Ruger SP101 .327 Federal, Any recent news?

[JellyJar]

Its been about two years now since Ruger introduced their SP101 in the new .327 Federal chambering. I see lots of threads and posts about the SP101 in 357 mag but nothing recent about it in .327 Federal.

Has anyone hear either bought one or had any experience with one? If so what are your opinions about it?

 

[MMCSRET]

I wanted to try the new 327 cartridge but was not impressed with the offerings from Ruger, S&W, and Taurus. All good quality and well made but, all were short barreled, fixed sight pocket revolvers. I wanted a belt gun that I could use for longer distances and therefore I sought out a 4" with adjustable sights and that took me to "Charter Arms" and their "Target Patriot" model.
I am impressed with the cartridge and very, very impressed with the revolver. I have put 50 rounds of factory ammo thru it and 400 rounds of handloads, all 327. Also about 700 rounds of hot handloaded 32 Magnum loaded well above suggested levels for ordinary 32 Magnum revolvers.
My recommendation is for the 327 Magnum cartridge and especially the Target Patriot revolver.

 

[John Wayne]

I admire Ruger for at least offering a gun in this chambering, but IMO the SP-101 is way too clunky a platform for the .327.

S&W has a J-frame revolver with a 3" ported barrel, which would be my choice in .327 guns out of the current offerings. I think a 6-shot, aluminum or scandium framed concealed-hammer 2" bbl. offering would be neat, but apparently S&W digress.

 

[LlanoEstacado]

.327 Federal

I purchased a SP101 in .327 last year. As with many of the earlier production from Ruger, there were problems with the cylinder bores being consistent. Ruger did fix the problem at no charge. Due to a move, several months passed before I could shoot it. I finally was able to put a few rounds through it - .32 H&R Magnum, Federal 100 grain .327 soft point. The gun shot to point of aim, was accurate.

I will say, I was glad of the weight of the SP101 when I was shooting the 100 gr. Feds. I was sorry I had not brought my shooting glove with the padded palm! I would not want to shoot that round in a light weight piece more than a couple of rounds.

I think it is a good magnum handgun round and would take care of business as a self-defense load. I am thinking of using it as a field gun when I hunt.

BTW, the SP101 does have windage adjustment on its rear sight.

The biggest drawback to .327 Federal is finding ammo. I was able to find one box of the 100 gr. SP locally. I have had a few boxes trickle in lately from orders I placed back in September and early October from Midway and Cabelas. I have found some hard cast bullets and a box of Speer 115 grain HPs to reload in my spent cases...I believe I read on THR that someone found some new brass as well. So, maybe things will get better as the overall ammo situation (hopefully) resolves.:banghead:

 

[cz85cmbt]

Yeah I think this caliber has suffered because of the buying craze since Obama's win in Iowa. Everyone has been so concerned with buying a gun of common tactical calibers, and buying the same kind of ammunition that new calibers have taken a back seat. Even gun manufacturers were focused on pumping only certain guns out, limiting production numbers in other guns. Now that things have eased up I think this caliber will expand. I won't be surprised if in a year or two you'll see someone come out with a 7+ shot full size with adjustable size. Taurus is a good candidate to take a gamble on that kind of market.

 

[Shadan7]

We tested one last spring, and I thought it was an impressive cartridge and gun. I do think that a J-frame sized pocket pistol with 6 rounds would be the way to go, and I hope that we see those on the market soon.

Jim D.

 

[PAPACHUCK]

I like the idea of a 3", 6-shot J-frame chambered in .327 Federal. I wish S&W would make a model 60 like this without it being a "Pro" model. Taurus could also offer their small frame the same way, 6-shot with a 3" barrel.

 

[Surefire]

http://www.ruger.com/pdf/specs/327-GP100.pdf

This is cool, 7 shot GP 100 in .327 Magnum

 

[DPris]

The SP101 in .327 Mag generated some factory changes across the SP line-up.
The recoil plate/shield (AKA firing pin bushing) is now gone, the firing pin's retained from the rear of the frame instead of by a crosspin through the frame, and the extractor's been re-designed to eliminate the two locator pins.

Looks like Ruger is taking the caliber seriously in the SP.

Denis

 

[weregunner]

I do own 2 guns in .327 Federal and yes, finding them can be tough.

The good news is that Ruger is releasing the Ruger GP100 and the Blackhawk into the pipeline as this is discussed. It'll take a while before they let things loose completely. Both of these models are in...... .327 Federal.

www.ruger-firearms.com

I have the Taurus snub in .327 and the Ruger SP101.

I've fired the Federal ammos through them and they are a handful, but doable IMHO.

The great thing about the .32 calibers is that the ammo can be tailored to the mission.

Since .327 Federal ammo is expensive the .32 S&W Long and the .32 H&R magnum ammo can be used for practice, fun, plinking,or for the recoil sensitive or the infirm, as a defense round. Yes,I know there are better choices for defense. The .327 is one of those.

However for us who are getting older, have RA or other arthritis, or some other malady, the .32s offer a better choice.

No slides to rack, simple manual of arms, better than decent reliability, and other reasons to go with a revolver over a pistol.

Want to introduce someone new to firearms? The .32s do it in a way that the larger calibers can have trouble with. Low recoil and muzzle blast from the low powered .32s make that a breeze.

Granted, the ammo can be hard to find in some places, but after some judicious searching I have found many suppliers so I do not run out or have to wait long for ammo.

Some say that the .32 ammo is high priced. Depends on where you buy it from. I can say that I find the .32 S&W Long and .32 H&R ammo is either slightly below or at what .38 Special ammo is running at.

That or reloading can be done. Why not?

The .327 Federal ballistics are nothing to sneeze at.

In recent years there are outdoor adventurer gun writers who expound the 32 calibers as carry guns in areas where bears are not a likely problem to need a larger caliber for.

Most places I hike and camp there are bears, but they stay away or are met very infrequently.

All depends on your needs and situation on a case by case basis.

Finding the .327 Speer 115gr. Gold Dot is a large problem.

Oh,well. I'll just keep looking.

 

[Boberama]

I've never tried one, but I would certainly like to. A 115 grain Gold Dot at 1300 fps is no laughing matter from a small revolver.

For comparison, in Shooting Illustrated they found that a 125 grain Remington JHP from a 2 inch SP101 was still going at 1357 fps. I believe they made a typo and meant to put 1257 fps, because I have looked at many snubbie 357 velocities and have never seen one that high.

Landric at DefensiveCarry Concealed recorded velocities from a 2-1/4" SP101:

Federal Classic 125 gr JHP = 1293 fps average
Speer Gold Dot 125 gr JHP = 1242 fps average



So here's how it stacks up in velocity and energy:
2 inchers:
SP101 357 Magnum 125 gr Federal Classic JHP: 1293 fps and 464 ft-lbs
SP101 357 Magnum 125 gr Speer Gold Dot JHP: 1242 fps and 428 ft-lbs
SP101 357 Magnum 125 gr Remington JHP: 1257 fps and 439 ft-lbs

3 inchers:
SP101 327 Federal 85 gr American Eagle JHP: 1375 fps and 357 ft-lbs
SP101 327 Federal 85 gr Federal Hydra-Shock JHP: 1463 fps and 404 ft-lbs
SP101 327 Federal 115 gr Speer Gold Dot JHP: 1316 fps and 442 ft-lbs

That's what I found. It seems like a pretty good cartridge to me. I'd pick one up if ammo were available. I'd also use the 115 grain ammo, it has great penetration ( 15 inches in jello ).

BTW...
115 gr in .312 cal = 241 gr in .45 cal and 149 gr in 9mm and 189 gr in .40.
85 gr in .312 cal = 178 gr in .45 cal and 110 gr in 9mm and 140 gr in .40.

 

[ahpd1992]

I would like to see Taurus play around some more like say a Tracker in 7 or 8 shot. MB a Raging Bull 9 or 10 shot 6 or 4" barrell...my Taurus snubby is a blast to shoot and has a lot of my fellow officers looking into this caliber.

BTW I MB Im lucky but all of my LGS's have 327 in all 3 varities, including the speer gold dot 115gr, my personal favorite...