SW 41 mag love it or leave it

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Open45

New member
I have a mdl 57 with target trigger and hammer with the big coco grips, I shoot the 210 hard cast FNGC about 250 a night a couple nights a week , the 4 inch gives me good velocity and power snd is good fit in my iwb suede holster, everything is more expensive but 44mag snd 40corbon are eating my lunch.
How do I find the new member I have a mdl 57 with target trigger and hammer with the big coco grips, I shoot the 210 hard cast FNGC about 250 a night a couple nights a week , the 4 inch gives me good velocity and power snd is good fit in my iwb suede holster, everything is more expensive but 44mag snd 40corbon are eating my lunch.
 
Time for you to learn how to reload. My 6” no dash I bought 44 years ago is why I’ve been handloading for 43 years. I picked up my 4” about 8-9 years ago and prefer it to the 6” except for real heavy loads. I also added a Henry BBS when they first came out and with the real hot loads it feels like a rifle when you shoot it. I’ve actually worked up loads ranging from mild to wild pretty easy. Mild recoil about like a medium .357 and wild I’m guessing are nipping on the heels of a substantial.44mag.
 
I just recently sold my 57s. 2-6” blue, 2- 83/8”, one blue- one nickel. Had 45/8” Ruger BH too. Found that wasn’t shooting them much, least of all calibers. Next to go are 1/2 dozen M27s and 2 M28s.
In revolvers 38sp, 44sp, and 45Colt & 45 Colt are most used.
 
41’s are still bringing great prices at online or the few live auctions still around. I haven’t seen a Model 57 go for less than $1000 (including buyer’s premium) in years. Ruger New Model Blackhawks fetch $800. I lot of people still love 41 Magnum, although it appears some are just happy to own one and not shoot it. I never owned one but I reloaded it for a friend, however, not since he died a few years ago.
 
Learned that lesson 50 years ago. Shooting that volume of factory ammo means you have spent several times the cost of setting up a reloading bench.
 
Shooting that volume of factory ammo means you have spent several times the cost of setting up a reloading bench.
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Shooting that much factor ammo means spending several times the cost of a new gun, in fairly short order. :D
 
I had to have every caliber in every frame size and barrel length when I was young. Just in last 3 yrs decided first to sell all NIB guns. Mostly S&W from P&R era and 3screw Rugers.
Then when got that almost done I decided to off guns that I shot very little. To tell the truth I never did much care for .41s. They are like a 16gauge shotgun. They are fine if that’s what you have. Thing is the 44mg will cover anything they do and more.
 
Shooting that much factory ammo means spending several times the cost of a new gun, in fairly short order.
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I figured out a long time ago that the initial purchase price of a firearm was peanuts compared to everything that came after. Dies, powders, bullets, brass, optics, accessories, etc.
 
Drm50 said:
I had to have every caliber in every frame size and barrel length when I was young. Just in last 3 yrs decided first to sell all NIB guns. Mostly S&W from P&R era and 3screw Rugers.
Then when got that almost done I decided to off guns that I shot very little. To tell the truth I never did much care for .41s. They are like a 16gauge shotgun. They are fine if that’s what you have. Thing is the 44mg will cover anything they do and more.
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Funny you should mention it, I do also shoot a 16gauge. It’s an old Stevens double barrel, my first gun I purchased when I was 13 years old. I bought it for $35.00 and it came with four boxes of shells. It still resides in my safe along with my.41 magnums.
 
Bought a 6" model 57-?2? some years ago from a friend's widow. Mostly for the sole reason she sold me anything at great deals on everything. It is still NIB. LGS buddies are more than eager to consign it for me (not). Apparently, a demand for them around here. Probably the same few guys making the same rounds?

Never had any experience with the .41. It was kind of blown off by my Dad when I was young. Only recently have I begun educating myself on its ballistics.

Wish I'd have paid more attention years ago. Would like to take a deer with it this fall.
 
Back in 79 I got a Ruger Blackhawk in .41 Mag. The three screw model. Sweet gun, lots of fun with the 210 LSWC loads, and a fire breathing dragon with the JSP/JHP loads.

Unfortunately, I needed a deer gun, and the state, in their infinite wisdom:rolleyes: wouldn't allow the 4 & 5/8" gun (that I had) but would allow the SAME gun with a 6" barrel, and none was available so I wound up trading off the Blackhawk for a .30-30 lever gun.

A few years later, when I was a bit better off and went looking for a big bore revolver, I skipped over the .41 and went to the .45. Got a New Model Blackhawk .45 convertible, because it had the spare cylinder for the .45ACP, which was important to me, at the time. Turned out the joy of the .45 Colt, in the Ruger New Model Blackhawk were much greater than the ability to shoot .45ACP. A decade or so later, I actually got a .44 Magnum, as well, but never went back to the .41, as I had it well covered, both above and below.

Its a fine round, does what it does well, but not quite as well as the big .44s and .45s. I understand why some people love it, and why some are ambivalent about it. Don't understand why some people seem to hate it, but there are a lot of people who do things I don't understand. I try to avoid those folks.
 
Dad always called it the answer to a question nobody asked. In many ways I suppose it is. Why do we need to fill a slot between .44 and .357? We really don't, bit variety is the spice. Not like we don't have several different rifle calibers each doing something just a little bit different that the last.

I still look at 350 legend, .458SOCOM and a host of other new aged calibers like this. You look at the ballistics and it really isn't doing anything better than another already is. Whats the point?

Maybe it comes down to what is legal to use in different states? I kinda got excited over .35 Remington for a while after acquiring a Contender chambered for it. Thought I'd buy another firearm in that caliber. Comparing it to .30-.30 that idea didn't last long. Fun gun, but not building an armory around it.
 
You look at the ballistics and it really isn't doing anything better than another already is. Whats the point?
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The point is to market and sell new guns and ammunition.

Sometimes new rounds are to fit into a specific legal niche. Sometimes they are to fit into a specific rifle action. Sometimes they're just done to be something new and different, with some claimed improvement (real or imaginary) over the "old stuff".

There's at least 4 different 6.5mm rounds on the market today that (at best) match the performance of the old 6.5x55mm Swede. Everyone seems to be promoted as the best thing since sliced bread, canned beer, and girls who smell nice.

They all work, but none of them works significantly better than the Swede does, but they can do it in some semi autos, and short action bolt guns the Swede case won't fit into. Sometimes, that more than enough to keep a round commercially viable.

I kinda got excited over .35 Remington for a while after acquiring a Contender chambered for it.
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There's an old joke, "how do you turn the .35Rem from a100-150 yd deer rifle into a 200-250 yd deer gun?"

"Put it into a Contender!!" :D:rolleyes:

Don't be mislead by the paper comparisons between the .35Rem and the .30-30. I can tell you from actual field experience that the .35 Rem (and other .35 cal rifles) perform much better in the field than their paper statistics indicate.

Much has been said about the .41 mag, and in particular how it is (approx) 15% less energy, and recoil than the .44 Mag. Having shot both a bit, I can't tell the difference, and I seriously doubt any game animal can, either.

Since the felt recoil is about the same to me, and the energy is more than adequate, I'll go with the .44 because of the larger selection of bullets and the more readily available supply of components, generally.
 
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