Overpressure factory Federal 327 FM in LCR and Blackhawk

[Fergie]

Good morning all,

I need some advice and wisdom on an issue I had yesterday. Was out shooting with my son(first foray into skeet and he is a natural at it!) and I brought along a new to me Ruger LCR in 327FM and my Blackhawk in the same. Having shot a friends 357 LCR several years ago, I decided to try the full-house loads first, and used 6 rounds from a new box of Federal American Eagle 100gr JSP. Definitely some kick, but nothing unexpected. Went to empty the cases from the cylinder and they wouldn't budge. Had to tap all 6 out w a brass cleaning rod and some force.

Thought maybe it was an issue w the LCR, so loaded up 8 rounds from the same box in the BH, and couldn't get the cases out either, so pulled the cylinder and tapped them out. Shot some of my 32 H&R handholds without issue in both pistols.

In looking at the case, it appears to me that all the primers are flat, what is your assessment from the pics?




And in looking at the cases, the portion nearest the primer is definitely bulged out.



This is the factory round:


I pulled the bullets on several rounds and all weighed in at about 100.5gr, give or take a tenth.

This is the powder, weighing in a 5.5gr each, almost no deviation:


When I bought the LCR, I got several boxes of this Federal American Eagle included, as well as some Buffalo Bore and other brands, all new boxes from the same store I bought the gun from, no reloads(the LGS won't resell reloads, obviously).

Is it possible that the factory ammo is over-pressure for the round, or could this be more of a case issue? I also inspected every shot case and none had splits.

I'd appreciate any insight y'all have.

Thanks
Gavin

[HumptyDumpty]

Hmm. I have shots a couple boxes of that same ammo over the years, and did not experience this. I'd recommend contacting Larry Gibson on this board. He does a great deal of pressure testing, and may be able to help you.

[Delkal]

The 327 FM is a high pressure cartridge so I am not sure what you can tell by the primers. But having them jam up in two different revolvers is definitely a problem. Contact Federal with the lot numbers.

Also try the other brands to see if they stick.

[Fergie]

The 327 FM is a high pressure cartridge so I am not sure what you can tell by the primers. But having them jam up in two different revolvers is definitely a problem. Contact Federal with the lot numbers.

Also try the other brands to see if they stick.

Good call on getting ahold of Federal directly; I'll give that a try this week.

This was the first time shooting the LCR, but w the BH, I've had every brand and bullet weight I can find through it, and 9 total different handload combos through it as well, with no issues whatsoever.

I grabbed a box of handload 327 brass and the primers all looked good. Load was 4.0gr of BE w a 100gr LRNFP.

I just realized that the thread from Green Frog was addressing inconsistencies in Federal American Eagle brass, right below this thread.