I am skeptical about the internal pressure mentioned in some early articles for 30 SC.
I saw a couple of SHOT interviews where either the Federal or Remington rep said their 30SC ammo was loaded to pressure levels in the mid-forty thousand range, not the 50,000 PSI or higher numbers in some of the early articles. Over the past 40 years of reading gun magazines I have seen several new cartridges that started out with very high velocity and pressure ratings in the early hype phase but end up with a lower rating and less velocity once SAAMI published specs for the cartridges.
A couple of examples would be 10mm which only achieves the original velocity claims with boutique ammo I suspect exceeds the SAAMI pressure limits. According to a couple of reviews I have seen on YouTube even the original Norma ammo 10mm fans think set the bar for performance falls about 150 to 200 fps short of the very impressive numbers printed on the box. The 357 Sig was originally supposed to drive a 125 grain bullet at 1500 fps and that has been reduced to 1350.
My guess would be the 30 SC is going to end up with a pressure spec around 45,000 PSI. At SHOT the ammo companies promoting 30 SC talked about it splitting the difference between 380 and 9mm in terms of power. And in next sentence said it matched 9mm. It cannot do both. In the future we may likely see 30 SC ammo that really does split the difference between 380 and 9mm for the benefit of recoil sensitive shooters. I am half tempted to buy some 30 SC and set it aside so 20 years from now I can brag about having some of the original,
FULL POWER, 30 SC ammo.
When comparing 30 SC to .327 Federal don't forget to take the case capacity into account. Both standard pressure 9mm and 357 magnum have a pressure limit of 35,000 PSI. But the 357 obviously has more power, more recoil and much more muzzle blast. The same will be true when comparing 30 SC to 327 Federal.
One more reason the OP would be better off with a 327 Federal revolver is it could also shoot 32 H&R or 32 S&W Long. I have never shot a 327 Federal revolver but all the reports I have read state it generates so much recoil and muzzle blast it is quite unpleasant to shoot in a lightweight snubby like the LCR or a S&W J frame. The 30 SC wouldn't be as bad as 327 but it might be nice to have a lower power option available for those that cannot or do not want to deal with the recoil.
I like the concept of more capacity in a small pistol and will probably buy a 30 SC pistol if it is chambered in what I consider the right gun. But for a revolver the 327 Federal is a better choice.
