Getting the hots for a .41 Magnum

It's a great cartridge! I really think it'd do well in a medium frame alá GP100/686.

I had a blackhawk in 41mag, and it shot great. I just wasn't a fan of the plow handle and the long pipe it had.

I have a 41mag Blackhawk, great round and a nice gun. I have shot several deer with it.
Factory ammo is expensive, or so I hear, never bought any.

.41 Mag is now my favorite cartridge in many ways. I just wish there were a wider selection of guns chambered for it. I think the N frame is just about right. But until I can find a DA of that size, my Blackhawk makes me happy, every time I take it to the range (which is almost every week).

Unuque can be fun. I never understood the appeal of the .41 mag over the .429 (44 mag)? Especially for hand loaders, it just seems like there is a much bigger selection of bullets available. But I do understand that it is just nice to be different some times.

I had a S&W Model 57 and a Model 58 years ago. The 57 was blued, had a 4" barrel, and had been slicked up by a friend of mine. A beautiful gun that I unfortunately had to sell when I had to have some much needed cash. Found the 58 new in the box but in the used gun case at a local gun shop. Not quite as smooth as the 57 but still had a nice trigger and had a good feel to it. Foolishly sold it for cash to get a Benelli B76.

Still think about getting another .41 Magnum (at least I was smart enough to have kept all of the reloading components for it), but would probably be a Ruger Blackhawk next time around.

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My addiction started when I found a wayward .41 Redhawk 7.5” and got it for a song. Reloading for it is a piece of cake, and the gun is nice to shoot.

I’d like one with a shorter barrel someday, if I stumble across a nice 4” 57-657 I’ll be highly tempted to pay whatever is asked for it...

I say once you buy your gun go out and grab some Unique, Starline brass, Lee carbide dies and Missouri Coated SWC and you’re in the fun business for sure!

Stay safe.

MikeInOr said:

Unuque can be fun. I never understood the appeal of the .41 mag over the .429 (44 mag)?

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I understood the appeal of the .41 Mag for many years, right up until Smith & Wesson came out with their great L-frame Model 69, .44 Mag. Now my old Taurus .41 Mag just sits in the safe most of the time. I take it out once in a while, just to reminisce.

Seriously, I really like my old Taurus .41 Mag. I don’t even remember what model it is (“Pathfinder” or something like that?) but it has a 4” barrel with a ported shroud. It was my backpacking gun, and it traveled many a mile strapped to my backpack’s waist-belt in the Idaho wilderness.

I have just 2 loads for it: First, for bear protection (which I never had to use) I put 17.7grs of Lil’Gun behind a Cast Performance 250gr WFNGC for 1,200fps + (chronographed, not conjecture). Second, for a medium load for home defense and everything else, I put 8.8grs of Unique behind a Speer 200gr half-jacket JHP. It should do a little better than 1,100fps, but I’ve never chronographed it. I’ve never had to use it for home defense either, but that big ol’ hollow point looks pretty vicious.

Posted this photo of my Model 57 a few weeks ago. Ordered some ammo for it last weekend and hopefully it will arrive tomorrow.

If you really want to scratch that itch soon and for cheap, a Taurus 415 or 425 on the used market may be the way to go.

I had a 41 for awhile, I liked it. Yea, it was different then everyone else’s 44 mag, slightly. As already mentioned, reloading is the way to go because of cost and availability. But what got me to go onto other calibers was the cost and availability of reloading components, by me there was none hardly. Everything had to be ordered online, I realize for some that’s not an issue, but I still would rather stop at a lgs.

Hi...
The .41Mag is probably my favorite handgun cartridge.
I have three and shoot them regularly...a S&W 57 and two Ruger BlackHawks.
Mostly 210gr Hornady HP/XTPs and 215gr commercial cast LSWC. I use Unique with the cast bullets and 2400 for the jacketed bullets... generally have a few hundred of both loaded and ready to go.
The cartridge has always been easy to load and an accurate charge of either powder is easy to develop.

I have never had any trouble finding reloading bullets on the shelves of LGS here in Southcentral Pennsylvania. Not every shop has suitable bullets but enough have them that availability has never been an issue.

I've got a 6" 57 that I love. As others have said, this is a cartridge that rewards handloaders. In addition to the full throttle stuff, it's fun to shoot midrange loads that are in about the same power range as the LE-oriented rounds (like the old Silvertip) that are stout-but-manageable in rapid fire.

I have a Model 57 Smith and Wesson and it ranks right up there as one of the best pistols I have ever shot. Handles very well and the recoil is very manageable vs a 44 Magnum. I personally think that a 41 Magnum can do almost anything a 44 Magnum can do.

Wish I still had mine!

Love the round!

My FIL has a model 58 that is willed to me. I actually like him, so I can wait.

Riomouse911 said:

My addiction started when I found a wayward .41 Redhawk 7.5” and got it for a song. Reloading for it is a piece of cake, and the gun is nice to shoot.

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I have the same Redhawk. I was looking for a .44 when I came across it at an Oshman's 25 years ago. It has a scratch on the trigger guard and they knocked $75 off and I bought it. My wife loves it. I have some 250 gr HC Corbons for hunting but haven't used them on animals yet.

As soon Charter comes out with a
3 inch barreled 41 mag .. I will own one

.41 mag is what a 10mm hopes it can grow up to be one day.

Im a BIG 10mm fan .. I own a 29 & a 20 ...10mm will never be a 41 mag ... 10mm is a semiauto round , and with the right ammo ( Underwood)
or careful handloads .. Its a different dog ...
And it says alot about a semi auto round to be mentioned in a discussion about the 41 mag
The 41 mag is a great round .. Id like to see a 6 shot 41 mag in S&W L frame

Buckeye63 said:

Im a BIG 10mm fan .. I own a 29 & a 20 ...10mm will never be a 41 mag ... 10mm is a semiauto round , and with the right ammo ( Underwood)
or careful handloads .. Its a different dog ...
And it says alot about a semi auto round to be mentioned in a discussion about the 41 mag
The 41 mag is a great round .. Id like to see a 6 shot 41 mag in S&W L frame

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It overlaps with .357 energy levels. The 10mm is a fine round but even loaded to it's maximum it does not compare to the .41 mag on up.