Lever actions and single-shot rifles?

http://www.shootingtimes.com/ammunition/st327_110707/

This new (sorta) Federal cartridge looks to me as if might be just dandy for the handloading woods loafer. Chambered in either .308" or .311" groove diameter barels, and shooting about 115 grain cast bullets, either plain-based or gas-checked, I can see all kinds of utility to it.

AS noted in the article linked above, ut would enable a guy to use the .327 Mag, .32 H&R Mag, , . 32 S&W Long, or the plain old .32 S&W interchangeably, if & as desired....

What do you guys think?

You know, I was thinking the exact same thing. It doesn't seem to have gotten a particularly warm welcome from the handgun crowd, but when I heard about it, I automatically pictured a .308-groove barrel in a small framed single shot rifle. Sort of a rimmed-300 whisper. If I'm not mistaken, the whisper shooters have 1 or 2 recipies suitable for short-range deer hunting utilizing somewhat lightly constructed ~125gr. bullets. Reminds me a bit of some of the more capable 30-ish caliber rook/kangaroo rifles.

I think it would be nice in a Ruger #1 or #3.

Guys, it seems to me we could do the same thing with a 32-20 rifle souped up. This of course gives you hoter commercial ammo but if you reload, and I'm sure you do, would there really be anything new here? roger

32 UltraMag

quote:

Originally posted by bartsche:
Guys, it seems to me we could do the same thing with a 32-20 rifle souped up. This of course gives you hoter commercial ammo but if you reload, and I'm sure you do, would there really be anything new here? roger

Hi, Roger. Merry Christmas to you.

There are a few advantages to this round over the .32-20 as I see it. (Not big advantages, but advantages none-the-less.)

!. You can walk into a store (someday in the near future, I hope) and buy factory-loaded, hotter loaded, ammo. Once in a while, that might be handy as heck.

2. You can shoot the much milder .32 S& W in the same gun with no modifications, which can be downright neat for cottontails, that sort of thing, where you might want as much camp meat from the animal as possible.

3. The much stronger brass would be kind of like a ".32-20 Everlasting" case. The .32-20 brass is pretty thin around the mouth and sometimes a bit frail around the primer pocket as well. Mine does last a long time in my Remington M25 carbine, but then I use quite moderate loads in it. With the new round I could use some more potent stuff and still presumably expect quite good case life...

Anyway, I am a long time admirer of the .32-20, so am not bad-mouthing it.

I just see this new .327 Federal as sort of a little bit milder .32 Miller Short, which I know from the schuetzen matches to be a very accurate round, and capable of using all kinds of loads well, from weak to very potent. ...And the .327 Fed Mag will be commercially available, which the Miller Short really isn't.