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Transfer bar safety allows the Single-Seven to be carried fully-loaded.

Cylinder is plenty long enough to handle 130-grain Buffalo Bore ammunition.

It has been almost seven years now since Ruger and Federal Cartridge introduced the dandy little 327 Federal Magnum cartridge. Chambered in the toughest little small-frame revolver ever built, the Ruger SP-101, the 327 Federal was (and still is) and excellent defensive round in an easy-to-conceal compact revolver. Smith & Wesson and Charter Arms soon followed with compact revolvers chambered for the 327 Federal Magnum cartridge.

A couple of years later, Freedom Arms chambered their superb Model 97 single-action revolver for the 327, and Ruger also introduced their Blackhawk and GP-100 full-sized revolvers for the cartridge. Freedom Arms still has their Model 97 chambered for the 327, but the GP-100 and Blackhawk are no longer listed for the cartridge. S&W still lists their 632, but I can find none in stock listed at any of the major distributors at this time.

A couple of years ago, Ruger held a conference dealing with the topic of single action revolvers, and invited about three writers, a top-tier custom gunsmith, experts in firearm distribution, and a couple of other interested parties. We sat in a conference room with Ruger engineers and executives, from the CEO on down, and we discussed the topic of revolvers for a couple of days. With gun manufacturers, including Ruger, running wide open for the past couple of years, there are only two guns to come out of that meeting so far, but others are on the way and cannot be discussed at this time. The first revolver to be introduced as a result of that conference was the Bearcat Shopkeeper, and the other is the new Single-Seven shown here.

At that conference, the feasibility of chambering the 327 in the Single-Six frame was a topic of discussion, and with the new Single-Seven, Ruger has greatly exceeded my expectations. Ruger engineers managed to fit the cartridge into that small frame with enough cylinder length to chamber even heavy-for-caliber cast bullets, in addition to every commercial loading available. Also, they fitted in seven chambers instead of six. The chambers line up perfectly with the loading gate for loading and unloading. Ruger offers the Single-Seven in three barrel lengths; 4.625, 5.5, and 7.5 inches. The Single-Seven is built of stainless steel, and has an adjustable rear sight mated to a ramped front, the latter of which is screwed atop the barrel, for easy replacement if desired. The revolver is fitted with great-looking wood grips, which fit my hand very well.

Specification for the Single-Seven are listed below. Weight is listed in ounces. Linear measurements are listed in inches. Height includes the adjustable rear sight, set to its intermediate position. Trigger pulls are listed as pounds of resistance, as measured with a Lyman digital trigger pull gauge. 

I fired a variety of 327 Magnum factory loads to check for velocity with each of the three revolvers of differing barrel lengths, to see how much, if any, the velocities were affected by the length of the barrel. Velocities are listed in the chart below, and are listed in feet-per-second (FPS), as recorded ten feet from the muzzle of the Single-Seven revolvers. LSWC is a hard-cast lead semi-wadcutter bullet. JHP is a jacketed hollowpoint. JSP is a jacketed hollowpoint bullet. HCL and LFP are lead bullets. Bullet weights are listed in grains. Velocities were recorded at 541 feet above sea level, with an air temperature of sixty-six degrees, and a humidity in the eighty-two percent range. I also fired the Single-Seven revolvers with 32 H&R, 32 S&W Long, and 32 ACP ammunition, with the results listed below.

As can be seen from the velocity chart above, a longer barrel does not automatically equate to higher velocities. In this case, the longer barrel was the slowest of all three revolvers, sometimes by a large margin. I expected the 4-5/8 inch barrel to achieve higher velocities than the 5-1/2 inch barrel, as the short gun had the tightest barrel/cylinder gap, but my expectations were unfounded. The 5-1/2 inch gun consistently achieved the highest velocities, with almost every load tested. This proves that one cannot reliably make assumptions regarding barrel length and velocity without testing the weapons.

For accuracy testing, I secured each revolver into my Ransom Master Series machine rest, to eliminate as much human error as possible. All accuracy testing was done at a distance of twenty-five yards. Reliability was perfect in all three revolvers, with all ammo tested. I could discern no accuracy differences between the three revolvers. Each turned in very good accuracy, as well as mediocre accuracy, depending upon the ammunition tested. This is evidence that if a handgun or rifle will not shoot accurately, one should always try different ammunition.

I have high hopes for the success of the Single-Seven revolver, and ultimately that of the 327 Federal Magnum cartridge. I would love to see the introduction of a handy little lever-action carbine chambered for the cartridge, and hopefully, Marlin or another company will deliver on that, but for now, if anything is going to save and revive this excellent little 32 caliber cartridge, I think it will be the Single-Seven. While the 327 is a good little defensive round, I also see it as a very good hunting and general purpose revolver cartridge, and hopefully, it will gain in popularity, serving us in the same role that the 32 WCF (32-20) served our great-grandfathers around the turn of the previous century.

The Ruger Single-Seven revolvers are very well fitted and finished, and like all Ruger firearms, they are built in the USA.

The Ruger Single-Seven is a distributor exclusive, and is available only from Lipsey's, so for the location of a Lipsey's dealer near you, click on the DEALER FINDER at www.lipseys.com.

To order quality 327 Federal Magnum ammunition, go to www.buffalobore.com, www.midsouthshooterssupply.com, and www.luckygunner.com.

For a closer look at the entire line of Ruger firearms and accessories, go to www.ruger.com

Jeff Quinn

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Author tested the Single-Seven revolvers with (left to right): 327 Federal Magnum, 32 H&R Magnum, 32 S&W Long, and 32 ACP ammunition.