Redneck Reload III: .327 Fed. Magnum earns carry duty

What's a quicker reload than two guns? How about three? I took the Southern Redneck variation of the famed New York Reload another step today and added a third handgun into the mix, my new Charter Arms Patriot .327 Federal Magnum revolver. That's it in the small-of-back holster at right, behind my Kel-Tec PF-9 9mm pistol, which is on my right side as no. 1 backup.

The Charter Partiot was one of the first 1,000 shipped by Charter so it includes a free Kershaw folder, a very nice little bonus. Us rednecks do love our sharp knives and powerful handguns. And the Patriot is a genuine pocket rocket. Four of the loads I tested are at right with the Patriot. From top-left, Federal HydraShok .327 Mag. 85 grain, American Eagle .327 Mag. 110 grain, Federal .32 H&R Mag. 85 grain and bottom right, Speer Gold Dot .327 Mag. 115 grain.

I shot about 100 rounds total from all four loads in the Patriot today and the hottest load, the Speer Gold Dot, turned out to be the best at shooting to point of aim, so the question of which load to carry clearly answered itself. Speer Gold Dots are the champion and six of them will be riding in the Patriot when I go to work at the gun shop next week.

In addition to the Patriot, I was practicing today with the Kel-Tec PF-9, which is now backup no. 2 or perhaps backup 1A if I elect to carry all three at work. I'll more likely rotate the backups as I rotate the main carry pistols. At right is the front view of my carry rig, Steyr M357-A1 .357 Sig on the left and PF-9 on the right.

Other main carry pistols in the rotation are Glock 29 10mm subcompact, Steyr M9-A1 9mm compact and S&W M&P subcompact .357 Sig. I'm left-handed, mostly, but I'm also sorta ambiguous. My strong side is my right so I throw and bat right-handed, but my left eye is my master eye, so I shoot long guns exclusively left-handed. But when it comes to pistols, I feel comfortable with a handgun in either hand. I do shoot a bit better left than right with pistols, but not by much.

Finally, here's a target from the range today, where I peppered a full-size man target at 7 yards with rapid double-action fire with the Patriot with each of the .327 Magnum loads and the .32 H&R Magnum load.

I usually practice a bit more deliberately with rapid fire but with some deliberacy to realign the sights after each shot, say about one shot per second or so.

But with the Patriot on this target, I just lined it up and pulled the trigger double-action as quickly as I could, sorta what you might call panic fire. The big majority are in the blue, so I guess that means I can be effective at seven yards with this new backup.

All the .327 Magnum loads are brisk, but in terms of noise and recoil, I'd rate the Gold Dot as no. 1, the American Eagle as no. 2 and the Federal Hydra-Shok at no. 3, which is labeled as "low recoil."

And after the .327 Magnum loads, when I loaded up with the .32 H&R Magnum, it sounded and felt like a pop gun in comparison. The .32 is OK for practice, but not carry.