.327 Federal Magnum vs .357 Magnum: Is the Extra Round Worth It?

The sixth chamber

Every small-frame .357 owner has done the same mental math: five rounds. Not six, like the bigger revolvers. Five. For a lot of people that number is fine. For some, it is the thing that keeps them carrying a pistol instead.

The .327 Federal Magnum was built to answer exactly that complaint. Federal introduced it in 2007, working with Ruger, and the SP101 was the launch platform. The idea was simple: a cartridge with magnum-class performance in a case slim enough that a compact revolver could hold six of them.

So does that extra round justify a less common cartridge? That depends on what you value more, capacity in a small gun or the convenience of the most popular revolver round in America.

The cartridges in plain numbers

Here is how the two compare on paper, using published specifications.

That pressure figure surprises people. The .327 runs at a higher maximum pressure than the .357, which is how a smaller bullet gets driven fast. But pressure is not the same as recoil or power, and the .357 still throws a bigger, heavier bullet.

Capacity: same frame, one more round

This is the whole reason the .327 exists. A narrower case means chambers can sit closer together around the cylinder, so six fit where five .357s would.

• Ruger SP101: six rounds in .327 Federal versus five in .357 Magnum.
• Ruger LCR: offered as a six-shot in .327, versus five in .357.
• Ruger GP100: a seven-shot in .327, one more than the common six-shot .357.
• Ruger Blackhawk: an eight-shot single-action in .327.

In a compact carry gun, going from five to six is a 20 percent increase without changing the size of the gun in your pocket or holster. That is real. It is also still a revolver: you reload six at a time instead of five, and speedloaders for .327 are less common than for .357.

The everyday Taurus option is a good illustration of the idea in a budget package:

Recoil and control

Recoil is where the .327 earns its fans. Published calculations put a 115-grain .327 load at about 5.6 foot-pounds of recoil energy against about 7.2 for a 125-grain .357 Magnum load. That gap is noticeable in a two-pound-or-lighter revolver, where full-power .357 is famously sharp.

That said, the .327 is not gentle. It is loud, with a lot of muzzle blast from short barrels, and it kicks more than the .32 H&R it grew from. Think of it as a step down from full-house .357, not a step down to .22.

Here is the bigger point. Most people who shoot a .357 snub well practice with .38 Special and carry something milder than full-power magnum loads. Our LCR .357 vs LCR .38 comparison gets into that. Once you compare .327 to the .38 Special +P loads many snub owners actually carry, the recoil advantage narrows.

What the bullet is doing

The .327 gets its performance from speed. Published ballistics figures from a 3-inch SP101 show 100-grain hollow points at around 1,400 feet per second. The .357 Magnum works with heavier bullets, commonly 125 to 158 grains for defensive and general use and heavier for hunting.

In practice that means:

• The .327 shoots flatter at handgun distances and carries plenty of energy for its size.
• The .357 offers more bullet: more weight, more diameter, and a much wider menu of loads designed for specific jobs.
• Short barrels cost both cartridges velocity. Magnum cartridges lose a meaningful amount of their speed from 2-inch barrels, so published figures from longer barrels overstate what a snub delivers.

We are not going to pretend one is a magic choice for defense. Both are serious cartridges. Shot placement, practice and a load that functions reliably in your gun matter more than the 45-thousandths difference in bullet diameter.

Ammo: the real tiebreaker

This is where the .357 runs away with it.

At the time of writing, Ammunition Depot's .327 Federal Magnum category listed nine products. Its .357 Magnum category listed 77, and the .38 Special category another 80, all of which a .357 revolver can shoot. Those counts move week to week, but the ratio tells the story.

That gap shows up everywhere:

• Practice cost. .38 Special is usually one of the more affordable centerfire revolver rounds. The .32 cartridges a .327 can use are often harder to find.
• Load choice. If your .327 does not like a particular load, you have fewer alternatives to try.
• Away from home. A small-town store is far more likely to have .38 or .357 on the shelf.

Which guns to look at

Chamberings come and go, so check each maker's current catalog. The cartridge has been offered by Ruger (SP101, LCR, LCRx, GP100, Blackhawk and Single-Seven), Charter Arms, Freedom Arms and Taurus, and Henry chambers it in lever-action rifles.

On the .357 side, the choices are endless. The SP101 is the most direct comparison, because the same frame comes in both chamberings:

Our Ruger double-action lineup guide covers how the SP101 fits against the GP100 and Super Redhawk.

Who should pick which

Pick the .327 Federal if

• Capacity in a compact revolver is your top priority.
• You find full-power .357 in a small gun too much to control well.
• You are happy to buy ammunition ahead of time and keep a supply.
• You like a cartridge that can be loaded down to gentle .32 S&W Long for practice, if your gun is rated for it.

Pick the .357 Magnum if

• You want ammunition you can buy almost anywhere.
• You plan to practice mostly with .38 Special.
• You want the widest choice of bullets, from wadcutters to heavy hunting loads.
• You value resale value and the deepest holster and speedloader support.

Editorial note: This is an independent editorial overview built from manufacturer specifications, retailer listings and published sources. We have not performed hands-on testing of the products discussed, and nothing here is a performance guarantee. Verify specifications, compatibility and the law where you live.

Affiliate disclosure: Some links on this page are affiliate links to Ammunition Depot. We may earn a commission if you buy through them, at no extra cost to you. Our editorial choices are not influenced by commissions. Check current price, stock and specifications directly with the retailer.