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Old June 17, 2013, 02:33 AM   #951
BillCA
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Case fatigue

Give the 40-45,000 psi pressures that case is put under, it would not be surprising that case life is shorter than .38 or even .357 case life.

Lengthwise cracking is typically a sign of aging brass with multiple resizing steps in reloading. When fired, the brass bulges outward against the chamber walls to contain the pressure. After firing the brass relaxes a bit. But it is now oversized from factory specs. We resize the brass which forces it back into the correct dimensions. These repeated steps work harden the brass until it gets hard and brittle. Then the weakest point fails - a rupture in the form of a crack.

In the .327 federal, it's diameter is going to be the same as that for .32 Long and .32 H&R, in order that the chamber specs are consistent. That means...

.337" - .32 caliber cartridge diameter.
.3412" - .32 chamber diameter
.0042" - .32 cartridge expansion diameter

This means we're squeezing a .3412" case back down to .337" in each resizing step. Just like airliners that pressurize and depressurize, repeated cycling of the metal causes metal fatigue cracks can form.

Brass is annealed when originally formed to make the brass softer and workable when forming the cartridge. Rifle shooters may anneal the case mouths of their rifle cartridges after a few firings, especially if the case mouth seems not to keep tension against the bullet.

The main advantages of nickel cases center around it's lubricity for easier extraction and greater corrosion resistance, especially in leather belt loops. Nickel is less ductile (more brittle) than brass and resists changes in shape. The nickel forms a "shell" around the brass and when resizing causes the nickel to either separate from the brass or work harden, it creates a tiny weak spot. The case resists expansion in all directions equally except where that weak spot is. That one spot tends to expand a little faster and easier.

When resizing your brass, be sure that both the brass and resizing die are clean. This is especially true of you use any case lubricant which can carry fouling and grit into the resizing die. Inspect resized cartridges for lengthwise scratches which can shorten case life (especially at 45,000 psi). Worst case is that some grit can scratch the die itself and ruin it.

Measure your once-fired brass. Since revolver chambers are sometimes cut all at once, there may be slight variances between chambers. One might be slightly loose compared to the others (.3413 instead of .3412). Expect case life for those cartridges may be shorter.
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Old August 15, 2013, 06:43 PM   #952
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Finally scored a Marlin 1894CB 32H&R Magnum. I've been watching my local firearms forums for over a year. Found a guy who had bought a large lot of rifles and handguns which included a bunch of lever guns. It's new in box unfired for $650. About the same price they sold for originally, I'm happy. Now just need to get the nerve up to send it off to get rechambered for our favorite caliber. Should be fun will keep you guys posted.
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Old August 15, 2013, 06:57 PM   #953
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Good score! Thanks for making the rest of us jealous.

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Old August 17, 2013, 11:25 PM   #954
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About three years ago, I held one of those in my hand, contemplated the $600 price tag, and put it back.

I have regretted selling a few guns, but there are precious few I regret not buying. This is one.

I'm glad I was willing to pony up for my .327 SP101 when I did.
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Old August 18, 2013, 07:25 AM   #955
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Hello Low Friction
Nice Marlin. You may want to reconsider punching that gun out to accept and Fire the Federal .327 Magnum. The SAMI Pressure's between the two rounds is very different with the .32 H&R Magnum Cartridge being 21,000 and the Federal .327 Magnum Cartridge being 45,000 I am Not sure if that Marlin could take the drastic change in SAMI pressure. I would contact Marlin and ask them what Pressure that gun could handle before changing it's caliber. I do know that S&W Build's their gun's to withstand about Twice the SAMI pressure of the round that they are built for, But I have no idea if Marlin does that. Even is Marlin Built their Gun's to withstand double the SAMI pressure of the .32 H&R Magnum being say 42,00 you would still be approaching a disaster by shooting the Federal .327 Magnum cartridge in that rifle. That is why we see very few revolver's made to withstand the Higher Pressure of the Federal .327 Magnum Cartridge. Just something to think about here, & many are not aware of how high the SAMI Pressure is for the Federal .327 Magnum Cartridge. I hope this Helps, Hammer It
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Old August 18, 2013, 10:15 AM   #956
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The 32 H&R Magnum CB Limited uses roughly the same receiver, barrel, and bolt as the other CB Limited chamberings. Of course the 32 variant has a really hefty barrel wall thickness as compared to the 44 and 45 models.

Here are some numbers to compare the radial chamber and bolt face pressures for the 327mag and the 44mag at peak SAAMI pressures.

327 fed mag/44mag
Bolt face area: 0.089 in^2/0.163 in^2
Radial chamber area: 1.220 in^2/1.750 in^2
SAAMI max pressure: 45,000 psi/36,000 psi
Bolt face pressure: 4005 lbs/5868 lbs
Radial chamber pressure: 54,900 lbs/63,000 lbs

The cumulative radial chamber pressure is ~15% higher for the 44mag that has a substantially thinner barrel compared to the 32 h&r. The cumulative bolt face pressure is a whopping 46% higher for the 44mag. I'm pretty comfortable with the design margin.

Last edited by Low Friction; August 19, 2013 at 05:37 PM.
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Old August 18, 2013, 10:15 AM   #957
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Will that action cycle the longer rounds? You should be able to tell that before the chamber work. I'd almost bet it would, but I would be sure before sending it out.
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Old August 18, 2013, 10:39 AM   #958
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This guy has done the mod.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...finally-did-it

He says Fed AE 100gr doesn't reliably cycle but his XTP handloads do. I'll cross that bridge when I get there. Worst case I'll take a hand file to the carrier. Haven't taken a close look at that yet so it's TBD what path I'll take.

Last edited by Low Friction; August 20, 2013 at 12:10 PM.
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Old August 26, 2013, 11:24 PM   #959
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Please keep us informed of the progress. There's many of us waiting with bated breath and hoping for your success!

Rod
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Old August 27, 2013, 10:00 AM   #960
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I want a Ruger 77/327 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Old January 8, 2014, 09:25 AM   #961
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Ruger dropped the GP100 327 off of their website.
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Old January 8, 2014, 04:16 PM   #962
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All of their firearms that are out of production (temporarily or permanently) are gone.

They probably don't have any production planned for 2014, and dropped them to clean up the website for the new year (and the coming SHOT Show announcements ).
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Old January 8, 2014, 10:01 PM   #963
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I recall reading that Ruger had a banner year with something like a 40% increase in revenues or something equally astonishing. They've been working hard to fulfill orders and don't need to market anything that's a slow seller or has a low order volume right now.
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Old January 9, 2014, 12:01 PM   #964
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Too bad about the GP100. Hope this is only temporary. My 327 GP has become my favorite revolver. I definitely prefer it to the SP. It travels with me on a lot of hikes and gets shot a lot.
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Old January 9, 2014, 02:03 PM   #965
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Ruger has also suspended production of different things until they get their newest facility up & running. Also it's relevant to note that this is a normal process for Ruger with much precedence: they have suspended different items from the catalog numerous times over the years and then brought them back. The most recent example is the .480 Ruger chambered Redhawk revolvers. My .30 Carbine chambered Blackhawk is another example, that one was ceased multiple times and just keeps coming back. Actually, I ordered mine when it wasn't even a currently cataloged item. Had to wait a couple months to get it.

When Ruger makes a grand announcement that a model has been retired from production (as they did quite recently with the P-series semi-auto pistols or in the past with the Service Six line of revolvers) that's when you can starting ringing the death knell.
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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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Old January 9, 2014, 05:19 PM   #966
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Ah. Got it. Thanks.
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Old January 9, 2014, 05:55 PM   #967
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Well, if Smith and Wesson will make an 8 shot version of the S&W Performance Center 327 which is currently chambered for .357 Mag, I'll buy one.
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Old January 10, 2014, 01:55 AM   #968
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That's the problem. I don't know if this cartridge came out at the wrong time, if it was poorly advertised, if it was a lack of good guns chambered for it, or all of the above. I feel like barrels were too short to take advantage of the round in too many cases. The porting on some of those short barrels seemed an odd choice for the muzzle flash and residue spray involved. If they had a 4" SP-101, a 6" GP-100, or higher capacity revolvers in L or N frames, I'd already have bought at least one of them. I was interested enough to seek out the old 4" SP-101 in .32 H&R mag for conversion and that's money Ruger just left on the table...

If a company is going to put all that time and energy into developing a new cartridge, they really need to go all in on their investment. I mean, they didn't even get this one into a companion rifle!
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Old January 10, 2014, 03:38 AM   #969
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Cosmodragoon,

First, understand the development of the cartridge was to put forth a revolver for defensive concealed carry that had better ballistics than the 9mm but without the abusive recoil of the .357 in a small frame gun. To reach that goal, the 3-inch barrel was used to provide the balance between power and compact size.

It's certainly true that the .327 is a hot rod pushed out of a 4⅝ to 7½ inch barrel. If more Ruger models chambered this round it'd surely raise its popularity.

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An 8-shot N-Frame might be a good outdoors gun. I'd be happy with a nice K-Frame 7-shooter for home defense or hiking. Let the Model 16 return again, this time with the classic S&W partial underlug in a 4" and 6" version. It'd look much like the Model 19.

It seems most of us would really like a nice light rifle for the round too. Hopefully this will be the year Marlin makes one (I ain't holding my breath). Or perhaps we'll see a "Lightning" style pump rifle for it.
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Old January 13, 2014, 04:37 PM   #970
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Why not "double down" on the lightening idea and go with the rifle in 327 Federal magnum and remake the Lighting DA revolver in 32 H&R Mag
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Old January 13, 2014, 09:59 PM   #971
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I'd actually like to see an LCR in .32 H&R mag. Somehow, I don't think bumping that one up to .327 is a good idea...
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Old January 13, 2014, 10:52 PM   #972
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.327 Ruger Single Six!!!

Until then I'm really enjoying my GP100.
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Old January 13, 2014, 11:43 PM   #973
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Quote:
Why not "double down" on the lightening [sic] idea and go with the rifle in 327 Federal magnum and remake the Lighting [sic] DA revolver ?
I'd have to be convinced of a lot of things before jumping on that bandwagon. The Colt 1877 DA revolver was known to have a fragile action. It was often referred to as "the gunsmith's friend" due to the frequency of breakage. Stuffing a high pressure .327 Federal Magnum into the gun would require some serious beefing up of the frame design too, I believe. You'd probably be better off starting the design almost from scratch.

In technical terms, the 1877 "Lightning" fired the .38 Long Colt.
The unofficial nickname for the .32 Colt version was "Rainmaker". So that'd be in keeping with tradition for a .327 version.
And if you went that far, why not add the New Thunderer in .41 Magnum instead of .41 Colt?
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Old January 14, 2014, 12:02 PM   #974
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Well, when I said remake the Colt Lightning I did mean re-engineer a DA revolver that had the looks of the lightning. There just are so few DA cowboy guns to choose from. And I said 32 H&R Mag for the pistol, not 327 Fed Mag. Anyways.
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Old January 14, 2014, 01:26 PM   #975
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BillCA
I'd be happy with a nice K-Frame 7-shooter for home defense or hiking. Let the Model 16 return again, this time with the classic S&W partial underlug in a 4" and 6" version.
I've been waiting for this very gun for several years, albeit with a 5" barrel.

Now that S&W apparently believes that they've got the forcing-cone splitting problem licked with the new 2-piece Model 66 barrel, perhaps they could apply this technology to a 7-shot .327 Fed Mag "Model 616".
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