Important information on the Ruger SP101 327 Federal.

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RugerRover

Bearcat
Joined
Dec 28, 2008
Messages
42
Location
Virginia, USA
A follow-up to the SP101 story in .327 Fed Mag. A recent email to Ruger resulted in them telling me they have no plans to reintroduce it... but...

The .327 Fed Mag lives on, in the new (July 2014) Ruger Single-Six 7 shot .327 Fed Mag revolver (with three barrel lengths available). Model numbers are 8160, 8161, and 8162. It is a Lipsey's exclusive... I think this will be a great size revolver...

I just bought a used Ruger SP101 in .32 H&R Magnum, with the intention of having Hamilton Bowen ream the cylinder 1/10th inch to accommodate the .327 Federal Magnum. Now I think I will keep it stock... enjoy the .32 H&R Magnum (which can be pushed to .327 Fed Mag limits, albeit in a smaller case, in a stout revolver like the SP101) for what it is.
 

ArLEOret

Bearcat
Joined
Nov 28, 2012
Messages
11
Location
Arkansas
I am new to this problem. I have the SP101 in 327 mag, serial nbr 574-066XX. Do I have a problem? I have never fired this thing and it's been under the sofa in the living room in a self defense mode. What should I do?
 

mohavesam

Hawkeye
Joined
Jan 4, 2004
Messages
5,847
Location
Rugerville, AZ
If you never fire it, what problem could you have?

The purported issue was with the very early production runs having non-polished chambers, causing sticky extraction. Never had the issue myself with four SP101s and a couple GPs.
 

Joseywales

Bearcat
Joined
Dec 8, 2004
Messages
70
Location
PA
Put aside for a minute that defending one's self successfully depends largely on muscle memory, let's look at the gun itself.

Some folks think new guns, especially revolvers, are trouble-free. I bought a custom Ruger from a nationally renowned SA gunsmith. Paid nearly 3 times retail for it, as a treat for my birthday. I couldn't get 6 rounds to fire out of that thing. I won't get into the details and why I would never use him again, but the "custom" ejector rod was not fitted properly and the cylinder wouldn't cycle. So, he took a perfectly good Ruger, "broke" it and charged extra for it. Custom smiths don't always work on EVERY gun their company puts out, but quality control at any company can fail.

Fire the damn gun...
 

RugerRover

Bearcat
Joined
Dec 28, 2008
Messages
42
Location
Virginia, USA
I'm going to post an item over on the regular Ruger Revolver post, to see if I can get a discussion started, although it pertains to the .327 Fed Mag Ruger SP101. I am noting this here to document the post on the .327 SP101 Federal topic, for the record.

Here is the post:

Is there any chance for Ruger to bring back the SP101 in .32 H&R Magnum and/or .327 Fed Mag? I previously owned a SP101 in .327 and currently own one in .32 H&R Magnum. What a great revolver! Six rounds, great sights (adjustable rear sight) and perfectly balanced in the 3" version. I think the SP101 would sell in either cartridge but from a production perspective, Ruger could make both with essentially the same pieces -- only the model in .327 would have a cylinder bored out an extra 1/10th of an inch. Judging by the prices the SP101 commands in .327 Fed Mag, if you can find one, there is real demand out there. In either cartridge, this makes a great kit gun. It can be a legit self-defense round with some of the better .32 H&R ammo (think Buffalo Bore) and of course in .327 Fed Mag it readily exceeds the .38 +P in energy. I know the .327 Fed Mag is loud, and has quite a muzzle flash, but what a great round!

Has anyone heard about Ruger bringing back the .327 Fed Mag in the SP101? It would make a great companion to the Single Seven... for those who want a nice plinker with some self-defense capability, the .32 H&R SP101 could be offered as well. I'd buy a SP101 in .327 Fed Mag, at retail SP101 prices (~$500) in a heartbeat!
 

Hunter6657

Single-Sixer
Joined
Jun 13, 2002
Messages
145
Location
Denham Springs, LA.
The 327 wasn't a hot seller and most manufacturers dumped it after sales lagged. Of course like everything Ruger makes and then discontinues, they become the new hot collectable and prices go up. Unless Lipseys or Davidsons, etc. contract for run on them like they commissioned the Single 7, I doubt Ruger will ever bring them back.
You'll have to come up with some more scratch to get one the "collector's" editions if you really want one.
 

RugerRover

Bearcat
Joined
Dec 28, 2008
Messages
42
Location
Virginia, USA
There's a nice looking SP101 in .327 Fed Mag on GunBroker.com this week -- with a "buy now" price of $1,395.00!!!

I can't blame the seller for asking for that much, but I won't pay that sort of price.

I really like my SP101 in .32 H&R magnum and my GP100 in .327 Fed Mag. I'd buy a new SP101 in .327 Fed Mag immediately! I love the cartridge -- it is fun to reload for -- and has true self-defense capability.
 

noahmercy

Blackhawk
Joined
Jun 13, 2015
Messages
741
Location
Sheridan, WY
Had to send mine back...first Ruger out of thirty-seven that needed work! Two of the chambers were out of spec (oversized). It appeared they were fired, so I suspect the proof loads overstressed the cylinder. When I got the gun back, not only did it have a new cylinder with very uniform chambers, they had also smoothed up the action. The DA pull had zero hitches, no grittiness, and it was about three pounds lighter than when I shipped it off. The gun is marvelously accurate, and I often shoot it with 32 S&W Longs instead of shooting my rimfires since I can reload for it for less money! A hand-cast wheelweight bullet + a pinch of Titegroup = about $4.50 per hundred. :wink:
 

RugerRover

Bearcat
Joined
Dec 28, 2008
Messages
42
Location
Virginia, USA
noahmercy said:
Applegater said:
Had to send in my new SP101, had problems with sticking spent catridges. Have been using American Eagle 100 gr. They initially test fired with Speer Gold Dot and found nothing wrong. Had them use American Eagle and apparently also didn't have a problem. They are sending it back, saying cylinder within their design limits. Will take it range and go from there.

My problems also occurred while using the American Eagle. It was a very early production run of this ammo, and seemed incredibly hot. I actually sent some cartridges to Ruger as well as the lot number of the ammo. Also, I marked the chambers that were causing the problems and mic'ed the fired cases so I could provide them with the actual dimensional differences of the two "bad" chambers. BTW, I determined which two were oversized by pushing the spent cases out with a wood dowel...there were two chambers that consistently required a small hammer blow to clear! If you continue to have problems, try a different lot of ammunition and if that doesn't resolve the issue, document and provide evidence. Unfortunately, that is what is sometimes required for a gunmaker to step up and fix a manufacturing problem.

For the situation described above, I would consider polishing out the inside of the cylinder walls.
 

jbart999

Bearcat
Joined
Jun 11, 2016
Messages
4
I had extraction problems with my SP101 357. Ruger fixed it. Then I saw a tv show featuring an LCR in 9mm. It seemed interesting until I watched a video saying that a simple recoil could cause an unfired 9mm bullet to separate from the casing. Now here we have a 327 problem with a Ruger. It seems like Ruger is not the manufacturer they used to be. What is going on?
 

Cordite

Single-Sixer
Joined
Jan 22, 2009
Messages
256
Location
Southeastern Michigan
The bullet walking out under recoil tends to come up in ammo that is taper crimped (head spaced on the case mouth) like 9x19 Parabellum and fired in a lightweight handgun. The recoil impulse is sharper causing the bullet inertia to overcome the friction of the taper crimp. Same thing happens when using an inertia type bullet puller. Ammo that has significant recoil is generally roll crimped into a cannelure on the bullet which minimizes this effect.

I have several revolvers in 327 Fed Mag and i have never had the issue of the bullet walking out under recoil.

Cordite
 

JStacy

Blackhawk
Joined
May 6, 2016
Messages
503
Location
south Texas
I am considering one of the SP101 327;s 4" AS models. Has the problem with the cylinders been fixed on current models ?
I have a GP 100 in 327 and have not experienced any of the cylinder problems reported about the SP101 327 ammo and cylinders.
And yes I agree the Federal factory ammo is HOT !!! The 100 SP at 1500 out of the 4" barrel is smoking. The rounds sounds like a full 357 load but little recoil.
Just wondering about the reported SP101327 problems before I order one? :?
 

JStacy

Blackhawk
Joined
May 6, 2016
Messages
503
Location
south Texas
Well I bought a 327 SP101 and all of the chamber and chamber mouth measurements are what you would expect for this caliber. The BCG is approximately .002 with no end shake and gun is well finished .Have not had a chance to shoot it yet but I will report problems if I have any.
Gun shoots well and quite accurate with moderate velocity cast bullet loads. Nice gun no problems.
 

bearmn56

Bearcat
Joined
Oct 10, 2017
Messages
12
Bought a SP101 4.2" AS in .327 Federal a few months ago. It had a gritty double action and a decent single action. Some cylinder sticking with full power loads. I disassembled it and cleaned all the internal parts and polished and removed burrs from some. The MIM hammer when out of the frame looked like it came out of a cap pistol like I had when I was a kid. Casting marks everywhere on the hammer and a somewhat rough surface on the MIM trigger where it contacted the hammer dog. This particular gun has a hitch in the double action that has remained. Sent Ruger an e-mail and they said I could send it back if I wanted and they would look at it. I have decided to keep it for now. I hand load and by backing down on some of the hotter loads the extraction problem is tolerable. As another poster noted: Ruger ain't what it used to be...period. I just bought one of the new GP100 3" 44 Special SS. This revolver has extraction problems. In good light, one can see roughness in the chambers where the mouth of the case rests. It appears to be a little oversized there. My point is that Ruger has let their quality control slide...a lot. As another poster pointed out the bean counters sometimes are running the show. Turn out as much product as one can during periods of high demand with speeded up production and minimal quality control...AND THEN...only address problem products when people complain. Bottom line first...reputation be damned!! Incidentally, I have an early GP100 4" in 327 Federal and an early SP101 4" in 32 H&R Mag...these 20 year old Ruger revolvers are true gems...Great shooters in every way with no glitches or hitches....
 

teuthis

Single-Sixer
Joined
Dec 16, 2008
Messages
168
Location
Wisconsin
My new SP-101 4.2" bbl in .327 Mag works flawlessly. The trigger stages well and it is accurate. Using American Eagle and Buffalo Bore rounds I have no extraction issues. It is the revolver I have been looking for in the right caliber for me. I'm lucky I guess. Everything I have purchased from Ruger in the past few years has been excellent.
 

Mania

Bearcat
Joined
Nov 16, 2017
Messages
10
Location
USA, Florida
I have only shot factory Federal 110gr 327 bullets through the revolver.

Based on what the revolver is doing, it seems that Ruger did not size all of the chambers the same...It appears that 1 chamber is sized correctly, 2 chambers are slightly oversized, and 3 chambers are grossly oversized
 

RugerRover

Bearcat
Joined
Dec 28, 2008
Messages
42
Location
Virginia, USA
The most important information on the SP101 .327 Federal is... the return of the SP101 .327 Federal with the 3 inch barrel!

Model 5784 brings back the discontinued 3 inch barrel that was introduced as the first SP101 in .327 Federal in 2008.

http://www.ruger.com/products/sp101/specSheets/5784.html

Model 5784 differs from the original 3" SP101 in .327 Federal by having a fixed rear sight, whereas the original 3" SP101 in .327 had an adjustable rear sight. The 5784 has rubber grips with wooden insert panels.

Admittedly, the SP101 .327 with the 4.2 inch barrel provides better ballistics, and perhaps a touch more accuracy (from a longer sight plane), but the 3" revolver is an aesthetic delight -- nice balance, good handling, and looks great.

.327 Federal is a great round for plinking, and it has some serious self-defense capability (reputedly approaching the .357 Magnum). It is also a lot of fun to reload. In fact, if you reload .327 (or .32 H&R Magnum) you can reduce your ammunition costs significantly, bringing the expense well under the cost of purchasing factory 9mm ammo. Hornady still makes .312 bullets (85 grain and 100 grain) for the .327 hand loader, and several companies sell .313 lead, plated, or coated bullets for this caliber.

The 5784 lists for $749 MSRP, but I see one of the major internet vendors (Bud's) has them for sale for $543 (with free shipping) and GrabaGun has them for $509 (plus $7.99 shipping). Others will have them at competitive prices too.
 

Armybrat

Buckeye
Joined
Feb 22, 2007
Messages
1,525
Location
Round Rock, Texas
I put one of the new 3" SP101 6 shot revolvers in .327 Federal on layaway at GrabaGun the first week of December. It was $509 plus the shipping. About two weeks later they lowered the price to $499. :?
Will liberate it in two more weeks when we are visiting relatives in Dallas. Now to find a decent OWB holster.

5784.jpg


Hope the fit & finish is up to the standards of my 1993 production SP .357. That one is a flawless gun.

Last month I bought 4 boxes of AE 100 grain soft point & 4 boxes of the 85 grain from GaG - that was before the $5/box cash rebate ran out at the end of the year. (I don't reload)
 

rkcohen

Bearcat
Joined
Nov 4, 2008
Messages
14
sticky extraction can be so many things that you might want to wear a rusty fish hook in your nose instead...

a few years back - brian pearce, one of the gun mag writers described the same thing in one of his big bore rugers - sent it back and all was fine with a new cylinder..

why? because the chambers were slightly "balloon cut" as opposed to "straight cut" thereby allowing the brass to grow enough to cause the problem...

fish hooks anyone?
 
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