41mag....tell me about it please...

As a recent convert I've become an enthusiastic 41 mag fan. Don't know it escaped my attention for so long.

I much prefer it in my own use, to either the obnoxious belching 357 mag loads, or the noisome .429 versions of ballistic tranquility.

N frame Smiths of the 41 mag persuasion are a VERY pleasant combination.
 
I bought a 41 Mag as my first pistol, it shoots great. Best thing I ever did, I started reloading immediately! Here she is:

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I found .41 magnum ammo locally - $29 for 20 rounds. :eek:
I also found 1,000 rounds of .41 mag Starline brass, and 500 bullets on line, all for a little over $200. Add primers and powder, it comes out to about $8 - $9 for a box of 50.
It's an easy round to reload...
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The only ammo I can get locally is remington 210 gr for 65.99 for 50 rounds. I took up reloading quick, 210gr Berry's plated bullets.
 
The officer put a round of the .41 though the van's back door and then it passed through the entire length of the bad guy.
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Up until 1981, I used to collect reports of .41 Mag defensive uses. There were not too many of them - just one in civilian circles and by '81 most officers had stopped using the .41.

If we're talking the same incident, in Nebraska I think, the BG's departed in a '70 Econoline van. The shooter was selected because he was left handed and could hide behind the off-side door whilst shooting. The trooper fired 2 shots. One went in the open door and tore a 4" gash in the right side of the van upon exit. Found on sidewalk after hitting brick building.

Shot #2 was a winner, though not fatal. The round pierced the closed door of the van about 13-14" from the door edge. Upon exiting the door, the bullet grazed the top rear of the suspect's right shoulder. The bullet continued airborne over the body and then struck the suspect at the top of the right buttock, angled downward (forward in the van). The 210g JSP expanded to 0.68" total. It left a 3/4" hole upon exit. The bullet then managed to strike the suspect's right heel. Supposition is that his foot was raised and the bullet struck at the base of the heelbone at about a 40 degree angle, amputating the heel bone from the foot. Bullet recovered sitting base-forward in the back of the driver's seat. Suspects were captured after a short pursuit.
 
So did the civilian shooting with a .41 Mag.

A southwestern PA resident was awakened by his girlfriend screaming in the livingroom of their apartment just before 1 a.m. He rolled out of bed, grabbed his Ruger SBH in .41 Mag and ran out of the bedroom, yelling "What's wrong?" Upon reaching the livingroom he saw his girlfriend's attacker departing through an sliding glass door to their 2nd story balcony. The girl screamed "he's got a knife" just as the 6'3", 220 pound 20 year old African-American intruder turned and started back into the apartment. The resident, an Asian male was only ~5'6" and ~142 lbs. Dwarfed by the intruder, he fired what he called "a reflexive snap shot" with one hand. It was a good one.

The intruder dropped his knife, took one or two steps backwards, dropped to his knees and immediately fell forward. EMS pronounced him DRT.

The handloaded 220gr Speer JSWC was on top of 19.8gr of W-W 296 powder (est 1260 fps) and struck the intruder's right side, passing between the last two ribs, through the liver, the lower right lung and exiting through a rib in the back. No charges were filed.
 
#57

Have been using my S&W #57 (Armaloy finish) for hog hunting for many years.
It comes into its own via reloading.
Try it, you'll like it!
 
I have to say if I was limited to just one caliber this would be it, but then again it is a caliber for the reloader. I think its a great compromise between recoil and power, penetration and energy. I also have owned a few 44 mags and 41 mags and have found the 41 to be a tad more accurate in the same model gun. Perhaps its just the fact I seem to enjoy reloading and shooting the 41.
 
I have to say if I was limited to just one caliber this would be it, but then again it is a caliber for the reloader. I think its a great compromise between recoil and power, penetration and energy. I also have owned a few 44 mags and 41 mags and have found the 41 to be a tad more accurate in the same model gun. Perhaps its just the fact I seem to enjoy reloading and shooting the 41.
Click to expand...

+1 I will add that the .41 really shines with heavy bullets from my 7.5" Redhawk. I have 2 LBT molds, a 240gr WFNGC and a 270gr LFNGC. Unfortunatley the 270gr will not work in my S&W 657 as they are too long. If you don't cast your own, you can buy the heavy gas checked bullets online and they are pretty reasonable.
 
That brings up another old memory. We found some kind of plastic cup that was .400" -- a plumbing part I think. It was a simple matter to use an empty .41 case as a cookie-cutter to stamp out thick wax wads to cover the open end. So we loaded some #6 birdshot - scoop it up with the plastic cup, press the wax seal home, trimming the excess, then seat it as a bullet with a mild crimp.

The big question was what load to use. The projectile was light but we settled on about 3.0-3.2gr of Unique as I recall. Much to our surprise, the loads worked pretty well. At 5 paces the shot load spread out twice the size of our phone book target. :D
 
I've had 3 41mag blackhawks over the years since 82. First 2 I sold to friends that just had to have them. Missed it so much I am on the 3rd now and will not part with it. Fun, accurate and powerful, just a great gun for the range or hunting deer and hogs. Only time it stays home is during muzzleloading session.

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BillCA, wow, while my memories of that shooting were pretty vague, yours brought back a lot of the original report; which, I admit, I had forgotten 30 years on.

We may be the only two around to remember that shooting, or at least the report of it. And, obviously, your recollection is better than mine.

Cheers.
 
I've had a 6" Smith M-57 in this useful caliber since '79 and have reloaded for it since the beginning. The poster who said it was a handloading proposition wasn't too far off the mark; though factory ammunition in the full house loading has always been extremely accurate in my experience.

Last year I added two Rugers in .41 to my stable, both in 6-1/2" barrel lengths. The 2nd buy was on an impulse and not something I usually do...but it was one of the Flat Top models and since I already had a .357, two .44 Specials and a .44 Magnum in that configuration, I added the .41. It's a shooter too.

Earlier, I'd bought a NMBH in .41, did some load work up for it, then passed it along to #2 son on his return from a tour in Afghanistan. It's easily one of the most accurate hand guns I've ever fired. Below is a sample of its work, shot sitting from a back rest position, the gun extended between upraised knees....ie. Keith's old long range position. See pic, albeit with one of my .44 Spl's in the starring role. The gps shown targeted on the paper plate, (6.5 gr of Win 231 or HP-38) chrono right at 1000 fps and are my standard practice load with either the S&W or the Ruger.

So, if you like something a little off the beaten path and want a hand gun that will kill anything in the lower 48 that's legal to hunt...and you plan to load your own ammunition (thus allowing a reduced load capability for practice), I'd recommend it. Hell, every Tom, Dick, and Harry has a .44 Magnum...why not be different?

Regards, Rodfac

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I recently inherited my FIL's Ruger Blackhawk in .41 Magnum. The gun looks like it was dragged behind a truck, and the barrel is kind of pitted, but the bore is in pretty good shape and it locks up tight. I just gave the bore a good scrubbing last night to get any copper fouling out of it, and I've loaded a few 210 grain medium-soft lead SWC's to try it out (that's what was in the casting furnace.) Lubed with "boat trailer and marine" grease, over 9 grains of Rex3 powder -- same load data as Universal. Maybe I should have started closer to 8.0 grains...

Ultimately I plan to cast medium-hard bullets for it like I do my .45 Colt, and lube with a mixture of paste wax and liquid Alox. Probably gonna aim for about 1200 fps instead of the 1400+ fps of factory ammo. Basically however fast I can run plain based lead bullets without leading and without flinching.

Now I just gotta wait for some shooting weather.
 
I've long been a fan of the 41mag. Owning a S&W and a T/C BBL for my Contender I enjoy target shooting and HG hunting. Being a "reloader" I have not bought factory ammo in years. This goes true with my 7-30 Waters also.
 
Here's one of my two. I've done pretty good getting ammo on-line. $23 per 50 at Cheaper Than Dirt; $28 per 50 at Reed's; and $45 per 100 at Georgia Arms.
 

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Friends,

I have several .41 Magnum revolvers and enjoy shooting them.

I wondered about a .41 Special load that would reduce the high velocity of the magnum load down to one similar to the old .41 Long Colt.

Rather than go to the trouble of reworking a revolver into a .41 Special, I started loading my .41 Magnum rounds with Trail Boss.
See: http://www.handloads.com/articles/default.asp?id=37

These comparison show the difference.
Standard load, .41 Magnum Remington: 210-grain bullet at 1325 fps.
See: http://www.reloadingroom.com/index_files/41 Special.htm

The .41 Long Colt:200 grain bullet at 750 fps.
See: http://www.chuckhawks.com/41_LC.htm

The .41 Special: 215 grain bullet at 784 fps.
http://www.reloadingroom.com/index_files/41 Special.htm

Trail Boss minimum load, .41 Magnum 215 grain bullet at 752 fps.
http://data.hodgdon.com/cartridge_load.asp

Pulling these data out to more easily compare, we find:
.41 Magnum Remington, standard, 1325 fps.
.41 Special: 784 fps.
.41 Magnum, Trail Boss, 752 fps.
.41 Long Colt: 750 fps.

Trail Boss puts the .41 Magnum right in the middle of the old .41 Long Colt and new .41 Special loads.

I buy my .41 Magnum brass from Starline Brass for a bit less than $150/1,000.
See: http://www.starlinebrass.com/index.php?cPath=1&osCsid=53feb5445bdd9e0c53af857008b43310

The combination of the mild Trail Boss load and the N frame S&W Model 57, or the small frames of the Ruger Blackhawks and the Freedom Arms 97, makes the .41 Magnum fun to shoot at short ranges.

Q
 
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