.41 Magnum vs .44 Magnum

The .41 is the better and more versatile cartridge. This is proven in that you can't buy it anywhere and nobody makes guns for it. QED.

I no longer have a .41 magnum. It went when I started consolidating cartridges to reload for. Have several .44s. BUT, and as I have posted before, if Ruger would put a five-shot .41 magnum cylinder in a 3-inch GP100 frame, I'd be all over it like white on rice!

I had two 41 Magnums Ruger Blackhawks in the mid-eighties. I love them. but there's nothing that 41 can do better than my 44.
So I wound up trading them off for something else but the 41 is a nice caliber I just prefer the 44

A 41 Magnum is on the list sometime down the road but mostly for having fun working with a new cartridge. Since most 41 Magnums are built on a 44 Magnum frame, there really is not much advantage.

A 41 Magnum S&W L frame would be interesting and might have some advantages over the Model 69 44 Magnum.

I have a 1966 Ruger BH in .41 mag, but the .44 is ,02,03,04 better.

Just in case anyone's interested, October's edition of Handloader magazine has part 1 of an article about the .41 Special.

VINTAGE-SLOTCARS said:

I have a 1966 Ruger BH in .41 mag, but the .44 is ,02,03,04 better.

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Really it is only 02,03 better. It is really a .43 magnum afterall.

I use both......

When I was doing a lot of IHMSA shooting, I preferred to use my .41Mag for production revolver instead of a 44Mag for two reasons.
1 - I was able to handle recoil of full power loads easier and they had more than enough power to handle 200Yd RAM silhouettes.
2 - the Ballistic Co-efficient of the .410 heavy bullets was better than the .429 equivalent ones. This made for less bullet drop at those extended distances to worry about.

Honestly, other than that, either one is fine for me. Today I own a 44Mag. but not a .41Mag. There's just a lot more choices in factory ammo and certainly when reloading.

I'd get a 41mag if someone would come out with a matching lever rifle.

jski said:

Just in case anyone's interested, October's edition of Handloader magazine has part 1 of an article about the .41 Special.

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And part 2 is in the,December issue, #305.

Timing is everything. I feel the .41 Magnum would be much more popular if it didn't come along wheel law enforcement was changing over to semi-autos. In reality the .41 Magnum doesn't do anything different than the .44 Magnum and since they are built on the same frame there isn't even a weight advantage.

I have three 41 Mags.... Dan Wesson 8", Ruger Super Blackhawk Hunter, Ruger Super Blackhawk 7.5". They are my favorites! I load my own, so availability of ammo is mute.

The S&W 29-2, 8" doesn't see much action. Remains a Safe Queen/

I own and shoot both regularly. I also handled almost every round I shoot so availability of ammunition isn't an issue.
I prefer the .41Magnum and recent acquired a second Blackhawk in that caliber. I also have a S&W Model 57 in .41Magnum.
As well as several .44Magnum revolvers.
I like them all but I prefer the .41s.

In the early 1970s, the San Francisco Police Department specified the S&W Model 57 for uniformed officers in the Patrol Bureau. The guys I worked with howled at having to retire their Pythons and Model 28s. It was never clear to me why that move happened.

375supermag said:

I own and shoot both regularly. I also handled almost every round I shoot so availability of ammunition isn't an issue.
I prefer the .41Magnum and recent acquired a second Blackhawk in that caliber. I also have a S&W Model 57 in .41Magnum.
As well as several .44Magnum revolvers.
I like them all but I prefer the .41s.

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But why the .41 Magnum over the .44 Magnum?

Walkalong said:

Because it doesn't fib about its diameter?

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OK then...

Wishoot said:

I'd get a 41mag if someone would come out with a matching lever rifle.

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Better head to the toy store then. Henry has a .41 Mag out now.

Cannibul said:

Better head to the toy store then. Henry has a .41 Mag out now.

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I completely forgot about that!

I really prefer a side-loading lever, but I do have a Henry in 22LR and it's not that much of a hassle to reload.

Well I grew up with Clint Eastwood being my hero, so more often than not I give the nod to the .44 magnum out of pure nostalgia. However if I was to take away my bias and look at the two comparatively lets see what would happen.
The .41 magnum was envisioned as a police round and if implemented properly I fully believe that maybe it would've dethroned the .357 as king of the service rounds. It shoots flatter than its bigger .44 cousin and that can be conveyed as it being the more accurate of the two. However I shoot my model 57 no dash and my 29-3 both with a 4 inch barrel about the same, so maybe its just me and indeed the .41 is more accurate of a round but in my experience that isnt the case , moving on.
The .41's highest effective bullet weight is pushing 265 gr which is not a bad round and can handle pretty much any situation that can be asked of a handgun, however the .44 still boasts the weight advantage being able to handle effective weights to about 360 gr which would work better on dangerous game. All in all I feel like the .41 overlaps too closely with the .44 from being in virtually the same size guns and lacking the heavyweights its cousin can launch. If I were hunting with a handgun I'll more than likely reach for my .44 mag or even a .45 colt, If I were a policeman I'd opt for a .44 mag with .44 spl loaded in it. I love the .41 and its a great round but it doesnt do anything better (at least for me) than the .44 does. (except spending more money on reloading components).

I opted for the .41 magnum in part because it's less common. I reload, so I don't care at all about whether ammo is available at Wal-Mart. I find the history of it fascinating, and like the idea of a round that has 95-99% of the terminal capability of a .44 magnum with a touch less recoil and a little flatter trajectory.

IF you handload then the .41 has many advantages. If you don't then the .44 is a better choice simply because ammo is available at almost any ammo supplier. I have guns in both calibers and I handload for all of them. My favorite guns for over 35 years are chambered in .41. But besides the cartridge difference, an N frame S&W in .41 has more steel in it than the .44 (smaller bore in the same dia. barrel and cylinder) Look at the bore and cylinder walls of a Model 57 compared to a Model 29. Mo steel - mo better.