.327 mag BP case capacity

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Busyhands94

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Howdy y'all! :) I'm in the process of building a rifle barrel for my .410 that will be chambered for .32 H&R magnum. My reason for doing this is that I want a reloadable substitute for .22LR, by using .32 S&W Longs I reckon she'd make for a nice soft shooter with more punch than a .22. That and if this ammo/component shortage gets really terrible (as if it isn't horrific enough) I can just reload my own primers.

Today while I was grinding away at the barrel for this gun on my lath a thought popped into my head. I figured I could lengthen the chamber and use it sort of like a .32-20 with blackpowder loads. The very thought of that makes me all warm and fuzzy inside! :D

Does anyone know how much BP a .327 Federal case will hold? I'm considering lengthening the chambers and trying this out, it might make for a pretty fun little load with BP and cast boolits. ;)

Thanks! :)
~Levi
 
I have yet to even see any .327 Federal around. And I'd bet you could found .32-20 components more easily. But it should be on par with the 20 grain load of the .32-20 if you wanted a BP version. The case may be a bit bigger but the walls will be thicker too.
 
BH, I have been a fan of the 32H&R since it came out. It was always lacking for some of the uses I thought it would work well in. Some others must have thought the same as shortly after it came out, loads were being developed that showed it's true potential. Most of that info quickly disappeared never to be released again.
In 1997 I thought about and tried to find out what it would take to develop a cartridge a bit longer than the 32H&R. Because of life getting in the way, I dropped the idea.I always figured I would get back to it at another time.
I bet you can imagine my reaction, when on the internet I saw the introduction of the .327 Federal Magnum. It has not been successful and finding brass is looking to be a here and there kind of find. I have to believe it has all been the timing that has put it on the back burner in most peoples desires. Makes me think,what if I followed through back in the late 90's ? Who knows maybe it would have been a better time for it as it would have been marketed differently than a self defense round back then I would think.

Anyway, black powder in the 327 Fed should be a good small game load.Bullet choice in lead is ok for most anything. Brass is around but not easy to come by. I would try Freedom Arms for brass.

I think you can get an insert for the 32H&R for a single shot .410
 
I'm a big fan of the .32-20 but the .327 appeals to me more. The only component different between the two is the cartridge case. The .32-20 is probably more prolific but you'll need more of it because it doesn't last very long. The .327 case would last a very long time at blackpowder pressures. Right now Graf's has Starline .32-20 brass but I'd do whatever I had to to get a couple hundred rounds of .327 brass until Starline does another run. I found Buffalo Bore and Speer .327 ammo in a quick search. Not cheap but neither is .32-20 ammo. You can always fart around with .32H&R in the interim.
 
Straight-walled case ... cast lead bullet... long barrel... this could work really well for possum n such ;)

You may be onto a new thing. I will very much look forward to your results!
 
.327 Fed Mag = 27grs. water.

Tried to find what is listed for 32H&R but came up empty. Are there any other cases that hold an equal amount.
 
Ohoh. Now I found info that says the 357 has 27grs water volume.

In comparison 30 carbine, I found listed at 21grs. from more than one source
 
.30 carbine??
Click to expand...

I'm thinking the rimmed .327 case is probably going to be easier to get working in a single shot break open action than the rimless .30 Carbine, and also allows him to shoot .32 S&W, .32 S&W Long, .32 H&R, in addition to .327.

The semi-rimmed .32 ACP might work in the chamber as well.
 
The .32 is one of the most versatile cartridges ever. Can be loaded from mouse fart to very good self defense.

Sent from my SGH-S959G using Tapatalk 2
 
Looking at drawings for the .327 and .32-20 it's pretty apparent that the .327 is going to be down to around 10 to 12 grains of black powder by the time the bullet seats and compresses it the right amount without bulging the case. The slightly shouldered shape of the .32-20 provides much more room for powder volume by comparison.

Still, that .327 should be more than adequite to take out rabbits and other similar sized small game without the bullets skipping or arcing away to vast and unknowable distances.
 
Howdy guys, sorry I haven't replied since I started this thread, things have been busy and I haven't had the time to go on the computer.

My Rossi .410 makes for a mighty fine critter gun, just with the .410 barrel. But I can stick the 18" rifle barrel in my backpack or in the pickup with some .32 Longs loaded to around 1200-1300 FPS with some Bullseye, that would make for a darn good critter gitter. ;)
Shorts would be even quieter, I bet I could shoot .311 roundballs over tiny charges of green dot or BP from that rifle as a pellet gun substitute! :)

I'm hearing talk of rook rifles, this is essentially what I'm working on building. A rifle that shoots low pressure rimmed revolver cartridges at subsonic velocities. Now, I can't afford a REAL rook rifle in .25-20 or some fancy caliber like that. I'm a clever redneck with tools so I'll just make one myself. :p

I'll put up some pictures of the barrel tonight.
~Levi
 
The barrel is 18 3/4" long, I've still gotta clean it up a bit and weld on the lug but that isn't too huge a task. I reckon in maybe a week or two I should have a long gun that fires small pistol rounds. :)
IMG_0114_zps21fd743d.jpg

The barrel was an AK-47 blank I got from Green Mountain. 1/9" twist, .311 groove diameter. This is going to be more of a carbine, but I've got no complaints about how the ballistics will be. The .327 is a FANTASTIC handgun cartridge, no doubt about it.
IMG_0111_zps1a2dd84a.jpg

I know what you're thinking, YES it's of legal length!
 
MCA makes thee .32 H&R adapters only as small as 20 ga.

.410 adapters are available in .22LR .22WMR, .218 and .22 hornet.

He also makes a .218 to .22LR chamber adapter, but unfortunately the Hornet adaptor can not be made with the firing pin adaptor needed to allow it to use rim fire and so only works in Thompson COntender actions with the selectable firing pin.

If I were a young guy playing around with a lath and barrels I might have been tempted to make a long insert type adapter of ten or more inches to fit in a .410 barrel in .32 H&R. Not sure that there would be enough metal to make me comfortable with .327 pressures though.

If I had three inches of barrel left over form another project I might try to make a 3 inch adaptor for .32 ACP for a .410 barrel.

Of course sights might be an issue.......

Way back in the Russki's are coming/ thermo nuke doom days while still in highschool I dreamed of a survival gun I dubed the "Critter Gitter" (see busyhands every thing new is old again) My plan was to "build" a system consisting of a 12 gauge single shot break action to be carried normally in a package much like the current take down 10/22. It would have a 21 inch barrel with an adjustable choke and a butt cuff. I really wanted to start with a Winchester 37. tangent style basic rifle sights on the barrel, lace on butt cuff. In the carrier would be a .30-30 insert of a length longer than 10 inches, and adapters for .30 carbine, .32 S&W Long (no H&R yet) and .32 ACP and a barrel the same length in .357 Magnum/.38 Special.

Rifled chamber length adaptors in less common pistol calibers and chamber length 20 and .410 shotgun adaptors were also envisioned.

This would have all fit under the passenger side of the 59 Pontiac and given great flexabillity in options for what never happened......

-kBob
 
Kbob, I think it would be pretty easy to make one of those chamber adapters on a lath for a shotgun. :) GM sells 9" lengths of 7.62 barrel, that's close enough to where it could work with a .32 Auto or some of the other .32's. My main concern is if we're talking about getting into the +P category of .327 Federal loads you could have primers rupture on the shotgun firing pin. Not to mention it's got an un-bushed breech face, I wouldn't feel comfortable firing hot .327 loads from it.

They go have barrels for .38/.327, I think a 10" chamber sleeve in 9mm or .357/38 would be VERY useful and not that hard to make at all.

I want one in .45 ACP (shotshell length) for my 12 gauge semi auto, or .38 S&W 10" for my 16 gauge! :D

You've really planted a seed in my mind here Kbob. Those full length adapters are pretty expensive, I know how easy it would be to make one myself.
Look at this, it's $150 for a full length:
http://www.gaugemate.com/purchase/platinum/product/1426-gaugemate-platinum-shotgun-to-pistol-rifle

You can make 2 10" adapters in .45 for $20 apiece with this. That's only a couple hours of lath work.
http://www.gmriflebarrel.com/barrel...nks/45-acp-20-x-1--gunsmith-edition-raw-blank
 
I have used 777 in the 327 FM but do not have my load notes nearby right now to give amounts. I used MBCs 100 grain cowboy #6 and also their 120 grain 32-20 bullet. The 100 worked best, both were a lot of fun to play around with.

I should add the loads I used were shot out of 2" and 4" barreled revolvers.


... I just found my old thread on this topic. With the 100 grain load I listed 11 grains of FFG by weight not volume.
 
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Those sound like some fun revolver loads! :)
I'm tempted to get some more Magtec 98 grain LRN bullets and load those under a compressed load of FFFG in a .327 case. I don't know how fast they'd shoot from an 18" rifle barrel but I bet they'd be pretty useful for use as critter loads. ;)
 
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