.327 vs .357

.327 Vs .357 - Revolver calibers in .32 do not get much attention today. You may have never heard of some of them. But today, we will fix because when it comes to snub nose revolvers, nothing beats the .32. In Part 10 of our Pocket Pistol series, we look at the .32 Short, .32 Long, .32 H & R Magnum, and .327 Federal Magnum.

If you have a snub nose bullet, chances are pretty good that it is chambered for .38 Special. Revolvers in general may not be as popular as they once were, but small, lightweight .38 Snub Nose Special is still one of the best selling concealable pistols on the market. I especially like the .38. It is a very good circuit. But for the nose snub, it is not the best situation. That position goes to the humble.32.

.327 Vs .357

Maybe I should be more specific because in recent years there have been revolvers that fire .32 caliber bullets. The .32 I consider is not a single round, but a family of four cartridges: .32 short, .32 long , .32 H & R Magnum, and .327 Federal Magnum.

Is The .357 Sig Dead?

The .32 Short, also known as the .32 S&W Short or simply the .32 S&W, was introduced as early as 1878 as a black powder cartridge for small, concealable ammunition. Today, we would consider it underpowered, even by pocket gun standards. But before there was no gunpowder and metal in the 20th century, you couldn't expect much from a revolver. Pockets and .32 Short guns are at least as good as they were young.

In 1896, the .32 Short case was slightly enlarged to create the .32 Smith & Wesson Long. This is the cartridge used for the first Smith & Wesson manual ejector which is the basic design on which Smith revolvers are still based today. Colt also produced a bullet for this cartridge, but they called it the .32 Colt New Police.

The .32 Long has more punch than the .32 Short, but it is still not particularly powerful. It is unusually accurate for handgun cartridges and many small game hunters have used it well with wadcutter bullets or handguns. Factory .32 is easier to find than other calibers .32 revolver, due to its popularity in international bullseye competitions.

The .32 Long has been popular since the early 1900s but that popularity has waned as the .38 Special has become the most popular revolver in America. In the 1980s, it disappeared. But that didn't stop ammunition manufacturer Harrington and Richardson from trying to bring the .32 back to life. In 1984, H&R partnered with Federal to launch the .32 H&R Magnum.

Ruger Sp101 .327 Federal Magnum Problems

Based on the .32 Long, the .32 H&R Magnum has a much higher velocity. Ballistically, it is often compared to the standard pressure .38 Special. Harrington and Richardson went out of business just a few years after the release of their .32 Magnum, but then several other companies adopted the cartridge for their revolvers. With improved ballistics, there is more appeal to small frame ammunition that can hold six rounds of .32 Magnum where the .38 or .357 only has five chambers.

The new .32 saw limited success, but as interest in revolvers generally declined, it did not catch on. In the early 2000s, several new cartridges were created for the .32 H&R Magnum.

But the cartridge has its fans, especially among carriers. They noted that SAAMI's specifications for the .32 H&R Magnum were simple and did not take full advantage of the case. This eventually led to another attempt at the revival of the .32, this time in 2008 when Ruger and Federal introduced the .327 Federal Magnum. The barrel of the cartridge is also lengthened and the new position allows an impressive performance from the .32 caliber bullet, even with a short bullet.

However, ten years after its introduction, the .327 Federal Magnum can only be described as a minor success. Ruger has been a true champion in this field. They offer several types of ammunition designed for it including the SP101 and small frame LCR, the 7-shot GP100, and some of their performance models. At one time Smith & Wesson, Taurus, and Charter Arms also produced the .327 Magnum, but they have all been discontinued for a long time.

Ruger Sp101 Vs. Gp100: Revolver Comparison

Along with a number of pistols from Henry Repeating Arms, the .327 Rugers are the only .32 caliber revolvers in wide current production in the United States. Ammo support is still limited, and there are few factories that manufacture magnum magazines.

And that's a shame because together, these four .32 cartridges offer an impressive amount of versatility. As you can imagine from their shared history, the .32 has what the tech world calls backwards compatibility. A .32 long revolver can also shoot a .32 short. A .32 Magnum can also fire a .32 short or long, and a .327 Magnum can safely fire all four. So a .327 gives you many options but even the .32 Magnum offers some advantages over the .38 Special.

In fact, if we ignore the lack of industrial support and minute availability, the .32 family cartridge is more suitable for smaller bullets than others. Without squeezing a round into the cylinder more than a .38 or .357, .32s are very shootable, especially with lighter models.

I think some of the best ever made are the .32 Magnum Smith & Wesson Airweight and AirLite J-frames from the late 90s and early 2000s. This is the Model 332 Ti. It has an aluminum frame and titanium alloy cylinder for a weight of only 11.5 ounces. It weighs the same as the Model 442 PD in .38 Special or the Model 43C in .22 LR. The .38 is very unpleasant to shoot, even with normal pressure ammo. The 43C is a great gun without the heavy recoil that you get with rimfire rifles. In 332, I can put in .32 Shorts and recoil is about the same as .22 LR. Most common .32 handguns come with less recoil than the .22 Magnum and even though I would put full power in a .32 Magnum for self defense, it is still an easier gun to shoot than the .38 factory. The load will find you.

Sig P365 Vs. S&w 327pc

This is not just about convenience. As I've mentioned many times before in our pocket gun series, less recoil often results in better gun placement. In a defensive situation, good gun placement beats good bullets. With small guns, we often have to choose one or the other, but .32s can provide a balance of both: easy casting and good balls.

Finding yourself is difficult to measure, but I will do my best to share the results of the shooting times that I have tested at the range with eight different types of bullets. I use almost the same 17-ounce Ruger LCRs. One is a .357 Magnum and the other is a .327 Magnum.

I chose the 5×5 rig to test the return effect. Typically, the goal of this drill is to fire five rounds in a five-inch circle from five yards in less than five seconds starting from the holster or low ready position. But for this exercise, the time to take the first shot is not important - I'm only interested in how quickly I can recover my sight and shoot the next shot. So I tried four drills with each load and in each attempt, I recorded the time between my first and last shot. And here are the average times of my two fastest runs from each load:

Remember, this is not a perfect picture of the numbers returned from these loads, but it should give you a basic idea of ​​how they compare. For example, the .32 Long and the .32 Magnum are both light cartridges, but in reality tend to be more different than these numbers indicate. The .38 Fiocchi Wadcutter is the lightest loose action.

Magnum Vs .44 Magnum Lever Actions

The weakness of the .327 American Eagle 85-grain is actually considered a low recoil load for a .327 but it is still very heavy. I think this would be great for a metal gun like the SP101 but not my favorite load to shoot the LCR with. I shot the .38 +P Gold Dot extra slower than the 85-grain .327, but I think the deflection is pretty similar between the two.

Shoots a full 100-grain .327 Mag American Eagle from 17 oz

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