A Quick Review of the Taurus .327 Magnum Revolver

The Taurus 327 is a small frame revolver that holds six rounds of .327 caliber ammunition, and is also compatible with .32 Magnum, .32 Smith & Wesson Special, .32 Smith & Wesson, and even .32 ACP ammunition. A friend brought one of these to the range recently, and I was immediately taken with its feel in my hand and the accuracy it displayed with the .32 Magnum ammunition my friend was shooting. I liked it so much I went out and bought one at the next gun show.

I had a pretty good idea of the potential of the .327 Magnum cartridge before I bought the gun, but my subsequent investigation of its ballistics has led me to conclude that it is a nearly ideal cartridge for self defense, with considerably more power and penetration than the .38 Special +P, but less recoil and potentially better penetration than the .357 Magnum. The multiplicity of compatible ammunition makes any gun chambered for the .327 uniquely versatile. If recoil is too great with .327 cartridges, .32 Magnum can be used instead; and .32 S&W Special can be used for plinking or target practice.

Out of the box, the Taurus 327 had a double-action trigger pull of about 15 pounds, but this went down to 14 pounds with a modicum of dry firing. I used a hard stone to put a very tiny bevel on the cylinder stop, where the trigger activates it, and also took the sharp edges off the main spring center pin, then I used a belt sander to take about 20% off the diameter of the mainspring. (Do not do any of this, if you have no experience with tuning revolvers.) This reduced the double action trigger pull to a very workable 12 pounds. I have not bothered to measure the single action trigger pull, as this is a defensive revolver that I do not shoot in single action mode.

The grip is interesting. It is a single piece of checked hard rubber that fits over the grip frame, held in place with a rolled pin at the bottom. It is ergonomically molded to fit a medium-to-small hand. A friend with large hands found the entire gun too small; his little finger did not fit on the grip and the reach to the trigger was too short. The grip swells out slightly on either side, making the front finger grooves seem to extend around both sides. The grip also features a small thumb rest on both sides, and raised bumps on the backstrap. The rubber is hard enough that I found it not much better at absorbing recoil than a wooden grip when shooting magnum loads, and the bumps on the backstrap leave their impression in the palm of my hand under recoil. But, again, this is a defensive revolver. In an emergency situation, with adrenaline flowing, I doubt I would even notice the recoil.

The finish is matte stainless. I could wish the finish were a little less rough, because powder residue embeds itself and is difficult to remove. The gun is also available in a flat black finish which I might prefer. I like three inch barrels for their greater accuracy and better ballistics, but the two inch barrel is certainly concealable and is slightly more comfortable to carry. I typically carry the Taurus 327 in an inside-the-waistband crossdraw holster or, for the winter, in a belly band holster, and I also have a nice De Santis shoulder holster that is comfortable for this gun.

I measure the Taurus 327 at about 6-3/8 inches long. It weighs 22.85 ounces (648 grams) empty, and 25.25 ounces (716 grams) loaded with six 100 grain .327 cartridges. The only external changes I made to the gun were to add some bright green paint on the front sight and some skateboard tape in front of the trigger guard.

I have not had any difficulty finding ammunition. There are a lot more options than only a few years ago. I ran some ballistic tests with the Taurus, and will also include some earlier tests I ran with a Smith & Wesson 632, for comparison.

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