.44 Magnum vs .41 Magnum

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Mr. Mosin

Mr. Mosin

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Question. Not starting a war or anything, but what's the noticeable difference in these two ? I have seen .44 Mag on shelves. I've never seen a box of .41 on a physical store shelf. I know .41 is supposed to be a "handloaders cartridge" but would not it be just as cheap to reload .44 Mag ? Half the people on here rave about .41 Magnum, but I've never even laid eyes to a box of ammo, never held a box of ammo, and have never (to my knowledge) even found a revolver chambered in it. Is there something I'm missing here ? Seems to me that .41 Mag is almost... obsolete, and that anything the .41 could do, the .44 could do it better. Please, enlighten me. Also, keep it civil please.
 
The .41 has never shared the popularity of the .44 and as such has never had the presence on ammo shelves as its bigger brother. That said, it is a fine round, though it is a bit “less” than the .44 Mag. On really big game I have never been that impressed with the .44, even less so with the .41.
 
The biggest problem with the .41 is it came out at the wrong time. When it came out LE was transitioning to autos so it never became as popular as it could have.

About 10 years ago I came close to purchasing a .41 S&W but decided to pass as I already have .44's and the .41 is pretty close in performance.
 
To me, the full potential of the 41 magnum was never realized because it was never chambered in an L frame sized DA/SA revolver. I know full power loads would kick. That doesn’t bother me and I’d load my own lighter rounds anyway.

If I’m restricted to an N frame, then yes, the 44 makes more sense to me.
 
I have a .41 mag and like it. But my advise is to just buy the .44 mag. and do not worry about it. You can load it to any level you want and can find ammo, both .44 special and .44 mag, to cover a wide range of situations. Factory ammo in .41 mag is hard to come by and hard to shoot.
 
To me there is so little difference between the two I'm not sure why they came out with it to begin with. My understanding is that the rationale was to give law enforcement something that hits harder than a 4" .357 and for hunters a bit less bullet drop at longer ranges. The .41 has a very loyal following and it is capable of near .44 Magnum performance at full loads.
 
If you are looking for justification for the .41... there isn't any. It's a good round in its own right, more than the .357, less than the .44... and you could say that about a good number of rifle and pistol cartridges, that they straddle the middle-ground between two other popular cartridges like the .41 does. The firearms themselves are a wash... every .41 that has been introduced has also been offered in .44 as well... and very likely other cartridges (.45 Colt comes to mind.)

I see .41MAG firearms at every gunshow, and probably 50% of the time at gun shops. I see ammo at most every place that caters to shooters... no, you aren't going to find it at WalMart.

3rd time is the charm... this is the 3rd 'why the .41?' thread started in the past few weeks... and the answers are always the same. Please make it stop.
 
I lucked into a great deal early this year for a Blackhawk in 41 mag along with brass and bullets. Just recently got around to shooting it and was amazed. I love the cartridge: it's accurate and has a satisfying amount of recoil without getting punishing. Since I reload all my centerfire ammo it was easy to add another caliber. I have 44 magnums and shoot them often but the 41 just has a certain appeal.

Jeff
 
The .41 is a very good cartridge but overall, it's outshined by the .44 Mag in pretty much every way. The .41 is kind of cool because, in addition to being a good performer, it's borderline rare anymore and that has an appeal to some people. The .44 is slightly bigger, a little more powerful and you have a lot more ammo, bullets and guns to choose from.
 
Each and every one of us has our own preferences. At present, I have three 41 Magnum revolvers...
• Taurus® TRACKER® SS 4" Barrel circa 2012
• Ruger® NM Blackhawk® Blued 4⅝" Barrel circa 2018
• Ruger® NM Blackhawk® Blued 6½" Barrel circa 2017

I own no 44 Magnum revolvers although I have two 444 Marlin® rifles that I affectionally refer to as "The Hammer of Thor" LOL. For now, I have no plans to get any 44 Magnum.

I have had zero problems finding 41 Magnum factory ammunition. I have several hundred rounds in stock and then a bunch of reloads. At present, I have 175, 180, 210, 230, 250, and 265gr loads on hand.

I see where several people advocate and carry a 10mm auto for Grizzly protection, both in the Rockies and Alaska. Well, the 41 Mag has more uumpf than any 10mm so I feel that it will serve me just fine. YMMV.

For me should I need or want a larger handgun caliber I will get will buy a Ruger® NM Blackhawk® in 480 Ruger.

Just my $.02.
 
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The 44 is clearly the better choice for these modern deer that shrug off lesser diameter bullets with ease... these are tough and dangerous critters that shouldn't be taken lightly.

But if you're just hunting regular old deer and black bear the 41 should do OK.

I have both... and prefer the 41... they are indistinguishable in the field where deer and black bear are concerned.
 
Why I prefer the 41?

My first true high powered rifle was a 25-06 (the 30-30 before that is a medium powered rifle).... that was in 1986, way before the 25-06 was well known like it is now.

My current high powered rifle is a 280 Ackley Improved.

My carry pistol is a 357 Sig.

See a pattern there? I like the oddball rounds... they do have their advantages if you can see the forest in spite of the trees.
 
Also... there is one thing I have noticed that hasn't been mentioned in any of these threads concerning these 2 rounds.

In lever actions... the 41 feeds and functions smoother in SOME rifles... I've noticed it in both Marlin and Henry rifles, not a huge difference, not enough to cause problems, or even enough for most to notice without specifically looking for it...but its there.

Its the geometry.... the 41 being slightly skinnier yet the same length, it rides through the angles of feeding a little better in some rifles than the fatter 44.
 
Since I'm a handloader, .41 mag for the win. Uses less components and the stuff I cast and don't use can be quickly sold to another 41 guy who are suckers for cast .410 wadcutters made using quality lube. I could sell more than I could cast. Makes me wanna pick up a .500 S&W mold.

On my bench 44 mag brass is just for trimming to special length!
 
Mr. Mosin said:
Question. Not starting a war or anything, but what's the noticeable difference in these two ? I have seen .44 Mag on shelves. I've never seen a box of .41 on a physical store shelf. I know .41 is supposed to be a "handloaders cartridge" but would not it be just as cheap to reload .44 Mag ? Half the people on here rave about .41 Magnum, but I've never even laid eyes to a box of ammo, never held a box of ammo, and have never (to my knowledge) even found a revolver chambered in it. Is there something I'm missing here ? Seems to me that .41 Mag is almost... obsolete, and that anything the .41 could do, the .44 could do it better. Please, enlighten me. Also, keep it civil please.
Click to expand...
Since I own both 41 and 44 Magnum guns of similar size/weight and enjoying both and since I reload for both I don't have to worry about this question. I don't know why interest in 41 magnum needs to be continually disrespected.
 
Ridgerunner665 said:
Hey we've got people talking about it (the 41).... and that's a good thing.
Click to expand...
You guys nerding out about obscure cartridges is why I currently carry a 327 and ever was even aware of the 41. Does it perform drastically different out of a rifle compared to a 44? Was thinking of a Henry in 41 for some thick woods deer hunting where shots wouldn't be much more than 50 yards.
 
For me, the .41 is simply the middle ground.

I use 158gr bullets in my .357 magnums. I use 300gr-310gr bullets in my .44 magnums. I use 210gr-230gr bullets in my .41 magnum.

I like it for the woods. Could I load 240gr bullets at about the same velocity (or level of recoil) in .44 Magnum? Sure. But I don't. All 3 magnum cartridges run around 1200-1250fps from a 4-5" barrel the way I load them. So for me, .41 really is the "Middle Magnum".
 
somethingbenign said:
You guys nerding out about obscure cartridges is why I currently carry a 327 and ever was even aware of the 41. Does it perform drastically different out of a rifle compared to a 44? Was thinking of a Henry in 41 for some thick woods deer hunting where shots wouldn't be much more than 50 yards.
Click to expand...

I load the Cast Performance 250grn GCFP bullet over W296, it's quite a performer out of the 20" Marlin 1894, it seems like I'm getting 1700fps or so, if memory serves.
 
Noticeable difference? I don’t think there is one. I have Super Blackhawk Hunters in 41, 44, and 45c. I believe I could load the three, lay them on the bench and let the average Joe shoot them at paper or what ever at any given distance and they could not tell me which was the 41 and which was the 44. Might pick out the 45c. I don’t know. With all that said I pretty much handgun hunt only for white tails here in Alabama and when I go I pick up the 41. Not because it kills any deader or shoots any flatter but because I like it better. The 41 has a dedicated following that is almost cult like. In our eyes the 41 is THE magnum. If you need anything bigger you need to get out of the .4 stuff and get on in the .5 range. And yes I have my cult membership card. Proud member #892634. Member of the 327 gang too.
 
..another Cult member here...since 1974 when I bought my first 58...currently have ..too many of them.

I have tried most everything north of the .41 and just never gotten the accuracy of the .41 except with the .454...and that just began to damage my wrist and elbow....

It's funny (or sad) in that there are now more factory loads than ever before from more manufacturers than ever before but less guns from fewer makers than ever before... If it wasn't for Ruger, Freedom Arms and Henry there would be nothing to write about... S&W has ONE model. But there are tons of nice used guns out there so the round will be around for a while...

For you Cult members who need a home base...post here...

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?276144-41-Magnum-41-Special-Load-Data-Center

Bob
 
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