Originally Posted by
Salamander
I was initially intrigued by 327, maybe would still be interested if I lived in a place without large animal predators. Ultimately I've decided to focus elsewhere. My intent was never for a car gun, that niche is filled by other things for me, so this may not help much for your intended role. I'll put my thought process out there anyway in case it benefits anyone in the community.
The attractions include the sixth round in a smaller revolver, in my case with a 3-inch SP-101; and the ability to use 327FM, 32 H&R magnum, 32 Long, 32 short, allegedly even 32 acp although that's the only one I've never actually tested.
Of those, my preference for day to day carry would have been 32 H&R magnum. Even in a steel SP101 I find 327 FM to be unpleasant, it's a high-pressure load with a great deal of blast out of that modest barrel length. At the range, the blast is readily visible. At night I expect it would look like a blinding flamethrower. I actually much prefer to shoot a mid-range 357 load over 327. On the other hand, 32 H&R is much more mainstream on recoil and blast, feels more like a 38 +p. 32 Long is great at the target range or for plinking, low recoil and pretty accurate in my gun. Personally, I would use 327 FM only for backcountry or wherever non-human threats are the risk factor.
The downside of that four or maybe five caliber versatility: Each one shoots to a different POA/POI, sometimes considerably so.
There's also almost no real world data on effectiveness, at least that I've been able to find. In this case I'd rather not be a beta tester.
As stated above, I could have dealt with all that if I still lived east of the Rockies. It would make a great camp or hiking gun in much of the east. However I use other things in town, and have pretty much gone to a USP45 for backcountry carry and have a couple of big bore N-frames as options.
So moving away from 327 and variants is more about my personal needs/preferences plus the ongoing effort to keep the number of calibers to a practical level. I reload for 9, 38/357, and 45acp on a regular basis and occasionally for 44mag and 45 Colt, so didn't really need one more. Also I don't shoot the SP101 as well as some alternatives, and have pretty much decided to standardize on pre-lock S&W for anything revolver. Thus my 327 SP101 is currently for sale.
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. Snarky and easily butt hurt. Favorite animal is the Cape Buffalo....likely indicative of a personality disorder.