better than the .357 Magnum...or even as well?" Again...in small belly guns...probably. In the others...not so much. The .357 holds the distinct advantage of being able to handle heavier bullets at trajectory-flattening velocities. The doesn't mean anything in a defensive revolver, but it means much to those who hunt or shoot metallic silhouette...or for those who want to carry an easily portable K-Frame revolver into the deep woods for protection against dangerous critters. A 160-180 grain .36 caliber bullet at 1200 fps will reach the vitals of a fairly large bear. A 100-grain .32 caliber pill at 1500 may not...and possibly only serve to make the situation worse. Energy isn't the only consideration, and in truth...it's probably the least important factor, depending on just what you find yourself in a life and death struggle with. I see the .327 hanging on. I don't see it ever achieving the widespread popularity of the .357 Magnum...which is arguably a more versatile cartridge. Anyway...Them's my thoughts on it. YMMV, as always.
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September 5, 2011, 08:54 PM | #489 | ||
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The argument put forth by JohnKSa is very good. I'll add my two cents.
The .327 Federal is a high pressure cartridge -- higher than the .44 magnum. That means Buffalo Bore (et al) must be very careful with the pressures in their version of the cartridge. The original article I read said that Federal created a special blended powder with flash retardants to be used with the .327 and manage the pressures. The powder had to be fast burning but not produce peak pressures too quickly. This leaves BB trying to use available (to them) powders to recreate what Federal undoubtedly spend tens of thousands of dollars doing. Because this is a high pressure round, I doubt they want to exceed the SAAMI pressure spec at all. The last thing they want is to tarnish their reputation by having guns turn into grenades with their ammo. Quote:
The .327 Federal, on the other hand, is a true magnum. Out of a 3-inch barrel, it's performance almost perfectly fits the gap between the .38 +P and a mid-range .357 Magnum load (up to 500 ft-lbs). The market foreseen was a six-shot, concealable (SP-101/J-Frame) sized gun that would fire a true "magnum" load with less recoil, flash and blast than the .357, yet provide plenty of defensive power. I think they did a splendid job. At least on paper. Now, if we could only get our hands on some ammo! Quote:
The real questions haven't been answered. Like how well does the .327 perform in real-life defensive shootings? On paper, it should do as well as many .357 Magnum rounds. With longer barrels, that little 85-115gr pill gathers a lot of steam. In a 6-inch barrel, the 100gr skips downrange like an angry hornet at 1,808 fps (ballisticsbytheinch.com). That 728 ft-lbs of energy -- about like a .41 Magnum. The sectional density of the 100gr bullet is very good too (.169) and compares well to the 200 grain .41 Mag bullet. I'd expect a true SWC design to be quite "disruptive" to anything it contacts - coyote, wolf, bear or human. An expanding point bullet even more so. There's lots of potential here that we've only begun to explore.
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September 5, 2011, 08:57 PM | #490 | |
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Quote:
For most big game hunting or knocking down steel at 100 yards, the .357 may have the edge in bullet selection and energy delivered with the larger bullets, the .327 and its .32 caliber predecessors are just plain fun to shoot. Everybody that shoots my SP101, and Frankenmauser's two .327 pistols absolutely loves them. The number one comment is always how fun the gun is too shoot, and how little recoil there is, even for full house .327 loads. It may not ever help me take down a charging moose or bear, but its the pistol that has replaced all my others as my favorite to shoot, and is the one that makes every range trip with me.
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September 5, 2011, 10:32 PM | #491 | |
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Quote:
It can exceed the performance of a .38 Special, just like a .357 Magnum can... all the while, it can do it with a cylinder the same size as a 5-shot .357, but with six shots, and it can also do it with a LOT less felt recoil and shock to the firing hand than the .357 Magnum transfers to the hand of the guy discharging it. Is it as hardcore or high energy as the .357 Magnum? No, it falls short. But what does it do BETTER than the .357 Magnum? It exceeds the .38 Special arguably better than the .357 Mag does because it's more controllable, more comfortable to shoot and gives an extra round to boot. But yeah... A cartridge doesn't have to obliterate something else to become a viable product or a round that people simply enjoy. Really. If it was all about which calibers can be erased from existence because something similar is better, then yeah... I can think of about 35 different chamberings that we can simply strike from the record. Using that logic, the .40 S&W should be completely abolished from the face of the Earth because we have the 10mm Auto. Obviously, we can download the 10 to mimic the .40. (and many manufacturers already do... ) Heck, the .40 S&W was born because of the request to "settle down" the 10mm in the first place. Can you imagine abolishing the .40 S&W simply because we have the 10mm? Afterall, what can the .40 cal do that the 10mm can't? HINT: It's a rhetorical question. Don't answer it, because the answer is that there's many things the .40 cal can do to make it worth having, no matter that we have a 10mm Auto. Kinda like the .327 Federal Mag.
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Attention Brass rats and other reloaders: I really need .327 Federal Magnum brass, no lot size too small. Tell me what caliber you need and I'll see what I have to swap. PM me and we'll discuss. |
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September 6, 2011, 12:18 AM | #492 |
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BillCA, Crankylove, Sevens and others, some really good posts here.
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September 6, 2011, 01:14 AM | #493 |
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Thanks for giving my wife more reasons to get me one for Christmas!
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September 6, 2011, 01:48 AM | #494 |
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...just spent the last two days at a pseudo-family reunion, since I will be moving across the country (I usually avoid these gatherings ). We ended up getting a good shooting session in, earlier today.
There was a great .327 "incident". Only my father and one uncle had ever even heard of the .327 Federal, and both of them had shot my Blackhawk (and Crankylove's SP101) in the past. I had about 12 separate conversations that followed almost exactly the same line. They went something like this: "It's a what? A .357?" FM- ".327 Federal. Think of it as .32 H&R having a roid rage." "What good is it?" FM- I was never able to answer this question. I was always interrupted by: "Is it even as powerful as a .38?" FM- "It puts it to shame. I don't even need a .357, now that I have these two (.327s)." The reloading junkies would add: "What are the bullet weights and how fast are they moving?" FM- "The 100 gr SPs (AE) are doing 1,700+ fps out of the Blackhawk. The 85s are loaded in .32 H&R brass, doing about 1,300 fps. The .32 S&W and .32 S&W Long can be used, too. They're fun, light plinking loads." And, that's where some comment about it being useless or "puny" would be made.... And, then... I made it all stop. I handed one of my uncles the GP100 with a cylinder full of AE 100 gr Soft Points. As soon as that trigger was pulled, all eyes were on him. He fired again, and turned his head toward me: "That's incredible. It's got some serious bark, a little bite, and blows things up just as well as a .357 Mag; but it's SO controllable. Even a kid could handle full power loads." And, that was all I heard about, for the rest of the day. I let everyone shoot the Blackhawk and GP100, that wanted to (I have a lot of empty brass now ). They shot my super-wimpy .32 S&W Long load (94 gr LFP @ 600 fps), my .32 S&W load (94 gr LFP @ ~800 fps), my wife's .32 H&R load (85 gr XTP @ 1,300 fps), and the AE 100 gr factory load (1,700+ fps). Everyone went from doubters to absolute believers. There was an unending torrent of praise for the controllability and comfort of the .327 Blackhawk and GP100 (especially the GP100). If I was a salesman, I could have sold at least six .327 revolvers today. They LOVED the pair. (Crankylove's SP101 was not available to round out the trio of Rugers.) From, "That's a useless cartridge." To, "That's incredible." ...In 20 minutes. To impress them a bit more, I hit a metal target (18"W x 48" H) at 450 yards with each revolver. The group was dumbfounded. They had never seen a cartridge like the .327 Federal, in their lives. (Don't tell them that I had been practicing that shot, while they were eating lunch. It took a bit of practice to walk it in. ) It was a great day for me... but, the .327 Federal was the star of the show. Another note that may be of minor interest to some members: My wife shot the GP100 for the first time, today. I told her she couldn't shoot it, until she put full power loads through it. Since her reaction to full power loads in the Blackhawk was, "Ah! I don't like it!," I was wondering what she would do with the GP100 (she doesn't like the way single-action revolvers roll in the hand). First she insulted the grips I put on it -- a set of the older OEM grips with Rosewood inserts, that Crankylove had laying around. (It now looks just like this, for those unfamiliar.) Her reaction was a gigantic smile, and three sentences: "It's mine. You get the other one. This one is fun." ...Can't argue with that.
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September 6, 2011, 07:36 AM | #495 | |
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Quote:
The question remains: "What is it for?" All too often, the answer is: "To sell." I'm not bashing the round, and I wish it, and the revolvers chambered for it much success. In its intended niche, it shines...but it falls a little short in the "General Purpose" arena...which is a much better yardstick of a caliber's usefulness...and it will never match its big brother's "can do" place in the picture.
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If your front porch collapses and kills more than three dogs...You just might be a redneck Last edited by 1911Tuner; September 6, 2011 at 07:42 AM. |
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September 6, 2011, 08:13 AM | #496 | |
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The .327 suffers most from timing. First off the economy and the ammo crunch. Then follow it up with too many thinkin revolvers are old school and useless and semi's are cool and the only way to go. LK Last edited by L_Killkenny; September 6, 2011 at 08:27 AM. |
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September 6, 2011, 10:02 AM | #497 | |
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Quote:
But my buddy just got his new Coonan and I've wrung the pistol out. When the time is right for me and I can pull it off, Coonan will have my $1,400 and order. But I've got to say... Though I'm quite sure that Coonan wouldn't even consider this as a project, they've simply got their hands quite full and it would be a tough sell... This would absolutely work in a Coonan with a magazine that would feed it and a barrel that would chamber it. The .357 works fantastically well out of the Coonan. The .327 Federal would also work, I have little doubt. That would be a rolling riot.
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Attention Brass rats and other reloaders: I really need .327 Federal Magnum brass, no lot size too small. Tell me what caliber you need and I'll see what I have to swap. PM me and we'll discuss. |
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September 6, 2011, 11:31 AM | #498 |
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Now that the magic bullet has been found, the whole world awaits the perfect gun: a seven or eight shot 327 MAG Smith & Wesson K frame.
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September 6, 2011, 02:07 PM | #499 | |||
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Quote:
Quote:
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But, I guess time will tell. The .327 is a good round, but I don't think it'll knock the .38 and .357 off their respective rungs.
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September 6, 2011, 05:02 PM | #500 |
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500th post on this thread and my 50th post
Well,
I am probably the least qualified to discuss this other than I own a gp100 with a 4 inch barrel. And it is fun to shoot. I am blown away that this thread has 500 posts and over 20,000 lurkers. All I can say is that if Ruger or some quality manufacturer came out with a lever action, carbine or semi auto in this, I would be in line to have this pair out with me in the woods. We have medium sized bears here but from what I reading, I wouldn't hesitate to carry this anywhere in the 48 so long as I had multiple rounds and the right load. I appreciate Bills insight with facts as well as others opins. As Tuner said, time well tell and probably it will take a manufacturers help to change the tipping point. BTW, Tuner we are in each other's backyard. Glad to meet ya. We may not be on the exact same page on this subject but no doubt have much more in common than not.
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