Is the .327 Federal as good as claimed?

[RunningOnMT]

Have been looking for a wheel gun recently and considered one in .327 Federal. When I was looking at the cost of ammo I began to notice the grain weight of the round and the various manufacturers advertised muzzle velocity.

Now granted it IS in the .357 mag velocity range, but with a much lighter and smaller diameter bullet. So then I thought 85 and 100 gr, hell even the 9mm is heavier than that. Then I started crunching the numbers comparing gr wt, diameter, and muzzle velocity of the 9mm vs the .327.

I'm not seeing the advantage. Is the .327 overly hyped?

[3/2 STA SS]

Very little recoil and I almost got one then settled on a 642 Airweight.

[taosgunguy]

I now have two, Ruger 632 and Taurus M327 and love them. If you look up the hard to find FBI penetration results for the round, they're better than 9mm and 38 +P.

I wanted to grab a couple of links to show you why I like the round, and here's the first, and here's the second. Both give ballistics and penetration information that show the 327 federal magnum to be an excellent round.

I have only one test, and it was unintentional. I have a body shaped 3/8 inch hard steel hanging target for self defense practice where I can hear a hit. I had been shooting my 9mm and 40 s&w guns. They make a mark on the target, not a pit or dent, but a smudge you could feel a little with your finger.

The 327 federal rounds, mostly 100 grain federal ammo, pit the metal by 1/32 to 1/16 of an inch. It is a hard hitting round. Here are my guns, and I carry them both, depending on what I'm wearing.

[mogunner]

I looked at them when I was considering a wheel gun purchase, then looked at the price of ammo. Then bought a .357.

[RunningOnMT]

Thanks taosgunguy. Good articles there. I do question this statement in the article in that second link.

"The new .327 Federal Magnum offers muzzle energy twice that of .38 Special +P loads, and velocities comparable to a 125-grain .357 Magnum, with 20 percent less recoil in its hottest version"

I don't even think the .357 mag has twice the muzzle energy of .38 spl
+P loads. I'll have to research that a little more. In any event it would seem that maybe I underestimated the .327 Federal round. I had considered two handguns, a S&W .357 and a Ruger SP101 in .327. The SP101 is certainly a lot more affordable.

[K75RT]

I love the .327 FedMag, I have a Taurus SS327 in .327 it is nice... I have boot grips on mine as it makes it even smaller and slimmer. One caution it is VERY LOUD!
[IMG][/IMG]

[taosgunguy]

Originally Posted by RunningOnMT

Thanks taosgunguy. Good articles there. I do question this statement in the article in that second link.

"The new .327 Federal Magnum offers muzzle energy twice that of .38 Special +P loads, and velocities comparable to a 125-grain .357 Magnum, with 20 percent less recoil in its hottest version"

I don't even think the .357 mag has twice the muzzle energy of .38 spl
+P loads. I'll have to research that a little more. In any event it would seem that maybe I underestimated the .327 Federal round. I had considered two handguns, a S&W .357 and a Ruger SP101 in .327. The SP101 is certainly a lot more affordable.

RunningOnMT, I can say that my S&W 632 cost a LOT more than the Taurus, which is no longer made but can be found on the big gun sale sites for under $300 with full hammer, and around $300 with concealed hammer, but harder to find. The S&W looks great, as I wanted the black and 3" barrel for the woods, and it's lighter that the Taurus. However, the Taurus is built very well and easy to drop into a large back jeans pocket. They're both great to shoot, and I'm reloading for around $0.15/round with my brass.

[218bee]

I have a Ruger SP101 and have been very impressed with it. I handload a 100 grain HP using W296 and never feel under-gunned when carring this little 3"
blaster. Being able to shoot .32 S&W, .32 S&W long and .32 Mag is a nice added plus for plinking and such / 6 shots instead of 5 is nice too............Don in SC

[RunningOnMT]

Yeh, I think I'm going to go with the Rugger SP101 too. I just ordered a new 1911 so it will have to wait at least another month, but the Ruger just feels right and the caliber sounds impressive.