.41 Mag Association

Well said Skeet! I use my 41's regularly, for home defense 210 grn hollow points @ 900 fps, easily manageable and stout enough for two-legged critters. For field carry, I use 215 grn "Keith" bullets @ 1250 fps, I have tried 1350 fps but muzzle flip :what: greatly increases out of my 4" Mountain Gun and 4-5/8" Blackhawk, that new 4" Redhawk looks good (wish it was Blue) I may have to get one anyway.:evil:
 
Speaking of the .41 Magnum in a self defense role, the only person I've known who EDC a .41 Magnum, was a Robbery-Homicide detective with the Compton Police Dept. This was quite a few years ago when I lived in Los Angeles.

Compton is a small city in Los Angeles County, a few miles southeast of Los Angeles city It is surrounded by other smaller cities. Compton has long been a well known rough area where murders, assaults, shootings, robbery, etc., were not unusual.

The detective told me that the .41 Magnum was very efficient in protecting him and his partner when necessary. His revolver was a blue S&W 57 4" which he carried in a shoulder holster. It seemed to work well for him. ;)

FWIW.

L.W.
 
I've found the Win. 175gr silvertip to be very controlable but it does shoot lower than the 210s. it's about 1100fps out of a 4" should work very well.;)
 
The only reason I don't use the .41 Mag for a self defense role is because I don't have a double action .41 to do it with. I suppose I could use my 7.5" SBHH .41 but that's stretching things. I'd like to see Ruger issue one of their fine 4" Redhawks in .41 Magnum.
 
For self defense with a 41 mag I would probably get a S&W 58. No adj sights. But at gun fighting range they aren't needed. Looking at the price of the new Redhawk 41...I'd probably try finding another 57. I had one of the 3 inch 657 guns. For some odd reason I sold it..Mainly I think because I am not fond of Stainless Steel. Only SS gun I have is a S&W 625 45 Colt Mountain Gun. Ugly but I Shoot it well. One carry gun I have though is a S&W 29-3 3 inch round butt 44 Mag. I carry it with fairly potent 44 Sp HP loads. They only made a few hundred of them... and I happen to have 2. The one I carry is very accurate and pretty easy to shoot well. I still prefer the 41 mag. My 57 is a 4 inch gun and although a large framed gun I can still carry it concealed. I carried a 57 4 inch every now and then when doing some fire investigations. It was a fairly heavy piece though. Oh...I lied... forgot that I just bought/traded for a S&W 4 inch 66 last weekend. Price was Right or I wouldn't have traded for it.
You know, the premise for the 41 mag was sound. A larger bore heavier bullet round for better stopping power. Just a shame that it came along at a time the Po-Leece were going to semi autos. Doing the Spray and pray route with Hi Cap 9s etc.
 
I have a 329 ..and it is one of the nastiest guns to shoot I've ever had. It IS a dream to carry though. A friend has a (I think) 327 in 357 Mag..and it's even nastier to shoot in my opinion. I've owned and shot a couple of Taurus 41 mag guns. Was not too impressed with them.:barf:
 
I have a 329 ..and it is one of the nastiest guns to shoot I've ever had. It IS a dream to carry though. A friend has a (I think) 327 in 357 Mag..and it's even nastier to shoot in my opinion. I've owned and shot a couple of Taurus 41 mag guns. Was not too impressed with them.:barf:
NASTY is a S&W 340.

I keep most of the loads for the short barrel and lightweight revolvers in the 1000fps range.
It took a while to get my Taurus Raging Bull to work properly but now is an excellent gun and the Trackers are all fine performers. The Taurus does not have the quality of the Smith and Wessons but they are also half the cost.

KO
 
Glad to see the .41 thread still going.
The .41 Mag is a great cartridge & I find it's pretty easy to control even with heavy hunting loads.
 
Shot a new 41 Mag load yesterday, 18.9 gr IMR4227, 215 gr MO coated SWC. The weird decimal was because I was using a Lee AutoDisk with an aperture volume that didn't quite yield the 19.0 I had planned. It is just as well, because I was using a load for 210 grain.

I liked the load, and it seemed pretty accurate for my free-standing shooting. I was replacing 300-MP, which I have sidelined for now from all my loading except use of XTPs with Hornady data. Those are too much investment to shoot very often, given the choice of lead.

My gun for that outing was my Ruger NMBH Flat Top with 6 1/2" barrel.
 
At the show

I was at an auction last weekend and a gun show this one. I did good on 41 stuff. At the auction I got a box of 41 mag stuff. Couple hundred new cases in bags and 3 boxes of Sierra bullets 2 210 gr HPs and a box of 170s almost 2 boxes of Factory 210 gr Winchesters..and 99 reloaded rounds.as well as 50 fired cases...all for 40 dollars. Checked the loads and according to the data that was included the 9 I checked were right on the money(plinking loads with Red Dot. and cast bullets). I may just shoot them in the Ruger. Then this weekend A fellow came in and told me he had a bunch of bullets he wanted to sell. There were 53 boxes of assorted bullets split tween handgun and rifle. All Jacketed. Bought 'em all for 175 bucks. Only ones I am gonna keep are a couple boxes of Nosler 25 cal Accubonds and there were 3 boxes of Remington 210 gr 41 cal softpoints and another box of Sierra 170 gr HPs. With what I had at home and what I have gotten I think I have a lifetime supply of jacketed bullets for the 41 Mag....hey I'm old. And I sold over a 100 bucks of the other bullets so far. Gotta love it when a plan comes together. Almost bought a NIB Taurus 41 mag SS revolver for a great price too...but I really do not like SS all that much. Too shiny for my tastes. The fellow I got the bullets from also has a lot of reloading items he wants to sell. I have purchased a LOT of that kinda stuff from him in the past. He's even older'n me and gets a lot of stuff from friends estates after someone passes. I'm hoping to shoot all my stuff up and sell the reloading gear first. LOL And I got a neat ole rifle.. Needs a bit of work. It is an 86 Winchester Lightweight rifle in 33 Winchester. Shootable...but I did say it needs a BIT of work!! lol
 
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The only reason I don't use the .41 Mag for a self defense role is because I don't have a double action .41 to do it with. I suppose I could use my 7.5" SBHH .41 but that's stretching things. I'd like to see Ruger issue one of their fine 4" Redhawks in .41 Magnum.
Ask, and yea shall receive....but you better hurry, it's a Distributor exclusive I think and may not be around long.

http://www.galleryofguns.com/genie/...Double+Action&cal=41M&fin=&sit=&zipcode=61554
 
I have a M657 that I've had for quite a while, but never really got around to shooting it much. That was a mistake. It shoots really well. I fell into 250 rounds of the Georgia Arms LSWC ammo and when I ran it through the gun it shot really well.

I had ignored the revolver because my days of shooting big bore Magnum loads are over. Between the arthritis in my hands and the reality of the power factor required to punch a hole in a piece of paper I just don't do that anymore. It used to be fun, and don't worry, I've shot more than my fair share of the heavy Magnums.

The pic with the five targets is the Georgia Arms loads, 25 rounds per target. The pic with the two targets is 25 rounds in the top, 10 in the bottom, testing Trail Boss reloads. The pic with the single target and the gun is the first five rounds I shot testing the 6.0 gr Trail Boss load.

Bullet is 215gr coated cast LSWC from SNS Casting. All were fired off-hand at 15 yards. That's a bitter better than I do with my other guns usually.
 

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I was at an auction last weekend and a gun show this one. I did good on 41 stuff. At the auction I got a box of 41 mag stuff. Couple hundred new cases in bags and 3 boxes of Sierra bullets 2 210 gr HPs and a box of 170s almost 2 boxes of Factory 210 gr Winchesters..and 99 reloaded rounds.as well as 50 fired cases...all for 40 dollars. Checked the loads and according to the data that was included the 9 I checked were right on the money(plinking loads with Red Dot. and cast bullets). I may just shoot them in the Ruger. Then this weekend A fellow came in and told me he had a bunch of bullets he wanted to sell. There were 53 boxes of assorted bullets split tween handgun and rifle. All Jacketed. Bought 'em all for 175 bucks. Only ones I am gonna keep are a couple boxes of Nosler 25 cal Accubonds and there were 3 boxes of Remington 210 gr 41 cal softpoints and another box of Sierra 170 gr HPs. With what I had at home and what I have gotten I think I have a lifetime supply of jacketed bullets for the 41 Mag....hey I'm old. And I sold over a 100 bucks of the other bullets so far. Gotta love it when a plan comes together. Almost bought a NIB Taurus 41 mag SS revolver for a great price too...but I really do not like SS all that much. Too shiny for my tastes. The fellow I got the bullets from also has a lot of reloading items he wants to sell. I have purchased a LOT of that kinda stuff from him in the past. He's even older'n me and gets a lot of stuff from friends estates after someone passes. I'm hoping to shoot all my stuff up and sell the reloading gear first. LOL And I got a neat ole rifle.. Needs a bit of work. It is an 86 Winchester Lightweight rifle in 33 Winchester. Shootable...but I did say it needs a BIT of work!! lol
I would be nervous about shooting the reloads despite what is written on the boxes. Invest in a bullet puller and use the components.
 
Well I don't have to worry about the reloads A friend cam by at the gun show and asked if I had any 41 mag brass. He's done me a few favors and I told him about the loads. He said he'd take 'em. So he got the bullets all pulled and reloaded already. He bought a really nice S&W 57 4inch at a local shop and needed ammo. I am lucky to have a bunch of brass etc for 41s. But otherwise stuff for the caliber are had to find locally. But he does cast bullets so all he needs are cases. Being such a nice guy I gave him a box of Sierra 170 HPs. And he weighed the powder from all those reloads. All was as it was supposed to be..so the original reloader WAS a cautious one. Just like me...LOL!
 
Is it too late for me to join the party? I've been shooting and loading since the mid-70s, but a 41 was something I never had. I wandered into a local gun shop recently when an excellent condition Ruger blackhawk, 1976 version, caught my eye. After I tried to talk myself out of it for at least two seconds, it and a set of RCBS dies came home with me. After ordering some brass and cast bullets, I was set to go. A few weeks later, I was at a gun show when I spotted a Lyman 41026 4C mold, (I have a thing about wadcutter molds of any caliber) along with a sizing die and top punch. It too came home with me. I was also able to get an old RCBS 41-210 mold which I haven't used yet. It is a fun caliber to shoot. I am still working up loads for it to see what works best. Seems like 8 gns of Unique works well with any of the bullets I have used. I have also tried Titegroup, which I use a lot in my 44 and 45LC for punching paper. Another reloading adventure.
 
Loaded up a few 41s with some of the 170 gr Sierras. With Alcan 8 long discontinued powder Was gonna use 4227 but I have so much AL-8. Shot out of my 4 in 57 they shot really well. Less recoil than heavies and pretty accurate out to 75 yds. ...as far as I shot this time. I have up to 150 yds on my range here at the ranch.
 
RealGun

I don't think you will see ANY difference between 18.9 & 19grs of IMR4227.
I don't think being a tenth of a grain light will affect anything.
 
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