Help plug me into the .41 Mag mafia!

A

azsixshooter

New member
I carried a 4" 686 PRE-LOCK S&W in .357 Mag (The Distinguished Combat Magnum) for a few years when I lived in Phoenix. I since have transitioned to a 3" Ruger SP101 in same chambering for my general carry piece now that I have moved back home to Southern Michigan. Ever since I have been trying to trade my old Smith for a single action Blackhawk in .44 Mag. Many have looked my 686 over, but none were willing to trade, until this weekend!

Saturday was my 45th birthday and I took my 7 yr old daughter to her first gun and knife show. It was awesome and she proved once again to be my lucky charm. After 3 tries at this particular show I found someone who finally traded me for a beautiful Ruger New Model Blackhawk Bisley with a 5.5" barrel chambered in .41 Rem Mag. Upgraded Wolfe springs installed and original springs included in bags. I measured the trigger pull at around 2.5 - 3lbs on a little fishing scale but whatever it is it breaks like an icicle and feels amazing.

I haven't been able to shoot this piece yet, but years ago I did shoot my friends 6" Blackhawk in .41 Mag at some pumpkins out in the desert near the Superstition Mountains and it was sweet. I cut my teeth on my uncle's old 3 screw 7.5" Blackhawk in .44 Mag but he went and gave that one to his son. My old cowboy friend in AZ always swore by his .41 Mag and he has toted it around for many years. I have a tremendous respect for his taste in firearms so I didn't hesitate to trade up for this .41 Mag Bisley.

I'm a handloader so ammo is not a problem. I will mostly be using this gun for target shooting, deer hunting and carrying up north in the bear woods. I'm thinking I'll work up a fun and accurate handload for target shooting, something potent for deer hunting and load up with either Buffalo Bore or HSM Bear Loads when I'm up north bumming around the bear woods. I hope I don't ever have to shoot a bear, I've only seen one in the wild before and that was on the Mogollon Rim in AZ. I only had been up trout fishing with a friend for the day so I was carrying my city gun, a Springfield Armory XD9 with a 4" barrel stoked with 124 gr +p Federal HST HPs. I felt pretty undergunned looking at that bear! Good thing he/she was far enough away I didn't have to worry too much. Anyway, I like the thought of having something big bore on my hip in situations like that, especially something like the .41 that shoots flat, hits hard, penetrates deep and doesn't knock me out from under my hat.

Sorry for the rambling, I'm just really excited to have a new gun that I really like and also to begin exploring a new round that seems to be a real "Thinking Man's" chambering.

I'm hoping to get some links to awesome articles about the .41 Rem Mag, good must-read threads, loading information, real-world experience on deer and bear and any other anecdotal stories y'all might have about your experiences with the .41 Rem Mag. I have been pouring over my reloading books and the web for a couple of days and have absorbed everything I can about this classic round. I'm hoping I can count on thefiringline.com family for some really great info!

Thanks to all in advance,

Steve





 
I found most of the starting loads just a little warm for my tastes for target shooting. Not that they were bad at all, just not totally comfortable for 150 rounds for me. But I'm old and have shot my fair share of full-house magnums so I'm over it.

I started working my way down instead of up. Didn't have to go far. I find 6.0 gr of Universal under a 215 gr LSWC is a soft shooting and very accurate load in my S&W 657. I just bought a batch of brass from Starline.

The fluke target:



Aggregate results look more like (125 rounds):

 
I haven't owned a Ruger SA in 41mag for years. I had a couple BHs when 41mg was first out in the old 3screw model. I had 3, S&W m57s but traded them off. Now all I got is a 8 3/8" Nickle. I haven't really spent much time over the years on loads for 41mg. Have one mold a 210 SWC that I have used for years. I loaded mild at
850fps with Unique. I have always wanted to pick up a WC mold in 41 cal to see what it would do. I don't shoot the nickel 57. I'm out of 41 business till I pick up
another blue P&R.IMG_1728.JPG


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The 41 Magnum is much underappreciated. Easy to reload if you can find the components.
An SWC over 7.5 grains of Unique is my favorite load in my 4" M-57.
 
Funny to hear Superstition Mountains, I was carrying a Ruger 44 Magnum back then, early 70s sometime.

Met a guy coming out of said mountains armed to the teeth and told us not to go in, people shot at each other all the time.

The Ruger was a good gun but the transfer bar would not go high enough unless you really pulled back on the trigger. I didn't care for that.

Upshot was I got a 44 SW and then found a 41 S&W. I liked that gun best of all.

It was stolen and was replaced in return for duties above and beyond, good news was I had the rose grips from that first 41 on another Smith and I at least had those.

I don't have any article but it had just enough less kick and as good performance as the 44 to win me over.
 
Some advice from Elmer Keith when I was looking for a general purpose cast bullet load and he was working for Guns & Ammo magazine ( no internet back then ) I wrote a letter to G&A and he answered it .
" For Lyman # 410459 220 gr. SWC try from 7.0 to 8.0 grains Unique . "

My model 58 S&W liked 7.5 grains best so it became my standard load.

Gary
 
For 'street combat,' the historic choice in a .41 Magnum has always been the S&W Model 58.

Like a 4" Model 10 on steroids ... Simple but effective.
 
My favorite revolver cartridge. I sold the Ruger Redhawk, but still have the S&W 657 Mountain.

I have a variety of loads, including a Snake Shot load using ".410 Stump" wads, Clays, #9 shot and overshot cards.
 
My favorite load with 210-220 gr bullets is 8-8.2 gr of Green Dot. Been shooting this load in my Model 57 for over 35 years. Tried Unique, didn't care for it. I'm a big fan of Copper plated bullets with this load.
 
I had one of those very pistols for a while... it was on my Unobtanium list forever. I was pretty excited about it when I finally found one. It turned out to not be a very good example, however, and I sadly sold it off. It sounds like yours has been worked on a little, so hopefully it's a keeper... and a shooter!

My 2 basic .41 loads are 9.0grn Unique under any commercial cast 215grn SWC, although I will substitute IMR4227 if I need a little extra velocity (or for when I shoot it in my Marlin 1894.) The other is Cast Performance's very fine 250grn cast gas checked bullet over W296 or IMR4227.

If you like jacketed bullets, the Hornady XTP never fails to please.
 
Thanks for all the great info, it's much appreciated. From my research I've found a lot of high-profile gun guys like Wiley Clapp, Dick Metcalf and others are very fond of the .41 Mag. I ordered a box of 50 rds of Remington HTP ammo so I think I'll be able to finally shoot this gun at my uncle's farm this Saturday. Maybe ring some steel and shoot a few groups to see where it's at.

It sounds like the .41 Mag is really well-suited to silhouette shooting. That's something I always wanted to get into. I guess I would probably have to join a gun club or something to start doing that but maybe now that I have this Bisley it might be something I could get into soon. I always loved shooting bowling pins with my .357 Mag, I bet this .41 can really smoke bowling pins too!
 
My 2 basic .41 loads are 9.0grn Unique under any commercial cast 215grn SWC, * * * The other is Cast Performance's very fine 250grn cast gas checked bullet over W296 or IMR4227.
Click to expand...

I really like Cast Performance's 250gn GC bullet. I load it to what's essentially the .41 Mag's old 'police service load' velocity, about 1100fps.

Here's my question for the reloading experts: has anyone tried Bullseye powder in lieu of Unique?

I use 5.0gns of Bullseye for .45acp to duplicate a 'G.I. hardball' load.

Was just wondering if anyone has used Bullseye to make target/plinking/Sunday-fun range loads for their .41 Mag.
 
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My general purpose field load was the same as GeauxTide's, 8 gr of Unique and a 215 swc. I had a 4" nickel mod. 57, and kept it as my house gun as well loaded with Sierra 170 HCs over 9 gr of Unique, for about 1200 fps.
 
So the consensus seems to be that Unique is the go-to powder for the .41 Mag. I will give it a try, although I am also interested in H110 from what I have seen in the loading manuals.

I got a box of Remington HTP 210 gr JSP's and went out calling coyotes. None showed up so I took 2 shots at a dead tree about 25 paces away. The hits were perfectly side by side and I could have covered them with my thumb. I fired some more shots at stumps just to acclimate to the recoil and then reloaded. With a fresh cylinder I cut a dead tree about the diameter of a fencepost in half at about 15 paces. So far I am really liking this piece, although at first I gripped it too softly meaning to let the Bisley grips "roll" in my hand and the low-swept Bisley hammer spur bit my hand. I throttled up slightly on subsequent shots and the recoil was both controllable and enjoyable.

I am planning to buy a Lee Precision die set for reloading the .41 Mag and a Diamond D Guide's Choice chest rig to carry her into the deer woods. I will probably use these Remington HTP rounds for hunting this season, but for next year I would like to work up a good hunting load, perhaps something with a Hornady XTP hollow point.

I'm also interested in ordering some of the Buffalo Bore 265 gr hard cast Heavy Outdoorsman and HSM has a comparable "Bear Load" that I would like to try.

I've been reading a lot of good articles about the .41 Mag since I got this one and I am pretty impressed. I hope I can take a good amount of venison this season with her. I mainly hunt at my uncle's farm where he has 60 acres, 10 acres of that being woods. Shots in the woods usually aren't more than 50 -75 yards so I feel pretty good with this Bisley. I am planning to get to the range and fire some groups at 50 yards to be sure I am sufficiently consistent with my hits from field-expedient shooting positions. I think I have enough rounds left to test myself and leave some for hunting, but if need be I will pick up another box of 50. I sure wish more stores kept .41 Mag on-hand. There's a gun shop pretty close to me that has a box of Federals, but other than that I haven't had any luck finding anything at Dunhams or Dicks.

Thanks again for all the .41 Mag info, please keep it coming!
 
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