New 327 Federal 127gr Hammerdown

[megasupermagnum]

I was in the store last week and was surprised to find the 327 federal was fairly well stocked. Still no 100gr American Eagle since that is cheapest, and I'm sure sells right away, but there was 5 other choices there. One of which was 10-15 boxes of the brand new load from Federal, a 127gr hollow point intended for the Henry bigboy rifle. It is advertised online at 1650 fps, but there is no mention of speed at all on the box. It was spendy for sure, but as far as premium hunting ammo goes, not horrible. It was $35 for 20 rounds.

The first thing I noticed was they use nickel plated cases. I don't load nickel cases, but I don't think too many people are going to be shooting a lot of these either. Maybe a nice touch if it helps them run through questionable lever actions. My own Henry is slick as can be, but who knows.

https://i.ibb.co/P4hXmcW/IMG-20220220-181907665.jpg (https://ibb.co/P4hXmcW)

This was probably the hardest bullet I have ever pulled with an inertia puller. I had to wack it hard a whole bunch of times, that bullet has some serious surface area. Like an idiot, I completely forgot to measure the OAL of the bullet. I did measure the powder. It was 11.9gr. The picture makes the powder look odd. It looks very similar to H110, but not quite. It is probably their own custom blend. It is distinct from the powder they use in the American Eagle load, which I have a hunch is 300-MP.

https://i.ibb.co/5rbgGTD/IMG-20220220-182450659.jpg (https://ibb.co/5rbgGTD)

I then poured the powder back in the case. The black line is the powder, so you can see there is a ton of powder compression in this load. These are loaded to a short 1.461" OAL, and that's what I seated the bullet back to. The Hollow point looks reasonably deep.

https://i.ibb.co/f2Q5f39/IMG-20220220-182848899.jpg (https://ibb.co/f2Q5f39)

https://i.ibb.co/7RJVKX6/IMG-20220220-181936316.jpg (https://ibb.co/7RJVKX6)

I had full intentions of shooting these today, but forgot the ammo. At a later date I will try them in My GP100, SP101, and Henry rifle. I ran it in quickloads, and played with it until I got a load to shoot 1650 fps in an 18" barrel. With that load, according to Quickloads, this should be about 1286 fps in a 5" barrel and 1095 fps in a 3" barrel. I'm guessing it is not worth trying in the LCR. I do wonder if this load has any value in the 4.2"-6" barrel revolvers, accuracy, or performance. I hope to test both. I would not doubt this load one bit from a rifle, I'm sure it will do a really good job on deer size game. I do better with cast bullets, but this is an interesting load that may be worth a look. Just eyeballing the hollowpoint, I think it has a good chance of opening up at revolver speeds. It's at least as deep as the 100gr XTP.

[trapper9260]

For how it sounds that for what you think is good for a rifle. It should be good for the heavy build Rugers that you stated and the BH . I know they will work good in my Handi rifle. it have a thick barrel . I had it custom build , that is before Henry came out with their rifle.

[megasupermagnum]

I got to the range today, and things went well. I tested my Henry bigboy carbine wtih 16.5" barrel, Ruger GP100 with 5" barrel, and Ruger SP101 with 3" barrel. It was a little cooler today, around 20F, but the ammo came out of the warm truck, and I shot it immediately. Unfortunately due to the wind, I decided not to shoot groups. I was shooting at a spot on the backstop, and they all seemed to be right where I aimed, so accuracy even with the 3" is adequate at 25 yards. I fired 6 rounds from each gun, chrono at about 12' from the bench. Velocity spreads were very good. The Henry and SP101 had 28 fps ES, and the GP100 had 40 fps ES. Throw out the one odd shot from the GP100, and it was right in with the other two guns. Now onto the average velocities.

Henry Bigboy Carbine 16.5"- 1589 fps

Ruger GP100 5"- 1294 fps

Ruger SP101 3"- 1151 fps

So the rifle came up short of advertised velocity, which is not unusual. It could be the temperature, but both handguns out performed what I expected too. All in all, not too far from what was predicted. If we go back to Quickloads, If I adjust to match what I saw today, they predict a 20" barrel might see 1633 fps. This is not a particularly strong round, but I think it has potential for those who do not cast bullets. There aren't any options for a heavier jacketed bullet, and commercial cast bullets for 32's usually aren't that great either. First and foremost, this seems to be another good choice for hunting bigger game. Up until now, the only real option was Federal 100gr American Eagle. This gives you a second option to choose, and one of the two may shoot better than the other.

At a later date I plan to shoot these into something, possibly even ballistics gel. I'm sure the rifle does good, but I have a feeling the 5" revolver will perform quite well. I'm unsure on the 3".

[35remington]

I don’t doubt it would work fine on close range deer.

Unfortunately many states like my own have energy requirements (in this case 900 ft lbs at 100 yards) and even given the claimed velocity of 1650 this would fall well short of that 900 ft lbs even at the muzzle. Yet 400 ft lbs at fifty yards with a handgun is okay.

I suspect rules were designed to eliminate such as the 30 Carbine from consideration as legal long before someone dreamed up the 327 which is about the same thing with a rim.

[megasupermagnum]

South Dakota has the same idiotic energy requirements, but it is gray. The way it is worded is the "cartridge must be factory rated to produce 1000 ftlb at the muzzle for rifles, or 500 ftlb at the muzzle for handguns". I asked a conservation officer about this, and got a run around answer, but he basically said that it wasn't enforced, but if I were questioned, if I could prove I could meet those requirements with factory ammo, it was ok. As we all know, energy favors lighter bullets. Well a Federal American Eagle 100gr load does something like 2150fps in a rifle, and 1600 fps in a handgun, so that right there meets our requirements.

I don't get it at all. Is a handgun ok or isn't it? Why is the rifle not ok, despite being so much more powerful than the handgun? It's nonsense regulation that needs to be eliminated.

[Dan Cash]

The SD energy reg sounds a lot like the old KY regs from back in the 80s. A .44 Magnum rifle was illegal but a .44 Mag pistol was ok. The Deputy Game Warden for the state actually said that the .44 was marginal in a pistol but would not get any more powerful in a rifle. All govt is full of idiots. Your .327 loads sound a lot like a high velocity .32-20. My .32-20 Marlin carbine has landed one deer with a 105 grain cast bullet. The same load from a 5 inch revolver makes an evil looking wound in coons and porcupines.

[megasupermagnum]

The SD energy reg sounds a lot like the old KY regs from back in the 80s. A .44 Magnum rifle was illegal but a .44 Mag pistol was ok. The Deputy Game Warden for the state actually said that the .44 was marginal in a pistol but would not get any more powerful in a rifle. All govt is full of idiots. Your .327 loads sound a lot like a high velocity .32-20. My .32-20 Marlin carbine has landed one deer with a 105 grain cast bullet. The same load from a 5 inch revolver makes an evil looking wound in coons and porcupines.

My hope is that as more and more states do their research on the expansion of airgun hunting, that they will tame down somewhat. It has worked really well in some states. North Dakota hasn't quite got there. They are kind of reasonable, but it's all over the map. You can shoot a 150gr 35 caliber bullet at 600 fps from an airgun in ND, but a 32 caliber 143 gr bullet at 1250 fps in a 327 federal handgun is no good. You could legally hunt with a 22 hornet rifle, but a 410 or 28 gauge shotgun slug is out of the question. The way it is worded, sabot slugs aren't even legal in ND.

See that's the problem. These antiquated regulations from before anyone was born stay on the books, and they just add more and more. Obviously your laws for shotguns were written when a rifled slug or round ball was all there was. I don't understand why states are so afraid to strip the old regulations that do not apply anymore.

[Green Frog]

When I first got interested in the 327 FM I bought several boxes of the low recoil/high performance hollow points that Federal was selling, and got some fairly impressive results from the get-go. I'm too cheap to shoot up a bunch of them for testing, but I trust my initial impressions.

These newer, hotter rounds are worth looking into. If they are really meant for rifles, I'm a little hesitant to put them through a little revolver, but my Blackhawk ought to love them. I will be watching for them to show up here in Central VA.

Froggie

[cwlongshot]

Good news!!! Hope the bullet
Measures up!! I miss those 115 Gold Dots!! I luckly bough a couple projectile boxes. Still have most of 100 remaining. I was shooting them in 32/20.

CW

CW

[megasupermagnum]

When I first got interested in the 327 FM I bought several boxes of the low recoil/high performance hollow points that Federal was selling, and got some fairly impressive results from the get-go. I'm too cheap to shoot up a bunch of them for testing, but I trust my initial impressions.

These newer, hotter rounds are worth looking into. If they are really meant for rifles, I'm a little hesitant to put them through a little revolver, but my Blackhawk ought to love them. I will be watching for them to show up here in Central VA.

Froggie

No doubt the low recoil rounds work fine, but they aren't new. They used to be called 32 H&R:p. I assume you are reffering to the 85gr Hydra-shok, which is a tiny bit faster, like 50-75 fps faster than the 32 H&R Federal 85gr hollow point with what I assume is the same bullet. The 32 H&R version is often $8-$10 a box of 20 cheaper too, so don't be afraid to give those a try. From what I've seen, the Hornady 80gr FTX is better. I've never seen any test show a hydra-shok in any caliber to be that good.

I do think the lower power rounds might be worth a look in the LCR. I carry mine with the 327 federal Speer Gold Dot. I'd be using the 115gr if I could, but the 100 gr performs very well. I don't remember the exact velocity, but it's up around 1250-1300 fps from my 2" LCR. It is pretty savage to shoot in the LCR, but that's the cost of a weightless pocket gun. Federal did just come out with another full power self-defense round, a 104gr version of their HST. Unlike the hydra-shok, the HST so far has been a fantastic performer across the caliber range.

I did just realize Federal came out with ANOTHER round for 327 federal. Big year for the 327 I guess. It is loaded strong with a 100gr Swift A-frame bullet, intended for hunting. I might have to try those out as well. The American Eagle soft point is fine, but options is always good.

[Green Frog]

What impressed me most about the 327 FM high performance/low recoil round was when I shot one at a water filled plastic Coke bottle (2 liter size) on the ground at about 15 yds, the bottle was thrown into the air with water blowing out everywhere. When I retrieved the near empty bottle, it rattled. Yep, the bullet shed all its energy in that 2 liter bottle, peeled back and expanded to about twice its original diameter, and waited patiently inside what was left of the bottle to be picked up! That convinced me that I could depend on that round as a SD round in my custom S&W Stainless K327. :bigsmyl2:

Froggie

[mobilemail]

I hope to order some hard cast 100gr and 115gr bullets from RimRock soon, and work up some loads for my 4" SP-101 as well as my Henry rifle. Some nicer loads for playtime, and some more energetic loads if IL actually starts letting us use pistol cartridge rifles for deer. (The latest revision I read on this specifies "single shot", which could potentially limit gun and ammo choices considerably...pistol cartridge single shot rifle??? But I digress...)
I have AA#9, Bullseye, CFE Pistol, Titegroup, LilGun and Shooters World CleanShot powders if anyone has covered this ground already. I've been pretty happy with AA#9 performance in .327.

[megasupermagnum]

I hope to order some hard cast 100gr and 115gr bullets from RimRock soon, and work up some loads for my 4" SP-101 as well as my Henry rifle. Some nicer loads for playtime, and some more energetic loads if IL actually starts letting us use pistol cartridge rifles for deer. (The latest revision I read on this specifies "single shot", which could potentially limit gun and ammo choices considerably...pistol cartridge single shot rifle??? But I digress...)
I have AA#9, Bullseye, CFE Pistol, Titegroup, LilGun and Shooters World CleanShot powders if anyone has covered this ground already. I've been pretty happy with AA#9 performance in .327.

Just be aware that if you want to push it, you can get some crazy speeds with a 100-115 grain bullet in 327. Even in your 4.2" barrel, I'd expect over 1500 fps, and I have gone faster. You definitely want to use a gas check if you want to be shooting these lighter bullets. I have had 4 Ruger's in 327, and all of them have .314" throats. That is the size bullet you will likely want. The Henry rifle is the same. Mine I could even use a .315" if I wanted, but a .314" has worked very well. For maximum speed, AA #9 or Lil' Gun will both do it. I'm not familiar with Rimrock beyond their 125gr "keith" they produce for the buffalo bore rounds. I've shot deer with both the GP100 and rifle, but with much heavier bullets, so I can't advise on what would be good on the light end.