Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns 3" Bearcat in .327,..115 grain bullets at 1450

Pretty little thing,...sounds like fun.

Check out the video,...nasty recoiling lil' booger.

http://www.gunblast.com/Harton-327Bearcat.htm

I'll bet that little thing has some bark to it too.

I was thinking the same thing.

Hot .30 caliber handguns hit a pitch that's like having a knitting needle shoved in your ear.

That cartridge at those velocities out of a 3 inch barrel makes it a rimmed .30 carbine.

One of my old buddies had a Ruger Blackhawk in .30 carbine that he loaded max.

I've shot lots of hot loaded .44 and .357 mags,...but none of 'em had a bark like that .30 carbine Blackhawk,..and it had a 7.5" barrel.

It must be a monster bark out of a 3".

Rimmed 30 carbine is exactly where my mind went, regarding noise.

What's cool to me about the 327 is that it can handle 32 S&W, 32 S&W Long, 32 H&R Mag, and 327 Mag.

That's a lot of options for different loads or off the shelf fodder.

I've never had a 32, but always kind of had an interest in them anyway.

I've got a few little ones.

I've also got a pristine Model 17 S&W 6" .22 that I hardly shoot any more.

If I could make myself get up off the money, I'd like to have it converted to .327 by Hamilton Bowen. The way I understand it, they take them Model 17, then bore out it's original barrel and cylinder.

He's pretty enthusiastic about his K frame .327's

I'll bet it's a lot of fun in a K-frame, 4-6" barrel.

I have a number of pieces (Ruger's, Smith's and a BFR) either built by or tweaked by Alan Harton. Top notch work and a really great guy to work with. I have been tempted to turn my Bearcat into a 32 H&R after handling a few of his builds. No use for the 327 though as velocity and revolvers do not mix for me. His build of my 41 Special Single Six is just perfection. I own Bowen builds and they are fine but Harton is easily there and beyond IME. He is also very flexible with customer desires. I have sketched what I wanted with a front sight base and he built it. Brainstorm in his shop over hammer shape, he does it. No packages, just fully bespoke, what the customer desires and fairly priced as well. If you want a custom revolver I do suggest you have a chat with Alan.

That's a beautiful gun.

I had a 30 Carbine Blackhawk for awhile and they indeed are loud.

That's one good looking little gun!

Just got a Shopkeeper 3" barrel Bearcat.

With hot 22's it's LOUD...Bet this one in 327 would be un-barable to shoot without muffs.

Virgil B.

I'll bet that little thing is one hell of a handful. Probably much like a .357 J frame.

It's an interesting example of a skilled gunsmith's art but as a practical pistol it has two major shortcomings.

1. He left the fixed sights which are not even windage adjustable. With so many loads available and the ability to fire all of the various .32 cartridges, the POI is going to be all over the place. You have no ability to adjust the sights for the load you like. If you want POA to coincide with POI you'll have to find the load the revolver likes.

2. You have to disassemble it to unload it. Not an insurmountable flaw, but talk about slow and clumsy reloading.

Besides being loud, but everyone already figured that out.

Probably more than that.

It's a toy.

The majority of guns sold in America are bought to be a toy.

That�s for sure. Everyone knows a serious hand-gunner would only choose a gold plated Desert Eagle. The rest are just toys.

He will build what you want and dial in a fixed sighted piece with whatever handload you choose. He fits the j-frame Smith sight beautifully on Bearcats. Also, it was built on the "storekeeper" theme as Colt SAA's were. Very specific purpose though one I have no use for, Colt or otherwise.

I'd love to have one with a 4" barrel, the S&W sights and an ejector rod,..although I don't know what I'd do with it other than take it to the range.

I'm fond of little .32 revolvers, anyway,..although those that I own were made between 1905 and 1928 and won't handle anything even close to a hot load.

I enjoy .32 caliber revolvers also and would like to try the .327. I have a S&W .32-20 6" Target Model K frame, 'Pre-War' (as they all were in that caliber),that sees a lot of field time. Ear plugs are a must when firing it. It is a shame that the first owner did not take better care of the finish but it was the first Target Model that I had ever seen in .32-20 so I had to buy it.