To me, the .32 really shines as an outdoorsman’s cartridge. It’s quiet, very accurate, low recoiling, and it’ll absolutely put critters down with more authority than a .22lr, while also being suitable for a coup de grace on trapped or wounded game, and being acceptable -not great- for bigger animals and two-legged threats.
If one’s going to carry a revolver principally for self-defense, I guess I can see why the .327 or .32 H&R might be appealing... one more round than a .38 or .357, and possibly less recoil (though I am not sure if this has been substantiated... and recoil is highly subjective and often conflated with muzzle blast, which certainly would not be lessened in .32 defensive loads), with roughly equivalent effectiveness in the hotter loads.
That being said, I’d choose the LCR in .38, both because .38 (also available in hotter loads) is nothing to sneeze at, and because it’s quieter, as Kleanbore has pointed out, but also because the Ruger LCR in .38 is several ounces lighter than its equivalent in .327, and that can make a big difference in terms of actually carrying it. And I can handle LCR .38 recoil just fine, making any recoil advantages of .32 defensive loads more theoretical than practical. I don’t want to shoot a .38 without ear protection in a defensive scenario, but I certainly don’t want to shoot a .357, and still less a .327! Of course, more than likely, I’d be carrying a semi-auto, which makes the capacity argument moot for me, personally. If I’m choosing a revolver it’s for reasons unrelated to capacity, and I’m hard-pressed to think of a scenario where 5 rounds would not be enough, but 6 would.
