What is the point of the .41 mag?

I know of one place where the trajectory difference matters.

The folks over at IHMSA shoot big steel things. Chickens, pigs, turkeys, and rams. The chickens are at 50 yards, piggies at 100, turkeys at 150, and the 50+ pound rams at 200. It was always a fine balance, trying to adjust recoil against knockdown power and sight settings for the 4 ranges. S&W made some of their big .44's with 4-stop front sights, just for that game. I saw more than a few silhouette revolvers in .41 Magnum that had the right balance of knockdown power for the rams, and flatter trajectory between 50 and 200 yards. It made life easier at the matches where one held on the targets. The .357 just couldn't do it. Granted, it's a small segment of the revolver shooting community... ;)
 
In addition to what has already been stated, I believe the .41 is overshadowed simply because people "need" the machoness of the .44Mag. Good bet that most don't even realize that it's a .429 caliber bullet. Guess they "gotta have" that extra .019.
 
While I have absolutely no hard data to support my ideas on this, I've always thought a big reason the .41 Mag never made it as a self-defence gun is the fact that there was no corresponding ".41 Special" for use in smaller framed snubbies. The .38 Special snub/.357 full-frame gun combo certainly had a long history of popularity. The .44 Special has held on by it's fingernails in the SD role in snubbies and I think there is still a market for a .40-.41 caliber in a small frame gun. Fat chance of seeing a ".41 Special" these days, through. Maybe a .40 S&W?
 
Remington was too slow to bring out the police load.
The full power loads was brought out first.
It was a bit much for most.
Not me.
 
The 44 is capable of firing a far wider range of bullet weights as well - 180-200-225-220-240-250-265-270-300+ probably missed some weights. The 629 Classic I own now and the 29 Classic I formerly owned fired very accurately with all the bullet weights I tried.
 
Hey Tamara,, I'm with you

I seem to be drawn to orphan cartridges.

I never tried the 32, but I carried a S&W 57 for many years on the Highway Patrol We had to buy our own if we didn't want to carry a Victory model 38 special.

I had occasion to use it.. It is a car buster. It will stop an agressive BG too.
I still have it and wouldn't part with it for anything.

When we went to Automatics I managed to find another orphan.. 10mm It is a great cartridge..

BTW.. Dan Wesson is coming out with a new 1911 Stainless in 10 mm next month.

Called the Razorback.. It looks like it will be mighty nice one..
 
"The 44 is capable of firing a far wider range of bullet weights as well..."

The .41 is also perfectly capable of handling a WIDE range of bullet weights, too.
 
:p
Why be a lemming?
L to R: .41 mag., 10mm, .357 Sig.
All my reloads, BTW.
 

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There is nothing 'similar' about the 10mm and the 41 Magnum, at least when I'm in charge.

As for the continued existence AND cultish intensity of 41 users, I like mine because I can still go wild, but at reduced recoil from my 44/45 LC ammo.

Know what I mean? No? Too bad :D Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!
 
fIRST OFF ELMER DID USE THE 45 COLT

He switched to the 44 special when he blew the top of his gun off with his (definately heavy) 45 loads one new years eve. (elmers 45 load of choise was a 400 grain lead bullet [origionally designed for the 45/70 rifle} over all the BP he could squese in the big baloon head cases) After the gun blew he switched to the 44 and came up with his load of 17 grains of 2400 (a new smokeless powder back then). Neither the guns nor the reloading equipment of the day was up to current 45 colt loads. Dick casull was using custom 5 shot cylinders and triplex loads when he develkoped his 454 casull loads in the 50's But no manufacturer would touch the cartridge till the 80's. we havbe learned a great deal about loading the 45 colt in the days since Elmer. We have solid case heads much tighter chambers (some colt chambers were really sloppy and loose in this caliber and bullet diamenter of the barrel varied a bit as well 452-454 + or - a bit) We have better more efficent powders as well avaiable to us. Now-days a 45 colt will do everything a 44 magnum will do and at a lower pressure(about 25% lower) BUT and this is a big but you must handload to get the most out of it. Yes there are custom loaders who make 45 colt +p loads but they arn't cheap ($50 and up per 50 rds) and not easy to obtain. On the other hand 44 magnum ammo that will handle any critter on this continente is aviable at almost every walmart as well as gun shops across the country.
Its simply much easier to obtain and use and cost is actually cheaper.
skeeters(and the others pushing for it) vision of the 41 magnum (or better the 41 keith) was a medium sized revolver like say the colt official police with a load of a 210 grain lead bullet at an aprox volcity of 900 fps. this could have been easily done but colt never did(they had their own 41 caliber round developed but foolishly desided not to go forward with it. SMITH & WESSON DECLINED TO DESIGN A NEW REVOLVER FRAME SIZE and went with what they had the N frame - after it worked for the 44 did'nt it? Of course his dream was realized with the intorduction of the 40 S&W. that cartridge is EXACTLY what he jordan keith and the others were tring to accomplish with the 41 magnum. Sure it came about in an autopistol but by then the auto was sop for LEO's anyway.
 
I think jmlv's comments on the 45 Long Colt are right on.

The recent cult of the 45 Colt could not have happened before the modern guns available only about a decade. Guys like Elmer Keith used to regularly blow up 45 SAAs with stout loads that nowhere near approach Dick Casull's 454.

The 45 Colt as I know it is an effective (about like 45 ACP) cartridge, but not a 44 Magnum by any means!

With the improved metallurgy on guns and cartridge cases, and heat treating they have opened new performance vistas for the 45 Long Colt. However, as jmlv also noted the only factory ammo that uses this awesome potential is mighty pricey - a buck a shot. Why not get a Casull and get it over with?

The same phenomenon is true about the 41 S&W Magnum. The ammo costs about double the price of 44 Magnum when you can find it. :eek:

Thanks for an interesting discussion and happy holidays! :)
 
The ammo costs about double the price of 44 Magnum when you can find it.
Click to expand...
But if you reload, .41 and .44 Mag are really comparable in price and .41 uses less powder. Go to Starline for the brass and Hornady for the bullets, the prices are real close between the two.
 
.41 and .44 ammo are the same price in my area.
Or I reload and it is still the same price for the componets.
 
I will always have a soft spot for calibers that have served me well.
These calibers include .41 mag, 10mm, .45 acp, .357 mag, etc.
For one thing, the .41 is usually built on .44 frames, so it's heavier duty, and unless you assemble hand grenade type loads, it's durable enough for the casual user. Moreso than the 629.
Take a look at the 629 vs. the 657.
The holes are smaller in the same size unfluted cylinder, and the topstrap is the same size.
More metal=stronger gun* (All other things being equal.).
More metal=more weight=less recoil.
I'd guess that a 7 1/2" barreled .41 would equal the weight of a 8 3/8" .44 mag, and be less front heavy.
Less recoil.
.41 mag 210 grains x 1400 FPS /1000= 294 power factor.
.44 mag 240 grains x 1400 FPS /1000= 336 power factor.
Either of these in the vitals will kill anything from a white tail to a split-tail.
There's not enough difference to be sticking your chest out.
But .357 isn't enough to do the job, most of the time* (Be a responsible hunter, use enough gun for the job.).
.357 mag 158 grains X 1400 FPS /1000= 221.2 power factor.
If I hunt anything bigger than whitetail, I'm bringing a rifle.
Interestingly, as a footnote.
10mm 200 grains x 1400 FPS / 1000= 280 power factor.
10mm looks like a fine whitetail gun, too. ;)
When you're inside of 75 yards, and have enough power to do the job (Machismo aside), shot placement is the key. Less recoil helps out a little bit.
 
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