327 Mag Reloads Brass Sticking In Cylinder

[Vern Humphrey]

I received some more of these bullets and made a few more loads using 5.7 grs of Win 231. Looking at them close up I can see that I did (do) have a harder crimp than the Federal commercial loads. Would a hard crimp on these bullets cause the brass to stick?

What you show is typical of a hard crimp. Note a slight bulge of the case below the case mouth. That COULD be enough to make it difficult to chamber a loaded round, but would have no effect on the fired case.

 

[PCCUSNRET]

What you show is typical of a hard crimp. Note a slight bulge of the case below the case mouth. That COULD be enough to make it difficult to chamber a loaded round, but would have no effect on the fired case.

No problem chambering these rounds, they drop in and slip out easily (until fired). This is the same crimp I used on the ones with 2400 powder and none of them stuck. I really believe that this is happening due to a light load with the Win 231. Once it warms up a bit I have a few things to try. Thanks!

 

[Vern Humphrey]

Agreed. As I said earlier, this has all the earmarks of a light charge failing to fully obturate the chambers.

 

[GooseGestapo]

RealGun;
Polishing isn't honing. 400grit is a LOOONNG WAY FROM reaming or honing.
Makes me have REAL DOUBTS about your cylinder reaming...
Thanks, but no thanks!

 

[RealGun]

RealGun;
Polishing isn't honing. 400grit is a LOOONNG WAY FROM reaming or honing.
Makes me have REAL DOUBTS about your cylinder reaming...
Thanks, but no thanks!

I know the difference between honing and polishing. I saw the shavings from the reamer, so I believe I can say with confidence that the solution on my gun was way beyond honing or polishing and it ensured both uniformity and roundness of the chambers.

 

[LoneGoose]

I just noticed that OP is using small pistol primers. My loading manuals show that the .327 Federal Magnum should be reloaded using small pistol magnum primers. Would this make a difference?

 

[GooseGestapo]

Different primers won't make a difference in extraction.
The reason for small rifle primers in the .327 is that the .327 upper end loads are in the same pressure range as the .454 Casull; significantly greater than the .357 mag. These high pressures cause primer flow or " cratering". This can cause the metal to flow into the firing pin hole, causing difficult cylinder rotation. The extraction issue is likewise due to the higher pressure and case expansion. A rough chamber enhances this. My Ruger's chambers were visibly rough with light reamer marks both visible in the chambers and on fired brass.
Now that I've polished them, they are up to the finish on my S&W revolvers. I once had a Mod 14 S&W that had a cylinder as rough as the Ruger's. S&W replaced the cylinder under warranty...
I've worked up some varied loads for my S7. I prefer, or I should say the gun prefers .314" bullets approximating .32H&Rmag from .327 brass. Though my 78grn .311"RN in .32acp cases over 2.0grn of Bullseye are enjoyable plinkers! Decently accurate too.
Small rifle primers have thicker cups and resist cratering as soon. I've found I don't care for the warmer loads anyhow. For "normal" loads ( less than full power .327mag loads) standard small pistol primers work just fine.

 

[LoneGoose]

GG, makes sense. Also, I'm going to look at a couple of my revolvers and try your polishing method. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

One effect of using standard primers when magnum primers are called for is erratic ignition and low pressure. So primers could be contributing to the problem.

 

[PCCUSNRET]

I just noticed that OP is using small pistol primers. My loading manuals show that the .327 Federal Magnum should be reloaded using small pistol magnum primers. Would this make a difference?

That will give me something else to try. It really depends on where you look for info on reloading for the 327 Magnum as to what primers are recommended. I have found on different sites recommendations for small pistol magnum and for small rifle on others (supposedly someone from CCI has indicated that their small rifle primers are basically the same as their small pistol magnum primers). I have a brick of the Federal small pistol magnum primers so I will give those a try along with the CCI small rifle primers. We were notified this morning that our indoor range is closed until further notice due to the roof being damaged during the snow storm last weekend. The roads are plowed to the outdoor ranges but there is still a couple of feet of snow on the actual ranges.

 

[Rule3]

Depending on the powder I have used regular small pistol, small pistol mag and small rifle. Makes no difference,

For example using 2400 or Power Pistol I used regular small pistol. I like PP

When the cartridge first was re introduced they Recommended small rifle due to the pressure, but as mentioned depends on what load data you look at today.

Pistols and Revolvers
327 Federal Magnum

115 gr Speer GDHP

Minimum OAL
(inches)

Bbl Length

Primer

Powder

Charge Weight
(grains)

Velocity
(fps)
1.465 3 CCI 500 Power Pistol 6.9 1,214
1.465 3 CCI 500 2400 11 1,3

 

[RealGun]

Magnum or small rifle primers are only needed on the higher end loads with the more extreme pressures. It is not a matter of ignition but rather what is required to prevent a mechanical failure of the primer under high pressure.

 

[243winxb]

327 Federal Magnum, brass sticking in chamber.

The 327 Federal Magnum has a working pressure of 45,000 PSI. The 231 powder is a faster burn rate than 2400. The 231 will peak pressure faster than 2400. When brass sticks in the chamber, pressure is to high. Oil should not be in the chambers before firing. I clean with Hoppes #9 and patch the chambers dry before shooting.

I also noticed the outsides of the stuck cases seemed to have a "matt" finish once removed from the cylinder.

I call it spider web, sigh of high pressure. Drop back to 5.4 gr, just under Hodgdons starting load, see what happens. The crimp makes no difference in pressure here.

 

[243winxb]

Use a Magnum primer for ball powders. W231

 

[PCCUSNRET]

I apologize for bringing up an old thread, but I finally got a chance to get back to the outdoor pistol range to try some of these loads with a slight bump in the amount of powder, up to 5.9 grs. I also switched the primers to Winchester small rifle primers. Out of 10 test rounds none of the cases stuck in the cylinder this time. A couple were a little snug but took no excessive effort to remove the brass from the gun. I may go ahead and try 6.0 grs of 231 and see how it goes. Looking at the brass I could see no signs of pressure and the recoil from this round was nothing like the Federal commercial loads. Thanks again for all the help.

 

[RealGun]

You still need to have the gun reworked for chamber dimensions. All this reloading business is an attempt to work around the real problem. Since reaming my cylinder I can shoot anything I wish, no problems. In terms of my several guns, Ruger is notorious for defective cylinders, and most have been replaced. I might be different for the regular production SP101, but that is the gun I had to ream, electing not to let them scrap it. They don't have any Single Seven cylinders or either the willingness, capacity, or tools to rework one, so plan B was to ream mine on my own.

 

[Rule3]

Unless you are seating the bullet way to deep or not accurately weighing your powder, 5.9 to 6.0 grains of HP 38 for a 85 gr XTP is nowhere near the max pressure of 45,000 psi. So you issue is not over pressure if they are loaded correctly.

Per Hodgdon pressure with 6 grains is 39,800 psi