.41 magnum, anyone?

[Dantankerous]

Any of you have much experience with the .41 mag? I've been reading about the cartridge of late as I've found a Smith 57 which really wants to come home with me. Looks like a great round with potential for lots of handgun fun... not SASS with this model 57 however, just plinking, hunting, etc.

 

Obviously it's gonna be another cartridge to reload as factory ammo is kinda scarce and pricey. 

 

Thoughts on the .41? Good handloader recipes?

 

Thanks!

[Mud Marine,SASS#54686 Life]

My hunting g partner had one. It performed well and was a little more comfortable than my .44 Magnum. The.problem was getting ammunition in North Idaho and rural South East Idaho. That's the practical problem with other less familiar cartridges.

I load my own which is a requirement for my .50-140. However, I don't even try that on pack trips into the mountains.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Gateway Kid SASS# 70038 Life]

Love my 657 S&W. 
All the good parts of a 44 magnum without the recoil. Shoots flat, hits hard and when I used it for handgun hunting (and practiced) plenty accurate on deer, rabbits (head shot only if you want to harvest anything) and an occasional coyote. 
My self imposed hunting range was 100 yards but on steel plates was really consistent out to 300 yards. The 44 with a 240 - 300 grain jfp was more consistent at knocking the target down than the 41 with a 210 grain jfp, which was usually all that was available at the time. 
Mine is magnaported which really toned down an already manageable recoil. 
I will take some pictures and post them in a bit. 
Regards

    

Gateway Kid

[Gateway Kid SASS# 70038 Life]

Top is 44 bottom is 41

[Perro Del Diablo]

Love my Blackhawk in 41 haven't hunted with it yet

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

I know a firearms instructor who likes 41 mag enough that he has a few of them.

[Old Man Graybeard]

41 mag is a round that should have been way more popular than it is.

[Rip Snorter]

The 57 is an excellent gun, and the cartridge a very capable one.  Had one for years and finally traded it, since for me it was a Tweener with 44 and 357 on either side.  If I recall Jordan and Keith were the drivers for the caliber as the ideal Police revolver cartridge.  Unfortunately that just before the big surge in semi autos for police work.

[Sgt. C.J. Sabre, SASS #46770]

46 minutes ago, Old Man Graybeard said:

41 mag is a round that should have been way more popular than it is.

 

17 minutes ago, Rip Snorter said:

Tweener with 44 and 357 on either side.   Unfortunately that just before the big surge in semi autos for police work.

This pretty much explains why it didn't become as popular as it might have. Interesting side note: When they were first filming "Dirty Harry", they couldn't find a Model 29 for Eastwood to use, so they used a 57.

[Alpo]

I got this

 

And I got this

 

I think I'm covered.

[Rip Snorter]

Another bit of trivia they had one revolver with 8 3/8" barrel used to dramatize the revolver in some shots.

[The Shoer 27979]

I had a ruger 41 mag loved it(wish I still had it)it had a milder kick then a 44 mag and more then a 357 mag.

I have had arthritis and carpel tunnel so I have always been careful  of what guns I shoot

[Three Foot Johnson]

I've had several, but currently only a Blackhawk and a beautiful P&R nickeled M57. Keith's load of a 220 grain cast SWC over 19-20 grains of 2400 is a real dragon, and probably beyond published max loads today.

[The Original Lumpy Gritz]

Finding brass will be the biggest PITA.

Great cartridge! 

 

[Capt. James H. Callahan]

Nice round. I bought a NM Blackhawk decades ago for backpacking in bear country. Much lighter than my Smith 629. Killed a doe with it once. Only 26 yards ground hunting, but it dropped her like a sack of concrete. Forward quartering shot, found the bullet just under the hide on the off side perfectly mushroomed, 210 gr JHP WW factory load. Still carry it hiking in bear country. I once shot a wild turkey out of the top of a tree right above me. Wasn't much turkey left to eat looked like it tried to hatch a Claymore.

JHC

[Pat Riot]

The movie posters for Dirty Harry featured the S&W 25. I am sure of it. 
 

 

[Alpo]

From the Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson, volume three.

 

25-5 (1978): .45 Colt caliber standard production, long cylinder now available with 4", 6" or 8-3/8" barrel

 

That's when they brought back the 45 Colt chambering in the model 25. 1978.

 

Dirty Harry was released in 1971.

 

And before someone speaks up and says "they made the model 25 in 45 ACP before 1978", yes they did. But it was a target gun and it had a Patridge front sight, not a ramp.

[G W Wade]

Big fan of 41 Mag.  Had a TC Contender, S&W 58 and still have 2 Blackhawk 41's.    Like carrying the Blackhawk better than Super Blackhawk 44 due to weight.  Funny thing is I keep running into people who used to have 41 that offer me their left over brass and bullets after selling the gun.       GW

[Bailey Creek,5759]

Always thought it would make a great Cowboy Cartridge.

 

[Dantankerous]

10 minutes ago, Bailey Creek,5759 said:

Always thought it would make a great Cowboy Cartridge.

 

 

There is a 41 Special cartridge that I'm certain would.

 

HSM markets their "cowboy" ammo for 41 mag at 969 fps. A tad much for CAS, I think.

[Pat Riot]

9 hours ago, Alpo said:

From the Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson, volume three.

 

25-5 (1978): .45 Colt caliber standard production, long cylinder now available with 4", 6" or 8-3/8" barrel

 

That's when they brought back the 45 Colt chambering in the model 25. 1978.

 

Dirty Harry was released in 1971.

 

And before someone speaks up and says "they made the model 25 in 45 ACP before 1978", yes they did. But it was a target gun and it had a Patridge front sight, not a ramp.

Explain the large hole in the barrel and the lack of metal at the muzzle. 

 

Here is a .44 - actually .429

[Eyesa Horg]

The guy that bought my last house said .41mag was his favorite for hunting wild boar in the brush.

[Pat Riot]

I wanted a .41 Magnum for a long time. Once I realized that the pain in my wrist and thumb was always going to an issue I gave up on my desire to continue shooting handguns with more recoil than a .357 magnum or .45 Colt. 
The thing that attracted me to the .41 was that it wasn’t as bad as 44 Magnum for recoil but still respectable power. 

 

Last week a guy offered to let me shoot his S&W 500 Magnum. That thing made my rib cage vibrate when he shot it at the indoor range. I thanked him then declined. Man, was I tempted though. A little voice said “Walk away. You only have one right wrist.”

[Gateway Kid SASS# 70038 Life]

2 minutes ago, Pat Riot, SASS #13748 said:

I wanted a .41 Magnum for a long time. Once I realized that the pain in my wrist and thumb was always going to an issue I gave up on my desire to continue shooting handguns with more recoil than a .357 magnum or .45 Colt. 
The thing that attracted me to the .41 was that it wasn’t as bad as 44 Magnum for recoil but still respectable power. 

 

Last week a guy offered to let me shoot his S&W 500 Magnum. That thing made my rib cage vibrate when he shot it at the indoor range. I thanked him then declined. Man, was I tempted though. A little voice said “Walk away. You only have one right wrist.”

Good choice! My nephew (Marine Corps MARSOC graduate last summer) loves my 500 but it has only been fired by him, perhaps 50 rounds, in the last 3-4 years. My old body and joints have decided 15 or so rounds every decade is enough! 
Regards

    

Gateway Kid

hope I spelled MARSOC correctly 

[Rip Snorter]

Bought the 41 Ruger when it first came out, a fan of both Keith and Jordan, what could I do.  It is long gone, but even though the original factory 41 was pretty hot stuff, the Single action grips were pretty comfortable since they roll up in the hand,  found it to be the same with a friend's Ruger 44 Mag in recent years.  Except for refresh of sight picture and point of impact, I don't shoot the heavies much anymore.

[Capt. James H. Callahan]

2 hours ago, Pat Riot, SASS #13748 said:

Explain the large hole in the barrel and the lack of metal at the muzzle. 

 

Here is a .44 - actually .429

Modified to only fire blanks with some sort of block in the barrel maybe? So you can't put a bullet thru someone on the set. Just a theory. Pic may have been doctored to make the bore look bigger. Who knows?

JHC

[Dantankerous]

So...

 

A Callahan is explaining a gun used by a Callahan?

 

[Alpo]

Well who else would know?

[Capt. James H. Callahan]

On 1/14/2023 at 11:44 AM, Gateway Kid SASS# 70038 Life said:

Top is 44 bottom is 41

My .44 Mag is identical to the top pic. I may need to go look in the safe to see if he stole it..

JHCALLAHAN!

[Hashknife Cowboy]

I have 2 and love them both.....

One is a Ruger BH  and the other is a converted Ruger GP100 into a 5 shot .41 magnum.  The GP 100 is a 6 inch stainless steel.  I have take one mule deer with the Ruger BH and both have had custom work done to them by Gary Reeder in Flagstaff, AZ.  You cannot go wrong with this caliber and if you handload you will enjoy its full potential.

 

 

 

[Capt. James H. Callahan]

Buddy of mine had a 6 1/2" blued 29 just like Dirty Harry's he somehow landed back about that time when they were scarce as unicorns. I shot his quite a bit. Hope it didn't rust from me drooling all over it. When the 629's came out I bought one right off. My dear departed SASS pard and mentor was a factory trained S&W gunsmith with our local PD, he put an exceptional tune up on it. Don't know how many people have pined to buy it. No dice!

JHC

[Capt. James H. Callahan]

My baby.

JHC

[Capt. James H. Callahan]

Oooops. I think this started out as a .41 mag thread!

JHC

[Capt. James H. Callahan]

On 1/14/2023 at 1:16 PM, Alpo said:

I got this

 

And I got this

 

I think I'm covered.

A dearly departed friend/teacher/mentor had a 3 screw BH he swore up and down he wanted me to have when he rode over the ridge. He taught me to reload, pretty much taught me how to shoot a pistol. And play the violin. Paul Brennan Kelly. He died suddenly on St. Patrick's day oddly enough. Another story about all that. I guess the pistol fell thru the cracks, not so much that I wanted it in particular, but because it was his. His son also never let me know when his estate auction was. I would like to have bought some of his guns, not only because he had some great guns, but because they were his. But a mill doesn't turn on water that's past. Just the way the dice rolled.

Good riding Papa. See ya on the other side.

JHC

[Alpo]

I bought that blackhawk in a pawn shop. First single action I ever owned. And they had two boxes of ammo in the store. Remington. One of 210 jacketed hollow point and one of 210 lead semi wadcutter. I bought them both.

 

Then me and my brother go out to our "range". Dirt road that ended at the bay, and they had dredge the canal and piled the dredgings at the end of the road, so that was the berm.

 

My brother picks up about a 8-inch long piece of 2x4 and stood it on its end. We backed off about 30-40 yards, and he knelt down and took careful aim, and with his mini-14 he shot a hole right in the middle of that 2x4. And he tells me THAT'S WHAT YOU'RE GOING FOR.

 

And I stood up there on my hind legs like a man, and shooting a single action revolver for the very first time, shooting 41 magnum for the very first time, I shot that bullet hole out.

 

I like that gun. Ain't never done that good again, but I like that gun.