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Henry Big Boy 327 Federal Magnum

We finally got a Henry 327 Mag Big Boy. Very pleased with it so far; fit, finish, action smoothness, etc. Just a solid, quality piece from end to end. One of the first things I wanted to find out was the range of what ammunition it would handle. I made up dummy rounds in 32 S&W Long and 327 Federal Magnum and did some basic function testing. I didn't want anything you have to "jiggle" to get to feed, etc; we wanted smooth function from the magazine. The 32 S&W Long wadcutters will not feed from the magazine but a 32 S&W Long with a 95 grain FN bullet, overall length of 1.16" it works great and very smooth. Increasing the length gradually to 1.539" OAL where it started dragging a bit loading. At 1.548", it did not want to lift smoothly. So any load from 1.150" to 1.530" OAL, it feeds perfectly. FYI, every 32 mag I tried worked perfectly as they were all between these two lengths. The two rounds in the picture show the shortest and longest it feeds perfectly.

We then took our GP100 (4.2" barrel), GP on the chart, out to shoot some rounds over the chronograph with the Henry (20" barrel) for comparison. The chart below shows velocity and energy averages for our first samples. We only shot a handful of rounds but it will give you an idea of the performance you can expect. Next week we hope to do some accuracy testing so it will have bigger samples. The 100 grain SP is the standard Federal Factory load. The 113 FPGC is a store-bought cast bullet. The Lyman is self explanatory. The NOE sized at 0.313 is consistently the most accurate bullet out of the GP100 and Blackhawk I have tried so far. It likes some velocity to get the best accuracy. Being a 32 caliber 120 grain bullet it has good sectional density at .176. We will update this when we do some accuracy testing.

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Back when the .327 mag came on the market I was really interested in it but I was swayed away by larger caliber weapons. I am still very interested in this cartridge.

I own two Blue Steel Henrys, One in .22 caliber and one in .357 Magnum.

The .357 will shoot .38 specials but it does not like bullets lighter than 158 grain. I cast a bunch of full wad-cutters in 38 caliber and ran them quite successfully.

Someday I will probably buy a fancy brass Henry with engraving and stuff, in some huge caliber that I won't want to shoot very often. Mine are both terrific and useful guns and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them.
 
I hadn't thought of it as a lever gun cartridge myself but had always wanted the .327 Magnum revolver with five shots in a tiny alloy frame. Sort of a pocket rocket.

I'm at the point where I'm not sure I want to take on another caliber.
 
I had been remembering the 32.20 being a dandy lil grocery getter in a handy lever gun for a long time i met several old timers in upstate NY while stationed at Drum who hunted with them. A bit on the light end but they worked for those guys. I had thought anyone from child to adult could use. The 327 seems to be very similar but being straight wall would shure make reloading for it a whole lot simpler. I think it has a lot of potential upside. Not everyone can or wishes to handle a .444.
 
I have been interested in the 327 since it came out but don't have a gun. I'm not a big fan of the Henry rifles, no reason other then I have several old Winchesters and all the Browning lever guns from the 80's and 90's and love them. I did have a Henry 22 lever gun and it was very smooth and shot very well. Anyway...this lever gun has peeked my intrest so your post caught my eye. I reload the 32 H&R mag and have a Ruger single six in that cal. I have a bag of 327 brass so I'm ready to reload for it. I guess what I'm trying to say is Thanks for the post, I'm that much closer to getting a 327 now.
 
Since I posted this I got a 132 grain gas check bullet mold. It is working so well that I am using it almost exclusively. Works well in the handguns and rifle. It gives the 327 good sectional density numbers so that you have superior penetration up through medium size game or for self defense. Just keep liking this round more and more.
 
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