Has anybody had any experience with the new .327 Federal Magnum?

[krispos42]

I'm toying with the idea of getting a GP100 in .327 Mag when the finances improve to keep as a bedside gun. I wobble back and forth between the simplicity and reliability of a revolver and the accessorizability (if that's a word) and capacity of a semiauto.



Of course, I've been saying "when the finances improve" for years now... :D


I've never shot a .357 Magnum before. I've shot cowboy .38s out of a Blackhawk, and a 9mm and .45 semiauto and would be interested in hearing how they compare.

[tortoise1956]

1. Me too!

I've been coveting the .327 for more than a year, but I can't find anyone I know who has one. If you hear anything, please let me know.

Advice for a bedside gun: I have a XD40 subbie in my nightstand, but that's because I've shot several thousand rounds and haven't seen it jam yet, other than with some crappy Wolf ammo. However, if I were to do it over I would go with a wheel-gun.

In any event, I DO have the Mossberg 500 standing in a corner too...

[krispos42]

4. Well, I've read the usual tests by magazines about penetration and expansion and such

And of course the ballistics information is readily available. I was wondering if anybody had one, or knew of it being used in an actual fight.

[cliffordu]

2. Indoors you're going to have an issue with the fucking noise.

I prefer a machete. The sight of me naked and lumbering down the hall with 18 inches of REAL SHARP steel is quite a fucking thing.

Acually, I have a knife by Soshui Takeda. hand forged 14 inch blade Akomi 'super steel' made for outside work, sharp enough to shave with, strong enough to chop frozen elk leg bones.

[krispos42]

3. See, now you should have stopped after "inches"

:rofl: :evilgrin:

I'd rather have a bayonet-tipped rifle, frankly, but with the kid in the house that's a no-go. Can't leave loaded rifles around the bedroom, right?

[cliffordu]

5. Fuck. Even centimeters would be an improvement...

:rofl:

[krispos42]

7. Okay, tripod

:P

[one-eyed fat man]

11. Must have been fifty or sixty years ago

But I remember reading about a woman who fled her kitchen and grabbed a Civil war musket that hung over the fireplace to confront an attacker. As he burst through the doorway he impaled himself on the bayonet. It is the only 'civilian' use of a bayonet I ever heard about. Somehow the image of 5 foot of housewife fatally running a foot and half of cold steel on the end of a four-and-a-half of musket through the torso of a 6 foot bad guy pleases me.

[cliffordu]

12. That is a comforting tale...

:rofl:

[tortoise1956]

6. 18 inches is a real BIG f*cking thing,

I may have nightmares tonight...

:wow:

[spin]

16. Soshui Takeda makes some interesting looking blades ...

this video shows one being used to attack vegetables. I love the background music.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDjNtkrA5cY

My Bark River Socom 7 might make a good self defense weapon if I took it out of my knife display case.

[cliffordu]

18. Nice knife!!

This one is just like mine, but smaller.

http://www.arizonacustomknives.com/products/index.php?id=14043

I also have a smaller version, a camp knife...so it's basically a matched set....

I like the real primitive unfinished look to the blades, and the heart and signature that he stamps into the sides.

And Jesus are they sharp.....

And I misspelled his name..

should be "Shosui Takeda"

[spin]

20. The primitive look is what attracted me ...

many knife enthusiasts are not fond of stainless steel and prefer to allow their carbon steel knives develop a good patina.

For the sake of simplicity, we can say that knife blades are made from either stainless steel or carbon steel. The fundamental difference between the two is in the amount of chromium added to the iron-based material -- a steel with at least 13% chromium content generally is considered "stainless."

Carbon steel -- like 1095 and A-2, to name two -- naturally is more prone to something called “oxidation,” the most damaging form of which is rust. Another type of oxidation, the kind that darkens a shiny new knife blade, commonly is called “patina” -- and it’s actually a good thing.

Before the advent of mass-produced stainless-steel knives, virtually all blades were carbon steel. When a knife developed a patina of gray or even black, the change in color simply was an indication of use. Some still consider patina a sign of character – both the tool's and the owner's.
http://www.knivesshipfree.com/ksfinfo/Newsletter/patina.html

Some other pictures of patina:

[cliffordu]

21. I don't have a stainless steel knife anymore...

I have had Chris Reeve's great A2 tool steel knives, OK, some Chromium, but not really stainless....k-bar's, (still got one...) cheap kitchen knives, a custom by a dude who's name I cannot remember that had a handle that was almost flat and curved very gently around the hip where it hit the belt in it's scabbard....back in the early '70's....

And a couple of Randalls, too precious or typical for my blood....give me a stupid K-bar or something forged by a guy somewhere....

I have a cheap assed kitchen paring knife that is difficult to describe, but the way it fits in the hand I would LOVE to have someone make me one for real...won't hold an edge, but I like sharpening my knives, soo......no biggy....

I like knives more than guns.....I'd like to have a full collection of the Takeda knives. I wish the survival knives he makes were full tang....

[spin]

23. I have a Chis Reeve Mountaineer 1 ...

a couple of Benchmade 710 folders, one in M2. A fully serrated Spyderco Endura. And a bunch of fixed blade knives including a ESEE Izula and a RC-3.

Recently I've been acquiring a number of Bark River knives. I like fixed blade knives as they are easier to clean after food prep than a folder. Bark River makes an amazing variety of knives and is known as a semi-custom manufacturer. These knives are convex ground and I sharpen mine on a strop impregnated with abrasive compound. Once I mastered this technique of sharpening, I found it easier than the Spyderco SharpMaker that I had been using on my other blades.

Many of the blades use A2 steel and some are made in stainless like 154cm or 12C27. I carry one as an everyday carry knife and alternate between a Classic Lite Hunter, a Bird and Trout and a Woodland Special.


Classic Lite Hunter

Bird and Trout

Woodland Special

[cliffordu]

24. Nice knives!

[Euromutt]

8. On paper, the .327 Mag looks good

More oomph than a .38 Spl +P, less felt recoil than a .357 Mag, the main question has been whether the market would support it. Nobody wants to buy a gun and then find that no major ammo manufacturer is interested in producing the rounds it fires because there are so few people who would buy it.

In the abstract, a GP100 chambered for .327 Mag should be very controllable, and perfectly reliable. One of my shooting buddies is a rather diminutive lesbian who can fire her GP100 in .357 Mag quite comfortably. Her more gunny partner (who is one of my two best range buddies) has a Ruger Super Redhawk in .44 Mag, which she loads with handloads she gets from her dad in Wyoming, and I've found that surprisingly easy to shoot, at least on single action (albeit shooting one-handed).

[old mark]

9. Mutt, a lot depends on the gun - many people buy the ultra light frame .357 magnum

snubbie revolvers, which are great to carry around, but the light weight makes them extremely difficult to shoot well - I have had much better results with all steel revolvers, the heavier the better for the .357 Mag.

I find a .45 ACP - or a .45 long Colt - much more comfortable to shoot than a .357 magnum, and even the .44 magnum to a degree, especially in a heavy revolver like the Redhawk. Years ago, I used to carry an old S&W Model 29 .44 magnum with a 4" barrel, but now my heavy guns are both .45 ACP pistols, modified 1911 A1's

I have been interested in the .327 too, but I am afraid it will become an orphan soon because of little interest, and I don't want a useless revolver.

mark

[krispos42]

14. Well, it can still shoot .32 H&R mags, which are not weak either.

And the GP100 is all-steel, so punishing recoil shouldn't be a problem. I'm not carrying it, after all!

Although the XD would be a good choice too.

[old mark]

15. The GP 100 is a great revolver and it is one that I would recommend highly!

If you get a 4" version, there would be little problem carrying it in a clip-on ISP holster - the secret to carrying a heavy handgun is to use a good, heavy belt.
My only .357 now is a late 1960's S&W Highway Patrolman-Model 28 - 4.
I have carried one similar to it in the pocket of an old military surplus overcoat.

mark

[spin]

17. The Super Redhawk is a heavy handgun ...

as the 7.50" barrel version tips the scales at 53 ounces.



The 6" Model 629 S&W .44 mag weighs 45 ounces.



The heavier the handgun, the less the recoil. The Ruger is built like a brick shithouse and should easily handle hotter loads than the S&W, however the S&W usually has the better trigger.

[formercia]

10. Just another souped-up 32

Get get it in Nickel with pearl grips, and people will think you're a Pimp.

[cliffordu]

13. Get it in basic black and

everyone will think you're Gladys Night.

[spin]

19. Revolvers make excellent beside guns ...

When you wake up in an emergency situation, the simplicity of a revolver could save your life. You just grab the revolver and pull the trigger and it makes a loud noise. No safeties to worry about, fumble with or forget.

Semi-auto pistols can be ammo sensitive which is why it's recommended that you run 100 rounds though the weapon with no more than one failure to feed before you use that pistol, ammo combination for self defense. Recently manufactured pistols appear to feed ammo more reliably than older pistols, but a failure to feed in an emergency can be tragic.

If you are concerned with the capacity of a revolver, Smith and Wesson makes a 7 shot .357 mag/38special + P revolver called the Model 686 Plus.



And an 8 round revolver in .357 mag/38special + P, the Model 627.



Please remember that a bedside gun is a good idea as long as you have to get up before you grab it. There have been plenty of incidences where a person wakes up during a nightmare, grabs his handgun, and shoots a significant other returning from the bathroom.

[aikoaiko]

26. The S&W Performance Cener 627 is a (obtainable) dream revolver of mine to own.

Thanks for reminding me.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

22. I am big on using standard calibers that are widely available. Call it the Walmart test

If a new round does not catch on, ammo will be hard to find and expensive.

[formercia]

25. In a couple of decades, the ammunition will be worth more than the gun.

Good point about the Walmart test.