Ah, hell, sign me up. I've had three .41's over the years, two Rugers and a Smith 57. The Smith was my first big bore S&W. In the late 70's, when I bought it, .44's were all the rage with the Dirty Harry syndrome still running wild, but the .41 offered a different look at Magnum velocities in a slightly different bullet. I bought it with the 8-3/8" bbl. but had the factory R&R it with a 6 incher a few months later.
All of my .41's turned out more accurate than my .44's, but not by much...say a 1/4" at 25 yds in group average. The .41 is truly a handloader's proposition, though but I still do love 'em. Here's a pic of the two Rugers...one's a Flat Top, the other isn't!
Loads: I like Win 231 or it's identical twin, HP38 for light to medium loads with any quality LSWC. Charges from 5.7 to 6.5 gr of either have produced sub-1" gps at 25 yds from rest for me...for deer, I like newly (last 5 years) manuf'd. 2400, (w/CCI 350 caps), 18.0 gr gave me 1144 fps with Remington's 210 gr JHP bought in bulk from Midway, back when we could still find revolver bullets. That's a chrono'd velocity BTW, and the average of three groups shot from a sitting position ran to 1.25" for six shots, (Keith's old 'Long Range' position sitting up against a fence rail or rock, knees raised, with the gun extended between the knees). BTW, that's my standard testing position, tells me all I need to know about the load and how I will shoot it in the field...With Hornady's 210 gr XTP, I got 1.5" gps at 25 yds, with 17.0 gr of AAC#9. I used Winchester Lg Pistol primers with this load, and shot it looking into the sun at 4 pm so it may be better than I could hold that day. Too, CCI Magnum caps might help igniting #9 as well. This load chrono's at 1258 fps from my 6-1/2" bbl'd Rugers.
Best Regards, Rod
NM with a good target...love that load...and shot at 25 yds too.
Flat Top with a pair of my grips on her.