.41 Special vs .41 Long Colt?

A

ammo.crafter

New member
Is there any appreciable difference in these 2 cartridges or are these two different names one and the same?

I have been forming .41 Special brass for 20 some odd years for the S&W mod 57 (Starline now makes .41 Spcl) and was curious about the specs for the Long Colt versiom.

Thanks.
 
In a search, I found Starline lists the 41 Colt at a case length of 1.121-1.127, while the .41 Special is listed at 1.145-1.155. I also found references to 41 Colt bullets being quite a bit less that .410 in diameter, unlike the .41 Special, which is right on .410, or a little more in lead.
 
I load 2 different bullets in .41 Long Colt (yes, there is a .41 Short Colt): 0.401 "heeled" 200 gr. and 0.386 hollow base 200 gr. The original, designed for the Model 1877, used the heeled bullet over about 20 gr of black, supposedly good for 750 fps. In a modern case, I can only fit about 17 gr, which runs just over 600 from my '77. Later, Colt loaded an under-bore hollow base bullet designed to expand the "skirt" to take the rifling. I have a couple "modern" Army Specials (1914 and 1920) that I load with these bullets over Unique for 750-800 fps. Later commercial ammo used these hollow base bullets. They don't shoot too bad.

So, it does not have a lot in common with the .41 Rem Mag/Special. But Elmer liked that old .41 as a fight stopper.
 
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