Originally Posted by bunnspecial
8 3/8" S&W Model 27-2-one of the nicest shooting and most accurate guns I've ever shot. The big N frame makes even fairly stout 357 Magnum loads easy to handle.
There's the old "This thread is worthless without pictures" saw to address...
I love the 27. I have had multiple 19s, 686s, 66s, even a classic .38/44 "High Velocity" which could be loaded to .357 pressures (I did not, though I hand-loaded my own .38 HV rounds - 11.5 gr of 2400 under a 148gr. SWC).
But this 27-2 was the most beloved I ever owned. 3.5" of easy-handling, fast-drawing fun. A gentleman's bear gun.
Story has it, J. Edgar Hoover got s/n #1 of these, and a lot of the early 3.5" production went to the FBI and similar favorites. I think George Patton had s/n around 25 or so, it was in the right holster of his rig through WWII and he called it his "killing gun." CW has it he had two Peacemakers - not true. He gave one away after WWI of a pair to his driver from the war or the Mexican expedition (I can't recall right now). I don't know what he used in the interim but in the 30's he got a 3.5" N frame .357 to fill the void and carried it until he died.
Fun trivia, sorry for the rambling...