Taurus 327 Defender T.O.R.O. Revolver: Optics Ready Option

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Taurus has an extensive line of small-frame revolvers, and one of its latest additions is the 327 Defender T.O.R.O. The 327 Defender itself has been in the line for a couple years; what’s new is the Taurus Optics Ready Option, or T.O.R.O. aspect.

The 327 Defender T.O.R.O. has a three-inch barrel—which is what puts it in the company’s Defender family—an overall length of 7.5 inches and a weight of 23.5 ounces. Width across the cylinder is 1.4 inches.

You may or may not be familiar with the .327 Federal Magnum. Federal introduced it 16 years ago to provide nearly .357 Magnum-level performance without all that recoil. It’s based on the .32 H&R Magnum case, and revolvers chambered to .327 Federal can safely fire the H&R round as well as .32 S&W.

Nominal ballistics for the .327 Federal have an 85-grain bullet exiting the muzzle at 1,400 fps for 370 ft.-lbs. of energy, which isn’t all that close to the .357 Magnum. However, Federal’s 104-grain HST .327 load is running at 1,500 fps for 520 ft.-lbs. That’s pretty near a 125-grain .357 Magnum’s 575 ft.-lbs. and certainly beats the pants off the .38 Special and 9mm Luger.

Construction

Back to the gun. The barrel, frame and cylinder are stainless steel with an all-business matte black finish. This revolver got treated pretty hard because we had it on all our “Handguns” TV shoots, in addition to multiple range trips on my part. The finish came through fine, with a just a few well-earned scuffs.

Sights include a day/night front from AmeriGlo featuring a tritium lamp surrounded by a bright orange circle. It’s pinned, and a ramped, plain black front sight is also provided.

The rear sight is a gutter milled into the topstrap. But of course this is a T.O.R.O., and the topstrap is also drilled and tapped to accept an optic plate on the Holosun footprint. It attaches via two provided M4x0.7 screws with T15 Torx heads. Apply Loctite, tighten to 18 inch-pounds and allow to cure for 24 hours. The sight attachment posts are threaded M3x0.5.

The trigger pull is decent: 10 pounds, seven ounces on average with minimal stacking. Timing on the cylinder was good; only faint drag marks showed between the cylinder notches. The cylinder latch is dished and serrated for sure operation. Grips are from Hogue. They’re smooth front and back, pebbled on the sides, and feature fairly deep finger grooves. There’s an alternate, shorter wraparound grip provided as well, with serrated sides, finger grooves and a thumb shelf. It should provide better concealment, although not as much grip real estate. The provided roll pin seemed overly large for the hole in the frame, and I didn’t want to force it, so I can’t comment on shootability.

Accuracy

For accuracy testing I installed a Holosun 507K with a green dot. Normally I do revolver bench testing in single action, but that wasn’t an option here. However, I was able to figure out where a good staging point was in the double-action pull, and accuracy didn’t suffer one bit. In fact, this gun was able to outshoot an 856 Defender T.O.R.O. I tested last year, a gun with the exact same reflex sight and fired in single action.

Now, I’m not going to blow smoke here and tell you this gun is as easy to shoot as a .38 Special. It’s not. While it doesn’t recoil nearly as much as a .357 either, there is considerable muzzle blast. That’s thanks to a SAAMI maximum average pressure of 45,000 psi. Compare that to the 35,000 psi of the .357 Magnum and 17,000 psi for the .38 or 20,000 for .38 +P.

However, in practical shooting it’s pretty darn easy to hit with. The gun is well balanced thanks to its full-underlug three-inch barrel, and the Hogue grips take care of what recoil there is. Blast aside, there’s not a lot of muzzle rise, so fast, accurate follow-ups are easily accomplished.

As I mentioned, the trigger is good. I’d say it’s nearly on par with my double-action-only S&W 640 Pro, which has a tuned trigger. And while the Taurus’s bobbed hammer isn’t going to be a big benefit in terms of a no-snag draw when you have an optic installed, it’s ideal if you’re going the irons route.

Lasting Impressions

Overall, I think this revolver makes a great deal of sense for those who want Goldilocks performance out of a carry revolver. You get terminal performance that’s light years beyond the .38, in a gun that’s a lot more shootable than one firing full-boat .357 Magnums. The ability to add a dot sight—or stick with the capable, rock-solid rear notch and day/night front—is icing on the cake.

Taurus 327 Defender T.O.R.O. Specs

• Type: double-action-only centerfire revolver
• Caliber: .327 Federal Magnum
• Capacity: 6
• Barrel: 3 in. matte black stainless
• OAL/Height/Width: 7.5/4.8/1.4 (in.)
• Weight: 23.5 oz.
• Construction: matte black stainless steel cylinder, frame
• Grips: Hogue pebbled rubber w/finger grooves
• Sights: gutter rear, day/night front; optic-ready topstrap on Holosun footprint
• Trigger: double action only; 10 lb. 7 oz. pull (measured)
• Safety: transfer bar
• MSRP: $554
• Manufacturer: Taurus, TaurusUSA.com

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