Time to rethink .32 Cal???

[frolic1]

I've been reading a lot on this and other forums about revolvers chambered in 327 Federal Magnum. Everyone seems to rave about the low recoil of S&W 32 Longs and the power of 327 Magnums (just below 357 Magnums). It appears that you can have a gun that's easy and fun to shoot all day at the range or plinking and still have a very good defensive weapon when loaded with 327 Magnums. Well I had to find out myself so I bought a Ruger SP101 chambered in 327 Magnums and took it to the range today. Started out with S&W .32Longs and yep, the recoil was minimal, like a 22 cal. Next used 32 cal H&R Magnums and slightly more recoil and noise but still very minimal. Then used Federal 327 Magnums and, yes, a little more recoil and noise but still nowhere near my Ruger LCR using 38 specials. So, in conclusion, I have to agree with the other posts, you can have it all with a 327 Magnum revolver. I understand that Ruger also has a LCR chambered in 327 Magnum. This seems the ideal caliber for "air" weight guns. Are you listening S&W? Also, a 686 chambered in 327 holding 8 rounds would be quite a gun!

[A pause for the COZ]

Welcome... Welcome to the dark side...





I do recommend adding some HOGUE grips. They do make a big difference.



Here is another positive for ya. Since you now have a supply of 32L ammo available.
Wait till you start running into some really really nice Smith & Wesson's. That are good priced and usually can be found in very good condition. Usually half the price of a 38 in the same shape. shhhhh but dont tell any body.

[Model12Win]

Awesome!

The .327 Fed Mag has excellent stopping power. Some even use it for deer hunting from the longer barreled guns.

[ArkieVol]

Love 'em. Got an LCR on the way. I reload so ammo is no problem and load everything from mild wad cutters w/Trail Boss and HP 38 to screaming 100g Hornady XTP's using 'Lil Gun and H110.

[tallball]

Agreed! I have five various 32 revolvers. 32long is fun for plinking, and doubtless good for small varmints. 32 H&R is supposedly about as effective as 38 special, and even my wrist-damaged wife, wrist-damaged MiL, and 11-year-old daghter can shoot it. 327 is said to be close to 357 effectiveness, but less recoil.

If anyone wanted to try them out without a big investment, H&R/NEF brand 32 magnum revolvers can be gotten inexpensively. I got two nice ones for under $150 each.

And no one seems to want 32long revolvers. I got a decent old S&W 32long revolver that is a good shooter, and I only paid $125 for it.

[rclark]

I said I'd never buy one because I have .22s, .357s, .44s, and .45s. Who needs one? Now I have two .32s that I load .32 H&R Mag for. What changed my mind? The .22LR shortage. I now can shoot my Single Seven and baby Vaquero all day long and come home and reload for them No longer at mercy of factory ammo. I call them my reloadable .22s . Yes a bit more expensive (well maybe not considering what the scalpers want for a box of itty bitty .22s now-a-days), but nice light shooting, low recoil and 'fit' where the .22 was used before. I load to about .22LR velocities. Love it. Beauty of reloading! .22s have been retired and only come out on special occasions.

[Radny97]

What we really need is a lever action in 327 federal. All would be right in the world.

[heyjoe]

i have a 32 S&W, two 32 longs, two 32 h&r and a .327 revolver. Im also waiting for my lcr 327 to get here. in my opinion 32 H&R is the perfect round for an 11 ounce revolver.

[skizzums]

not sure what it's worth to you, but I am pretty sure I saw a Grizzly Customs 327 Federal Lever on Pinterest. they have about a 2 year backlog and they run about 3-4k, but I am pretty sure they will mod a marlin to 327 for ya

[Mike Irwin]

I have a couple of .32 Longs...

A Smith Regulation Police from the early 1920s (the one in the front, the other one's an M&P .38 Special from the same time frame).




A Colt Police Positive from the 1920s or early 1930s...



A Model 30 Smith from the early 1970s (can't locate the pic right now)...

Two .32-20s, one Colt and one Smith, and two .32 S&Ws that belonged to my Great Grandfathers, one an Iver Johnson/US Revolver Co., and the H&R that was my Great Grandfather's "cowboy gun" when he was a rancher in the Dakotas at the turn of the 20th century.

[superspirit]

I said I'd never buy one because I have .22s, .357s, .44s, and .45s. Who needs one? Now I have two .32s that I load .32 H&R Mag for. What changed my mind? The .22LR shortage. I now can shoot my Single Seven and baby Vaquero all day long and come home and reload for them No longer at mercy of factory ammo. I call them my reloadable .22s . Yes a bit more expensive (well maybe not considering what the scalpers want for a box of itty bitty .22s now-a-days), but nice light shooting, low recoil and 'fit' where the .22 was used before. I load to about .22LR velocities. Love it. Beauty of reloading! .22s have been retired and only come out on special occasions.

This the logic I use also. I load 2.5 gn of 700x behind an 80 gn lrn in a 32 H&R case and my grand daughter plinks them all day long at 7 cents a round, cheaper than you can buy 22.

I would love a carbine in 327 fed mag also, my preference would be a ruger bolt gun, it seems to me it would be very easy for ruger to build a 77-327, if they did I would have to own at least 1.

[Sevens]

Because I'm goofy and lot wierd stuff, I would love to see a Redhawk with a 7.5" barrel in .327 Federal. 8 shots? Would it be possible to make a 9-shot cylinder?

I don't see it ever happening but I would pre-order one if they offered it.

[Mycin]

What we really need is a lever action in 327 federal. All would be right in the world.

I figured this would never happen, but Tom Gresham (Gun Talk Radio) has recently gotten a bee in his bonnet about a .327 Federal lever action, and has been asking some of his contacts in the industry about it. On the latest Gun Talk podcast, he said he's getting responses like, "That may be possible," so at least they're not rejecting the idea out-of-hand. I suspect Tom's requests get a lot more attention than yours or mine, so something may actually come out of this.

I'll repeat my assertion that Ruger should have teamed up with someone to bring out a lever action carbine at the same time they announced their first .327 revolvers. Ditto for the .480 Ruger.

[RIDE-RED 350r]

S&W did offer a couple of J-frame 327 Mags for a couple of years.. Already discontinued. Shame too, as the 327 is very interesting to me as well.

http://www.smith-wesson.com/webapp/w...orView_Y#item1

There was another, I believe it was called the 632 Pro.

[Cosmodragoon]

I'll repeat my assertion that Ruger should have teamed up with someone to bring out a lever action carbine at the same time they announced their first .327 revolvers.

It's a wonderful cartridge that got a poor launch at a bad time. A lesser cartridge might not have survived. Here, I think the quality carried it through. Those of us who gave it a chance loved it and made some noise about it. So now we've got new Rugers coming out and some national discussion about the need for a carbine. If you haven't already, send Henry an email. (That goes for everyone!)

[FrankenMauser]

So, in conclusion, I have to agree with the other posts, you can have it all with a 327 Magnum revolver. I understand that Ruger also has a LCR chambered in 327 Magnum. This seems the ideal caliber for "air" weight guns. Are you listening S&W? Also, a 686 chambered in 327 holding 8 rounds would be quite a gun!

While a J-frame (coming back) and/or 686 might get many more people interested, what I would really like to see (other than a rifle) would be an I-frame sized .327 Federal.
If you're unfamiliar, the I-frame was smaller than the S&W J-frame, and was the home of .32 S&W, .32 S&W Long, .32 Regulation Police, .38 S&W, and similar cartridges from around the turn of the 20th century. You could say it's something like a 70%-scale J-frame.

It'll never happen. ...But I'd buy one.



I already have a trio of .327s: Blackhawk, GP100, and LCR.
The LCR actually replaced a J-frame as my daily carry.
The GP100 is, by far, the best compromise platform for the cartridge. Love it.
The Blackhawk is no slouch - with an 8 shot cylinder and 5.5" barrel, it'll put a hurtin' on something (1,700 fps with the 100 gr AE load). But it's definitely on the heavy side and not fun to pack around.
I've also spent some time with a .327 SP101, but don't own one.

Because I'm goofy and lot wierd stuff, I would love to see a Redhawk with a 7.5" barrel in .327 Federal. 8 shots? Would it be possible to make a 9-shot cylinder?

I like the concept. But, man, that would be a heavy beast.

[ligonierbill]

+1 on the I frame. And I'm with rclark on the "reloadable .22". If you'd carry a .22 revolver in the woods, you'd do better with a S&W Regulation Police loaded with .32 S&W Long. I think that little I frame would require a lot of modification to handle the length and pressure of the .327 Mag though.

[smee78]

+1 on what rclark said, it was the same reasoning I went with a 32cal. I now have a Ruger Single Six birdshead vaquero and a Ruger SP101 in 32 H&R and a S&W model 30 in 32L all 3 are excellent guns, I would love to add the new 327 LCR and a Blackhawk to the mix. I also want a lever gun in this caliber, just look what the Marlin lever 32 H&R guns are selling for, its crazy! How can you tell me there is not a market for one right now?

[Real Gun]

Ruger Single Six birdshead vaquero

What gun is this? You imply it is 32 H&R.

[tallball]

Here is an I-frame Smith and Wesson in 32long. It is from around 1915, IIRC. I won it with a $125 bid earlier this year. It is a good shooter for what it is, being that the sights are not the best.

[tallball]

The SP101 327 needed bigger grips for my extra-large hands; I prefer smooth exotic hardwood. The sights are great, but the trigger is poor.

[tallball]

This 32 H&R magnum is one of my daughter's preferred plinking pieces. I bought it for her and my wife, really. But the pink isn't necessarily because it was for them - it was an excellent deal (barely used). I'm assuming the color is too loud for most people, and thus the lack of higher bids on it. Like my other Charter Arms, it has a pretty good trigger. They always feel a little cheap to me, but it goes bang every time. I didn't purchase it as a SD revolver, but it would be reasonably effective, IMHO.

[Sevens]

FrankenMauser, my main use for the uber-heavy Redhawk .327 Federal Mag (if it existed) with the 7.5" or even that CRAZY 9" barrel would be to zap steel plates at 100-300 yards while sitting at a bench rest at the rifle range.

Definitely a tiny niche kind of thing, it'd be ludicrous for me to suggest there would be a market for this monster. I just think it'd be most cool and I would absolutely buy one.

[bedbugbilly]

I've been thinking about a 327 for quite a while but just haven't pulled the trigger on one yet. As one who casts and reloads, I like the idea of being able to use the different cartridges. While I'd like a .327, I wouldn't turn my nose up at a vintage 32 Long as I like vintage revolvers.

Some nice photos have been posted. Thanks everyone for sharing . . sure makes a person want one!

[Radny97]

An I-frame in 327 would be awesome.
Anyone know how loud a 327 from a snubby is? I'd be interested in learning the decibel count.