What do you think of the .41 Remington Magnum?

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Well, I think the main difference between the .41 and the .44 was that the .44 was developed to be a hunting round. The .41 was developed to be the next big police caliber. It never caught on because of the recoil.

The .44 when hand loaded has more case capacity and can use slightly heavier bullets, the .41 has a better ballistic coefficient and more versatility in medium framed guns.

I believe that they can cross over into each other's territory and do both things well, but one has more potential as a hunting round and one has more potential as a self defense round.
 
The 41 magnum has always been a very underated caliber though it was not what Bill Jordan and others who approached Remington and S&W really wanted. What they wanted was a handgun for LEO use that was more powerful than the 38 Special but without the "problems" of the 45 ACP. They figured something in 41 caliber with a bullet moving in the 900 - 950 fps range and would fit in a K-frame gun, would be just about right, in other words, a 41 Special. Remington decided that wasn't really what they wanted and came up with the .41 Magnum which was much hotter than the K-frame could handle. So instead of an excellent LEO round we were given a gun/round that had to try and compete with the well-established 44 Magnum.

Virtually all those who have used the 41 magnum say it does everything it is supposed to and even more. However the word "magnum" was the death knell for it as a LEO weapon in most jurisdictions because it scared the politicos with their thoughts of claims of 'police brutality' and thoughts of law suits because of bullets shooting clear through at least ten people. It also came along when more and more departments were starting to think about higher capacity guns and the Illinois State Police had adopted the 9mm as their service sidearm.

The 41 is a handloader's dream and ranks right up with the two 44s and the 45LC for versatility. If I'm not mistaken there are some custom revolver builders who will build a 41 Special on both the K and L frame Smiths.
 
The onliest thing that I shot with a .41 mag including Horses, Bulls, Coyotes, Mule Deer, and an Elk, that survived was a 1970 Ford Bronco. The 210 JHP only made it to the radio in the dash and that warn't fatal.:evil:
 
A factory stainless L-Frame in .41 would be a great gun.

Custom? People have money to burn, I guess.

I'll have to settle for the N-Frame in .43.:D

Close enough, given that I can probably get 3 for the price of a custom L-Frame.

Elmer Keith was shipped Smith and Wesson's Serial #1 and #2, and Remington's first boxes of ammo. He really liked the caliber for hunting, from day 1.

I think what really hurt the .41, apart from the LE PR issues, was that everyone who comprised the real market for it already owned a .44, or several.
 
The forcing cone in an L frame would not handle 41 magnum pressures. That's the only serious drawback. Five rds would fit perfectly.
 
800 is a good deal. And I think you will really like the gun, I own a M57 as well, and I have been very happy with it. happy shooting :)
 
The 41 magnum is my favorite handgun caliber.In my experience the 41 magnum is generally more accurate than either the 357 mag or the 44 mag.Great gun .You will love it.
 
I have had similar experience 41 mag fan. I don't know if it is the caliber or the nature of the recoil that results in my shooting it better in general. But I do.
 
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