Author Topic: Thoughts on the 327 federal (Read 3925 times)

Merle · « **Reply #30 on:** August 22, 2010, 09:48:16 AM »

Quote from: Hank08 on August 22, 2010, 05:44:56 AM

Merle, You could also place a flat piece of metal on top of your ram or shellholder and push the case all the way to the rim then knock it out with a rod just like making short .44s out of .45 acps.
H08

Good idea - I hadn't thought of that.

gcrank1 · « **Reply #31 on:** August 23, 2010, 04:27:13 PM »

Run it into the die as far as 'comfortable' for the reverse stroke. The part unsized at the case head can be lathe turned off as the is no case wall thickness issue that far down in the solid head. Once you have it close the resizing again finishes it up.
I dont like overpressuring a case into a die and having to hammer it out, but thats just me.....and I have a lathe (but a careful workman with a drillpress could do this too).

mrussel · « **Reply #32 on:** August 23, 2010, 05:01:06 PM »

Quote from: Hank08 on August 20, 2010, 03:42:20 PM

I used the RCBS lube that comes in a tube. I had a gal. of it about 35 yrs. ago, I'm down to my last few ozs. The 30C case went into the .32 S&W die (in my rockchucker) with very little pressure, it comes out with a little belt , about a 32nd" or so. with the decapping pin out put the die with the case into a vice and squeeze the case into the die to the rim, knock it out with a rod, trim it to length and your ready to load it. some cases might be thick at the mouth and need to be reamed.
H08

Would an arbor press work better? With a little work you could even mount the die right on it.

mrussel · « **Reply #33 on:** August 23, 2010, 05:06:15 PM »

Quote from: gcrank1 on August 23, 2010, 04:27:13 PM

Run it into the die as far as 'comfortable' for the reverse stroke. The part unsized at the case head can be lathe turned off as the is no case wall thickness issue that far down in the solid head. Once you have it close the resizing again finishes it up.
I dont like overpressuring a case into a die and having to hammer it out, but thats just me.....and I have a lathe (but a careful workman with a drillpress could do this too).

Why not just chuck up a piece of some good hard steel and bore a hole the right size for that last bit,and mount it on an arbor press. It shouldnt be much more work than cutting each case down and would make it much easier.

gcrank1 · « **Reply #34 on:** August 24, 2010, 05:49:02 AM »

If it isnt too many thou. reduction a die and HD press (that includes arbor), with a premium lube can do it, but you reach a point where the bench wants to give out on you (it lifts up or comes away from the wall, etc.) The case is solid brass below the case wall proper, except for the primer hole, and it doesnt want to compress. Just look at a cross section illustration of a case, you'll see it, and see why it doesnt compress well.

SHOOTALL · « **Reply #35 on:** August 24, 2010, 06:24:29 AM »

I have a 327 FM . SP101 . it is not close to a 357 mag. . To be honest I would rather have a 38 spl. with 158 SWHP's than anything in 327 for self defense but that's just me. I had a 30 carbine Blackhawk . The 327 offers rims and no need for a wire to hold rounds in the chamber also less head space trouble in some guns . After shooting and seeing targets hit with the 327 It lacks bullet weight again IMHO. As a small critter getter it should be fine but anything bigger not sure .
It seems since the 32 short came out people have tried to make the case longer so it could be as good as a 38 or 357 mag. so far it has not . BUT with the judge on the market guess the length of the brass can expand to longer than a pack of smokes .

Heavy C · « **Reply #36 on:** August 24, 2010, 06:40:09 AM »

Quote from: Hank08 on August 15, 2010, 08:16:14 AM

Quote from: Heavy C on August 13, 2010, 10:00:29 AM
I had a Blackhawk rechambered to .327. I have 8 shots available to me

Heavy C., Did you just have a Blackhawk rechambered? or did you have a new 8 shot cylinder made? What blackhawk caliber could be rechambered to .327?

Mrussel, You can shoot .32 acp, .32 S&W, .32 S&W long, .32 H&R, as well as .327.
H08

Mine was a .357 magnum that I bought off GunBroker. Sights were bent; it was in bad shape. So I took advantage of the larger frame and had Alan Harton work his magic. He built me an 8-shot cylinder that is unfluted and ended up being .5 ounces heavier than the original .357 mag. He put a 6" barrel on it and it shoots very nice with the 100 gr. factory loads. Topped it off with a Bowen rear sight and a gold bead front.

Brett: I started my project well over a year before Ruger even announced their 8-shot verson. Plus I get the benefit of a barrel length I want and don't have flutes on my cylinder. All personal preferences to be sure, but that's part of the idea behind custom jobs.

Brett · « **Reply #37 on:** August 25, 2010, 09:55:50 AM »

Quote from: Heavy C on August 24, 2010, 06:40:09 AM

Brett: I started my project well over a year before Ruger even announced their 8-shot verson.

Ah... well that makes a lot more sence then. To bad you could not have copyrighted your idea, then Ruger would have to pay you royalties.

Heavy C · « **Reply #38 on:** August 25, 2010, 12:00:21 PM »

Now that would have been something. I got laid off shortly after meeting with Alan so my mind wasn't exactly clear. Live and learn.

Swampman · « **Reply #39 on:** August 25, 2010, 01:13:50 PM »

Just one of many newer cartridges that serve no purpose. I believe the .44 Mag was probably the last useful cartrige (rifle or pistol) to be introduced.

mattmillerrx · « **Reply #40 on:** August 25, 2010, 02:25:49 PM »

I am interested in this round and have kept an eye out for the new blackhawk. I would be a bit more interested in a longer barrel, but this is the longest barrel so far. What I am really awaiting in this round and this is the wrong forum for it, but is a lever action. However, the blackhawk would be nice. It is not much different than the .32 HR Mag if you load that round to performance level more suited for the blackhawk, but it is no longer in production. I think the .327 has a good chance of taking off and being a popular round, but time will let us know for certain. It may not be different but it interest me.

torpedoman · « **Reply #41 on:** August 25, 2010, 02:31:27 PM »

this round is another "flavor of the week" gone in less than a year is my bet.

Hank08 · « **Reply #42 on:** August 25, 2010, 03:32:56 PM »

I just made some case capacity measurements. All with Accurate #9 powder. Filled to the mouth.
.327 Fed.-18.1 grs.
.327 Fed with .30 C case-18.1 grs.
.30 Mauser or Tokarev-18.5 grs.
.32/20-21.0 grs.
The 32/20 should give the most velocity and it comes in revolvers and lever rifles.
H08

Merle · « **Reply #43 on:** August 29, 2010, 07:06:43 AM »

Quote from: Hank08 on August 25, 2010, 03:32:56 PM

I just made some case capacity measurements. All with Accurate #9 powder. Filled to the mouth.
.327 Fed.-18.1 grs.
.327 Fed with .30 C case-18.1 grs.
.30 Mauser or Tokarev-18.5 grs.
.32/20-21.0 grs.
The 32/20 should give the most velocity and it comes in revolvers and lever rifles.
H08

I was kind of surprisd by the 30 Carbine. I would have expected it to be a little less than the 327 because I "presumed" the brass was thicker. Speaks well of the case strength for the 327. Should be able to really crank it up in a suitable action.

Hank08 · « **Reply #44 on:** August 29, 2010, 04:31:15 PM »

Merle, Your may be right but this .30C case I reamed when making a .327 from it so that may be the reason it came out the same. The .327 is basically a streched out .30 Mauser. The Mauser actually beats it by .4 gr. capacity. I was just looking at Hodgston load data for the .327. Pressures were up around 40,000 lbs. but the highest velocity with a 115 was only 1231fps. Not that great.
H08

gcrank1 · « **Reply #45 on:** August 30, 2010, 05:41:51 AM »

With proper powder selection they are probably all about the same. The downside of the 32-20, from my experience, is the case mouth is pretty thin and fragile, and it is a slight bottleneck. The .327 would be an easy case to resize, like any long pistol case, and easy to live with. It needs to last long enough to get a following and have more guns are chambered for it. I think it might be a worthy successor to the 32-20, and Im a 'traditionalist' in many ways.

Merle · « **Reply #46 on:** August 31, 2010, 08:39:42 AM »

Quote from: gcrank1 on August 30, 2010, 05:41:51 AM

With proper powder selection they are probably all about the same. The downside of the 32-20, from my experience, is the case mouth is pretty thin and fragile, and it is a slight bottleneck. The .327 would be an easy case to resize, like any long pistol case, and easy to live with. It needs to last long enough to get a following and have more guns are chambered for it. I think it might be a worthy successor to the 32-20, and Im a 'traditionalist' in many ways.

I have a Ruger 32-20 / 32 H&R Mag convertible, so am familiar with the 32-20. It is kind of a pain to reload, but the 32 H&R is a much shorter case & accuracy has been harder to come by. Thus my interest in the 327 mag - a straight wall case of similar power, but easier to reload.

I have great hopes for it in the near future.

gcrank1 · « **Reply #47 on:** September 01, 2010, 04:42:00 AM »

FWIW, in my experience, accuracy seems to always come down to the bullet fitting the chamber mouths (or throat in a rifle) and bore/groove dimensions for same compatable with that size.
Once I stopped FL re-sizing right away and went to fitting a cast bullet dia. to the fully fire formed case mouths I cut the reloading experiment curve WAY down. Most sizing dies undersize the mouth (for jacketed bullets it appears) too much for cast bullets. Of course, if thats all you want to shoot.........

2 dogs · « **Reply #48 on:** September 22, 2010, 10:15:36 AM »

Sometimes I get to these threads late.

You can buy primed 327 Federal Magnum brass from Bob Baker at Freedom Arms.

I have a 6 inch custom 327 Federal magnum by Alan Harton on a Single Six. I exit a 118 grain GC LBT bullet at 1550 fps. I use H110 powder, it is a compressed load. "Work up with caution."

I also have a Buckeye being finished up in his shop at this time. The 32 mag cylinder will be reamed to 327 Federal. I have no doubt in that platform the 32-20 will out perform the 327 Federal.

If you do a search on Gunblast.com you will find an article by Jeff Quinn on the 327/32-20 combo Single Six that Harton built along with a FA97 in 327.

Ken ONeill · « **Reply #49 on:** September 27, 2010, 02:33:45 AM »

You and I both got to this thread late, 2 dogs, me later than you. I will simply add that in my opinion the .327 Federal has the "considerable" advantage in brass strength over the .32-20, given the delicate nature of the necks on the latter. It's been 30 years since I've messed with the .32-20 for that very reason.
I'd buy the necessary quantity of that brass from FA any day (they were sold out of it for only a brief period), rather than go through the gyrations of reworking other cartridge cases. Of course, if you enjoy those brass reworking steps, have at it....

Merle · « **Reply #50 on:** September 30, 2010, 04:24:29 PM »

Quote from: gcrank1 on September 01, 2010, 04:42:00 AM

FWIW, in my experience, accuracy seems to always come down to the bullet fitting the chamber mouths (or throat in a rifle) and bore/groove dimensions for same compatable with that size.
Once I stopped FL re-sizing right away and went to fitting a cast bullet dia. to the fully fire formed case mouths I cut the reloading experiment curve WAY down. Most sizing dies undersize the mouth (for jacketed bullets it appears) too much for cast bullets. Of course, if thats all you want to shoot.........

I have had accuracy issues with other convertibles, which I "assumed" was due to the longer bullet jump in the shorter case. I never slugged the chamber mouths, so can't say for sure.

Kind of like the slightly reduced accuracy I usually get shooting 38 SPL in a 357 MAG chamber.

Thanks.

gcrank1 · « **Reply #51 on:** October 01, 2010, 05:56:58 PM »

Well.......I do like to use the brass the arm is chambered for (kind of a 'given') and if I want a .38Spl powered load just make it in the proper brass. That and the lead bullet fit methodology above has really worked for me.
As always, your results, or requirements may vary.

mrussel · « **Reply #52 on:** October 01, 2010, 06:48:07 PM »

Quote from: Swampman on August 25, 2010, 01:13:50 PM

Just one of many newer cartridges that serve no purpose. I believe the .44 Mag was probably the last useful cartrige (rifle or pistol) to be introduced.

I agree many dont seem to have a purpose,but some certainly do. 40S&W works in guns originally designed for 9mm like the Browning Hi Power. Thats a gun on my list to get. 357 SIG gets you 38 super velocities,again in guns like the Browning that were originally made for 9mm. Again that seems to make perfect sense to me. Its not so much an issue of ballistics than a mechanical thing. I like some of the guns they go in,and that gives choices that I would not otherwise have in calibers. Of course,honestly,I'm still not sure I personally like 357 SIG,but I guess its a bigger 9 than the 9mm Luger,so whats not to like. I haven't shot one yet so that will be the deciding factor. I do however like 38 Super.

I guess 32 Federal gives you things that you can get in other platforms in a cartridge that works well in revolvers. I dont know how well other similar cartridges work in revolvers. I know people brought up 30 Luger,but if your bringing that up,there is 7.62 Tokerov which is typically loaded much hotter,although I have always seen bullets in the range of 80-90 grains in it. I wonder how it would work with 100 or 115 gr bullets. The 80-90 gr loads seem to carry more energy than the 32 Federal and Im told that some of them have .309 bores,but some are .311 which might work well with those same bullets.

Ken ONeill · « **Reply #53 on:** October 01, 2010, 10:48:57 PM »

That 7.62 Tokarev (7.62x25) is a HOT little bugger! 87 gr. @ 1625 fps from my 5 1/2" barrel.

Axehandle · « **Reply #54 on:** October 08, 2010, 05:22:35 AM »

As a owner and shooter of the 32-20, 32 Mag, and 30 Carbine Rugers I find the 327 just icing on the cake... Brass from FA. Revolvers from FA and Ruger. 10 inch bull barrels for my TC Contender. Bullets from Hornady and LBT molds.. I'm ready. Sure there are bigger and smaller cartridges. I like them too!