Went to the range yesterday and tried out my Andy Horvath-created long barrel .327 Magnum and .44 Special. Details on the guns are here:
The seldom-seen 8-3/8" .44 Special
The seldom-seen 8-3/8" K32


Paper targets were shot at about 20 yards, standing. Ammo for the .44 Special was all I had on hand, some old PMC 240 grain swaged lead semi-wadcutter. Pretty mild stuff but unfortunately I didn't bring a chronograph to find out the velocity.




Grouping with the American Eagle 100 grain JSP .327 ammo was comparable, with smaller, cleaner holes.




I also shot some Fiocchi .32 S&W Long 100 grain wadcutters. With the same sight setting, point of impact was considerably higher, as expected. As you can see I yanked one shot.




In addition to the paper targets I shot some cans and plastic bottles filled with water. Interesting contrast and similarities. Recoil seemed about the same, although sharper with the .327. Even though the .44 Special ammo was loaded with lead semi-wadcutters they acted like round nose bullets. The .44 would just pass through a plastic bottle and let the water drain out. Likewise on the paper targets the bullets tore a ragged hole, rather than punching a clean circle.

Muzzle blast and noise was considerably greater with the .327, as was action at the target end. The .327 would provide more explosive effect on the water bottles. The .32 Long wadcutters were comically weak by comparison. Recoil was nil.