.327 Federal Club thread

[heyjoe]

the smith and wesson 2" model 632 .327 is now available at Buds Gun Shop.

[FrankenMauser]

the smith and wesson 2" model 632 .327 is now available at Buds Gun Shop.

Thanks for the heads-up.

But, I only have two responses to this news:
1. Frickin' Idiots! A 2" barrel? Seriously?
2. Maybe a snubby from a better company than Taurus will stir the pot a bit. (Apparently, S&W saw enough demand in the market to take a chance here. The .327 is still moving along. )


On a separate note:
Coonan .327 required. You build. I buy.
(I think that's my 8th 'request'; probably not the last.)
An official request will be sent to Coonan this time. An official reply of, "the pressure is way too high," is likely to be received...

[FrankenMauser]

They're quick with their replies.

Hello [FrankenMauser],

We have no plans to build it at this time. If we did it would be in the
distant future.

Thank you for your inquiry!

Regards,

The Coonan Inc. Team

[heyjoe]

i ordered a model 632 2 " today and should have it in a few days. im thinking i will primarily use it for 32 h&r and 32 long. ive wanted a model 632 h&r for a while but the price has held me back. ill shoot some 327 out of it of course but i realize the 2" barrel doesnt do the round justice.

[FrankenMauser]

Let us know how it works for you.

[heyjoe]

i will, i have to go away for over a week so i wont be picking it up until i get back but ill get to it asap. ive been wanting it for a while.

[secret_agent_man]

the 2" barrel doesnt do the round justice.

Maybe not. But but 327 MAG from that barrel will still outdo the any 38 Special round fired from a two inch barrel. Actually, the traditional two inch J frame is only 1.88 inches, whereas the 327 MAG "2 inch" barrel is 2.125 inches. Shooting both from an true 2 inch barrel might well give nearly equal results.

[L2R]

congrats on the new piece. Looks good.
I would be interested in your first reaction to it especially coming out of 2 inch barrel.

Good luck and glad there is another added to this merry group scavaging ammo.

[gyvel]

Although I am NOT a Ruger fan, in this case I would think the SP 101 in .327 would be a better choice than the Smith

[Sevens]

Okay... so I sent Buffalo Bore a message through their "contact us" page. I thanked them for offering a .327 Federal product when nobody else will but I did go ahead and call them out on the relatively anemic load they are offering.

The velocity doesn't hang with either the 100gr AE JSP or the 115gr Gold Dot.

It seems very much unlike Buffalo Bore.

Here is their response:

The reason we loaded the 327 ammo to the level we did is that there are many
scandium cylindered revolvers out there that do not handle high pressure
very well and rather than get complaints from all those scandium revolver
owners, I decided to load the ammo to pressures that would work well in
everything.

Thanks for asking and thanks for using our ammo.

Tim

Does Smith & Wesson offer a scandium cylinder .327 Federal revolver?
Does anyone?

What do you think of the response from Buffalo Bore?

[L2R]

Does Smith & Wesson offer a scandium cylinder .327 Federal revolver?
Does anyone?

What do you think of the response from Buffalo Bore?

I think it is Buffalo..............hmm.. bore wasn't the word I was thinking.




Most seemingly dumb things done in life make sense if you know the story behind it.

Seems they are not willing to share it with you.

[secret_agent_man]

in this case I would think the SP 101 in .327 would be a better choice than the Smith

It would be considerably cheaper, have a better trigger and being slightly heavier should be more controllable.

[hhb]

Wish someone would develop a .257 Magnum cartridge, and a J frame or 101 size revolver.

[cole k]

And what would a .257 Mag be?

[rc]

I think he is being sarcastic because he doesn't feel there is a need for 327. While there may not be a need, it's an interesting round and I bought the first GP100 that I could get! I love it! I finally have some factory brass on order and hoping that the good accuracy I've gotten with the 32 H&R cases will be even better with the 327 federal cases. The round is a bit ear splitting for my taste so medium loads are in order.

[hhb]

I'm not being sarcastic at all! Lots of velocity and penetration.

[secret_agent_man]

Just shoot .22 shorts. It's a killer round. Ask a squirrel.

[kgpcr]

I personaly see no upside to it. My .357 snub suits me just fine. Its great for pocket carry and a .357 will beat a .327 any day of the week. Not by much buy by some

[Marvin Lee]

Anyone know if a Cimarron Model P Jr. in .32-20 can handle a .327 magnum load?

[Sevens]

That would be a HORRIBLE idea. While the Cimmaron is a recent production gun... the SAAMI PSI max for .32-20 is incredibly low (like 16,000 PSI?) while the SAAMI max PSI for the .327 Federal is abnormally high at 45,000.

It's a truly awful idea and really shouldn't even be attempted.

The .32-20 was originally designed around black powder. This cartridge dates back like 130 years.

[COLT_45]

Based on the recent poll I posted on handgun cartridge & ammo choices
it would seem the 327 is not doing very well. NOT knocking the cartridge,
but the demand seems to be not there and let's face it, manufactures are
looking at bottom lines in today's economic conditions.....

[rc]

The cartridge if floundering because of MARKETING and pricing. The guns people want to see for this cartridge are things like a 5 or 6 inch double action trail gun with adjustable sights and a companion carbine with ammo going for $15/50. If you put it in tiny guns with ear busting noise and you jack the ammo up higher than 357 mag then people will just get the more common and potent round. If 327 ammo could be found at walmart at reasonable prices and there were more practical guns that would fully take advantage of the round, it might become more popular. It's a niche round at the moment. A small niche round because most people don't reload and ammo is not economical to enjoy shooting the guns. The best gun going for this round right now is the GP100 and ruger should have taken it out in 5 and 6 inch versions, not just the 4 inch which loses a lot of velocity to blast and flash.

[Sevens]

What you said is accurate... but it's like a self-fulfilling prophecy.

"It's not popular because ammo is expensive and they don't make enough different choices in guns."

"Ammo is expensive because it's not popular so the ammo doesn't sell like 9x19."

"Manufacturers don't want to make different guns for it because the round isn't that popular and they fear folks wouldn't buy it."

It's pretty much a circle. NONE of the problems appear to be inherent in the design or execution of the caliber itself. It does precisely what it's designed to do, and quite well.

[FrankenMauser]

Though I don't want to be cross-posting, I find this to be just as applicable here, as our reloading thread:

As of the time of this posting, Midway has Federal .327 brass in stock. ...And at a reasonable price (compared to the $38 per 50 they announced last year).

$24.49 per 100 pieces, brass.

[hornetguy]

Wish someone would develop a .257 Magnum cartridge, and a J frame or 101 size revolver.

How 'bout the .256 Win Mag? That should work just fine. IIRC, it was based on the .357 case? Or am I thinking about another one of those obscure cartridges?
Not that I'm getting old, or anything..

EDIT: "The .256 Winchester Magnum was a firearms cartridge developed by Winchester, and was produced by necking-down a .357 Magnum cartridge to .257 diameter. It was designed for shooting small game and varmints."

Wikipedia comes through again!