S&W PC 327.

357MAG
Biggest littlest 8-shot snubbie!

By Frank James

f you are one who appreciates auto-

I mobiles, particularly American auto-

mobiles, at one time or another you
have probably studied or worked with
a small-block Chevy V-8 overhead
valve motor. The most successful of all
the small-block Chevy V-8 motors was
the "327", so named for its cubic inch
displacement. The Smith & Wesson
Performance Center is also building its
own "327", but it's not a small-block
Chevy V-8. Their "327" is built on what
used to be Smith & Wesson's largest The S&W 327 comes from Performance Center,
frame, not their smallest, but like the packing plenty of power for defensive revolver.
Chevy V-8, the S&W PC 327 also has
eight holes and despite its smaller
size, it too, like the Chevy V-8, pro-
duces power aplenty with its .357
Magnum chambering.
The nomenclature of the PC 327 is
derived from the first .357MAG Smith &
Wesson manufactured before World
War Two. Back then it was called the
"Registered Magnum" and during the
1950s this same revolver was renamed
and classified as the Model 27. A well-
regarded revolver, the M27 was big The front sight is installed to the outer
and, more importantly, it was heavy. titanium shroud via a dovetail.
With an empty weight of more than 46
ounces, it was a tiring gun to carry for The 8-shot .357MAG N-frame has
an eight-hour duty shift and even more proven extremely popular in all its vari-
tiring to carry concealed. (True con- The 327 barrel is a two-piece affair and ations, much more so than its counter-
cealed carry was accomplished only consists of a titanium outer shroud part 7-shot L-frame of the same cal-
by large-bodied individuals.) Despite and a stainless steel inner barrel. iber. The difference here is that this
all its faults, the M27 was a fine heavy revolver is intended for self-defense,
revolver and its burdensome weight in the construction of the revolver, not one meant for competition or any
helped when working with the heavy there is more involved in its design other revolver oriented action sport.
charged cast bullet loads that many than meets the eye. The PC M327 is The idea of a large frame self-defense
preferred in the days before advanced not just a lightweight rendition or revolver may seem antiquated or out of
hollow point bullet technology. counterpart to the steel frame original. step with the MTV, computer chip 21 st
The boreline of the barrel relative to century crowd; but the truth is, for
Gun Details the frame opening has been raised many professionals the idea of an
slightly to accommodate the 8-shot enhanced capacity double-action
The PC M327, continuing with the cylinder, but that wasn't the only revolver in .357MAG is not a skewed
"27" model number, however, is not a design change. The back of the cylin- concept. It makes sense for the simple
heavy gun even though it follows the der has been cut for full moonclips and reason; we know the .357MAG works
same N-frame format in terms of over- the charge holes for each chamber as a manstopper. And the double-
all size. It is a relatively light handgun have been chamfered to aid the action, swing-out cylinder revolver
with an empty weight of only 21 reloading process. Even the bolt lock- remains one of our most reliable defen-
ounces. This weight reduction by more ing notches on the outside of the cylin- sive handgun designs.
than half is achieved through use of a der are different from what is usually Naturally, the combination of the
scandium alloy frame, stainless steel seen on a S&W N-frame. They are shal- lightweight components yields a gun
barrel, titanium cylinder, as well as a lower than those found on a 6-shot whose size does not correspond with
titanium shroud that surrounds the steel cylinder, but due to the strength its weight. The PC M327 is the first
stainless steel barrel. Even though of the titanium cylinder there is no time a titanium barrel shroud has been
these space age materials were used reduction ir overall strength. used over the inner barrel. As a point of
70 COMBAT HANDGUNS
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S&W's N-frame 8-shot .357MAGs

have become more popular than their
7-shot L-frame .357MAGs.

fact, it was very recently announced by

the company that all S&W revolvers
would soon feature this two-piece bar-
rel assembly that utilizes an inner bar-
rel and an outer barrel shroud. Plainly,
not all of these guns will use titanium
barrel shrouds, but the overall design
will be quite similar to this
Performance Center product.
As for the .357MAG chambering, Colors: Black, Grey, Navy, Red, Dark Green
Smith & Wesson also announced they
are discontinuing all .357 K-frames.
There are only two in the 2004 cata-
Range Bag
log—the Model 65 and 66, and they Size;
will be replaced by the Model 665 (the 9"Hxll"W
fixed sight version) and 666 (the x26"L
adjustable sight model). Both the
Model 665 and 666 will be built on the
L-frame. While it wasn't explicitly
explained during the announcement,
the wear on the K-frame must still
remain a problem when the design is
fed a heavy diet of full-bore .357MAG
ammo. That shouldn't be the case with
the M327, as it borrows heavily from
the design of the production M329,
which was built for the far more pow-
erful .44 Magnum cartridge. Unlike alu-
minum alloy, the scandium frame does
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COMBAT HANDGUNS 71
FAVORITE
REVOLVERS
slide stop pin hole. To help ensure
longevity with the scandium M327
frame and to prevent cutting of the top
strap, there is a sheet metal shield
positioned above the barrel-cylinder
gap.
The sights on the S&W PC M327 are
minimal and that is as it should be
because this is an up-close-and-per-
sonal revolver. The front sight is 0.26 of
an inch wide and installed to the outer
titanium shroud via a dovetail, while
presenting a bright "blaze" orange
painted ramp to the shooter's eye. The
rear sight is nothing more than the
standard milled u-notch channel milled
into the top of the frame. Obviously,
there is no provision for adjustment.
The firing pin is located in the frame
and is not on the hammer. There is no
front lock-up on the ejector rod and the
overall length of the rod is too short for
full ejection of the fired .357MAG
cases. The stroke of the ejector rod is
even too short for full ejection of fired
.38SPL cases, but unless you let the
cylinder get extremely dirty or you're
shooting really high pressure ammo,
the cases should easily fall free of the
cylinder once the cylinder is opened,
muzzle pointed up in a vertical plane,
and the end of the ejector rod is given
a quick jab to dislodge the spent brass
in the 8-shot cylinder. However, in all
the testing, the factory loads fell easily
from the cylinder when the chambers
were clean. That may not always be
the case when the full moon clips are
used with .357MAG, but unfortunately
the full moon clips that are supposed
to be provided with the M327 were not
in the Performance Center padded
case, so no testing was performed
with them.
There is a front "locking" point, if
you want to use that term loosely, in
that the front of the yoke features the
now often seen Performance Center
ball-detent that engages a corre-
sponding V-shaped recess in the rear
portion of the titanium shroud. The
frame features the standard S&W
frame mounted internal locking system
that must be activated through use of
a key (two are provided) and it is locat-
ed just above the cylinder latch.
The hammer spur has a teardrop
shape, is relatively short in length and
features the anticipated course check-
ering on its top. The trigger is fitted
with an overtravel stop and comes
from the box with the outside edges
well curved for improved shooter com-
fort and control. The double-action
trigger pull measured between 11 to 12
pounds in pull weight, while the single-
72 COMBAT HANDGUNS
Performance: Smith & Wesson Performance Center 327 .357 Magnum
Load
Remington 125 JHP
Hornady125JHP
Black Hills 1 58 JHP
Remington 158 JHP
Remington 180 JHP
Winchester 180 SXT-HP
Bullet weight measured in grains, velocity and ES (extreme spread] in feet per second (fps),
accuracy in inches for best 7-shot (* 8-shot) groups from 50 feet.
The cylinder release latch is located
on the left side of the frame and just
above it can be found the 'key' oper-
ated internal trigger locking system.
The trigger on the M327 is fitted with
an overtravel stop and comes with the
outside edges well curved for
improved shooter comfort and control.
action trigger pull broke more consis-
tently at exactly 4 pounds.
Range Time
Working with the S&W PC M327 on
the square range is not an unpleasant
experience, although it does produce
enough power, muzzle bark and recoil
to remind you it's not a docile pussy-
cat. Like a well-tuned small-block
Chevy dragster, this revolver likes to
"git it on." The revolver comes
equipped with Ahrends finger-groove
cocobolo round butt wood grips.
Although they are attractive in appear-
ance, in truth they are probably not the
best choice for a long-range session. I
used a BlackHawk tactical shooting
glove throughout my range sessions
simply to reduce the abuse my shoot-
ing hand received from stout loads
over a long range session. If you don't
substitute some sort of synthetic cush-
Velocity ES Accuracy
1223 59 2.75*
1206 51 3.50
1041 33 3.50
1069 80 2.75*
983 55 3.25
1025 31 3.00
The back of the grip frame is smooth,
and a cross-pin for a lanyard.
ion-style grip for these wood grips, I
would recommend a similar product
for the firing hand to make your range
session more pleasant.
Having said that, these grips work
well in the concealed carry mode
because they help reduce the profile
and the bulk of this somewhat large
gun. The roundbutt frame of the M327
features a small crosspin in a recess at
the heel of the frame for attachment of
a snap-in lanyard. If you are a camper
and sleep in a mummy bag in wild
places, I recommend the use of a lan-
yard and tying it to your strong hand
wrist. The big concern, however, is
loss of this small crosspin if you
remove the wood grips, as it falls easi-
ly from the frame once a grip half is
removed and the gun turned on its
side. It is a small pin and can be diffi-
cult to locate if dropped on a living
room carpet, so please take heed.
The M327 is too large for most con-
cealed carry pocket applications and,
due to the short barrel, a holster isn't
really necessary. A good belt slide with
a retention strap like those offered by
Uncle Mike's worked well for my pur-
poses at the range and under a sport
coat.
 Specifications:
Smith & Wesson
BIG STATE DISTRIBUTORS, INC.
Performance Center 327 FACTORY CLOCK PARTS
Caliber: .357 Magnum
Barrel: 2 inches, shrouded sleeve PEARCE GRIP EXTENSIONS
OA Length: 7 inches
Weight: 21 ounces
Grips: Ahrends fingergroove round HOGUE GRIPS
butt wood
Sights: Dovetail .260" orange ramp DECAL GRIPS
front, U-notch rear
Action: DA/SA
Features: PC gun rug, 2 full moon NIGHT SIGHTS
clips, ball detent lock-up, cham-
fered charge holes CLOCK KNIVES & E-TOOLS
Frame: Scandium N-frame,
titanium cylinder and barrel shroud HIGH-CAPACITY MAGS
Safeties: Frame mounted firing
mechanism lock, key operated TACTICAL LIGHTS, LASERS AND GEAR
frame mounted trigger safety.
Capacity: 8-shots CLOCK CERTIFIED
All the accuracy testing was per-
formed at 50 feet and not the usual 25
yards because the minimal sights and
short sight radius work against even
the best of shooters at the longer
ranges, but its accuracy was more P.O. BOX 110338 CARROLTON, TM 75O11
than adequate at this distance and, CALL us AT 0721 446-4774
even though its recoil was robust, it
wasn't nearly as unpleasant as that
experienced with the scandium J- VISIT US AT WWW.BIGSTATEDIST.COM
frame .357MAG revolvers. I would
choose this revolver in a heartbeat
over those.

Final Notes
The Chevy 327 small-block V-8
became a legendary motor for
American hotrod enthusiasts, as has
the S&W M27 .357MAG for revolver
shooters around the world. Although it
is a distinctly American motor, the 327
created a legend for its dependability
and power. I see no reason why the
S&W PC327 will not establish an
equally impressive record of its own for
those who prefer a double-action
revolver as their self-defense handgun
of choice. •

For more information

contact:
Smith & Wesson, 2100 Roosevelt
Ave., Dept CH, Springfield, MA
01104;800-331-0852;
www.smith-wesson.com
BlackHawk Products Group, 4850
Brookside Ct., Dept CH, Norfolk,
VA 23502; 800-694-5263;
www.blackhawk.com
Uncle Mike's, P.O. Box 1690, Dept
CH, Oregon City, OR 97045; 800-
845-2444; www.unclemikes.com

COMBAT HANDGUNS 73