Curious about folks pros/cons on the 41 vs 44 Sp or even 45 LC.

[ColeK]

On another site someone asked the question, “Curious about folks pros/cons on the 41 vs 44 Sp or even 45 LC. I know the LC can be loaded to surpass the 44 Mag.”

For a number of I hunted deer with a Ruger Super BlackHawk with 6 5/8” barrel in a 44 Mag.

I sold the 44 Mag to buy a match set of BlackHawk Bisleys at an estate sale, 1 was a 5 5/8” barrel, .45 Colt convertible and the other was a .44 Spl. I also have a BlackHawk 357 Mag with a 6 5/8” barrel.

These BlackHawks are woods revolers. I like them a lot, I will not them and they all do I doing.

What do you think?

 

[Fine Figure of a Man]

I like them a lot, I will not them and they all do I doing.

I think you should slow down and proof read your posts.
Nobody on THR should type worse than me.

 

[the Black Spot]

I like 44 for hunting but prefer the 45 for SD

 

[bannockburn]

ColeK

What I think is that I'm having a difficult time trying to figure out what you're trying to say. I like Blackhawks too and I agree with you that they make for fine backwoods companions in .357Magnum, 44 Special, or .45 Colt.

 

[labnoti]

Ballistically, they're all similar size little brass cylinders and the main difference is how much pressure the gun chambered for them is designed to take. If the guns all took 36,000 psi, they'd all be about the same. But 44 Spc and 45 LC guns often don't.

Practically, there's a lot more commercial bullet selection for 44, and 45 is not bad. 41 is very limited. 44 in a high-pressure gun is easily the most versatile because the capabilities and popularity have by far the broadest appeal.

 

[BobWright]

The .44 Special and .45 Colt can be had in more "petite" revolvers, i.e. Colt, Uberti, Pieta, and, in some cases, Ruger. These small revolvers just have a more relaxed feel about them when the extra ooooomph! of a magnum is not required. The .41 Magnum, .44 Magnum, and .45 Colt can all be had on the larger, and heavier, framed guns from Ruger and a few other makes. ( I speak in terms of the Single Action Revolver only here.)

As to performance of the cartridges, the .41 Magnum and .44 Magnum are so close as to be a coin toss difference. The .45 Colt, in a stout built handgun, is a powerhouse, especially with those heavy slammer bullets of 325 ~ 350 gr. weights. For long range and flat shooting, both the .41 and .44 are the star performers in that realm. While I've had no experience with the .41 'way out there, the .44 has worked very well for me out to 200 meters, on the silhouette range.

When long range is a consideration, I go with the .44 Magnum. For social purposes, I carry a .45 Colt. For a buffalo hunt, highly unlikely for me, a heavily loaded .45 Colt, in a big framed revolver.


Bob Wright

 

[CraigC]

The common Ruger barrel lengths are 4 5/8", 5½", 6½" and 7½".

The .41 is probably a better deer round. Highly effective and flat shooting with a little less recoil.

The idea that the .45 surpasses the .44Mag is often repeated but is really a myth. Even when both are loaded up to 50,000psi, they are ballistic twins with only slight edges in any direction. Using heavyweight cast bullets, the .44 usually runs a little faster and penetrates better while the .45 'can' have a larger meplat but that is not a given.

 

[Walkalong]

This always tends to break down into an excellent argument, let's try to keep it civil.

 

[John Joseph]

Unless you're very wealthy, you'd best be a hand loader.
I don't know about .41s, but .44 and .45 factory loads are, for me, prohibitively expen$ive.
Handloading allows you to dial into your revolver's real potential for accuracy anyway.

 

[Charlie98]

Loading a .45Colt to .44MAG levels is a fool's errand; yes, you can load gutstomper Ruger loads for your Ruger (I have one, and do so on occasion...) but if you really need that kind of power, get a .44MAG.

I own pistols in most of those cartridges... all but the .44MAG... and I'm perfectly happy. The .44SPC is a dream to load and shoot, but it is not a Magnum. I like the .41... a lot... and it is almost the equivalent of the .44MAG, but I rarely go for full power loads these days, anyway. I consider the .45 Colt the equivalent of the .44SPC for the most part, at least 95% of the ammo I load is same/same. I guess if you were to sort out and pick one, you need to really figure out what you want to do with it, weather or not you are going to handload, and your tolerance to recoil.

 

[murf]

i like my ruger single action revolvers. if i want more power than a heavy bullet 44 magnum load, i will get another blackhawk in caliber 454 casull. for now i will be content to load up my 45 cal blackhawk to the same level as my 44 magnum heavy load:



the biggest reason for me to keep loading the heavy 45lc load is weight. the fully loaded 45 cal blackhawk weighs less than the unloaded 44 magnum super blackhawk. also, the shorter barrel on the 45 cal gun makes for a much easier carry when "out and about".

note: the 45lc load shown is a "ruger only" load and should be fired in blackhawks, freedom arms and contenders only. the 44 mag load is legal.

lipseys offers a 454 casull super blackhawk with a 4.625" barrel weighing 48 ounces. this is going to be my next single action purchase. i like the shorter barrel for woods carry and i like the 45 caliber for big bore shooting.

luck,

murf

 

[huntsman]

Keep the .45 convertible sell the rest live a happy life, that’s what I did

 

[JTown]

I have the 41 mag, 44mag and 45 long colt. My Freedom Arms 41 mag handles any loads I feed it and is most accurate. The S & W mod. 25 is a close second for accuracy. But, if I had to pick just one gun for all purposes it would be the S & W 44 mag.
Walt

 

[farm23]

I have everything except the 41. For years the FA 454 did most of the big game hunting and did it well. Now days the 45lc and 44 spl go out more. In SA the 45 weighs less and gets to go more. All of them are great but if I could only have one it would be a 44 mag.

 

[Hondo 60]

The .41 remington magnum's factory load is somewhere between the 357 & 44 magnum's.
I find the 41 to awful stiff, which is why I reload my own.

Not only can I reduce the recoil, I can also tailor it to be very accurate in my gun.

 

[John Joseph]

IMHO the .44 special is extraordinarily accurate in the M-29. Shoots rings around a Python.

 

[Pat Riot]

I like the .45 Colt but I am biased. I am a Cowboy Action shooter, but I did a lot of research on this very thing a few years ago and decided that it’s really all about what you like in the round itself.
Sure, I can load up some hot .45 loads to equal .44 Magnum in speed but I do not like the punishment to my wrist and hands. I can go higher in bullet weight and slow it down and have a lot of up close power. It will still rattle your bones a bit but it doesn’t have the sharp “rap” of the .44 Magnum.
I came very close to getting a .44 Magnum simply because I could also shoot .44 Special.
Regarding .41 Magnum, that is another really cool round that never got the Love I think it deserves but ammo selection is poor. If you reload you can do a little better.
There are no “Special” variants of .45 Colt or .41 Magnum that are commercially readily available. By that I mean you can’t go to a gun store and buy them. There is a .45 Colt “Special” round that some use in Cowboy Action but I am pretty sure they are roll your own.

 

[CraigC]

I can go higher in bullet weight and slow it down and have a lot of up close power. It will still rattle your bones a bit but it doesn’t have the sharp “rap” of the .44 Magnum.

If you're handloading, you can do that with either cartridge.

 

[Random 8]

I think you need a Blackhawk in .41. I have one, 6 1/2"ish barrel. Very accurate with H110 and the Nosler 210 loaded to max. I shoot this load to 200m in IHMSA, and it topples the Rams. Also very accurate with reduced cast loads. Mine is a standard BH, not super, and as such it makes a fine woods gun although it is a handful with full powered loads.

 

[Charlie98]

Regarding .41 Magnum, that is another really cool round that never got the Love I think it deserves but ammo selection is poor. If you reload you can do a little better.

I don't really know why people insist on saying that.... for what is, essentially, a 'forgotten' cartridge, there is quite a bit of, and quite a variety of, factory ammo... including some custom loads from HSM, Grizzly, Buffalo Bore, etc... and plenty of selection for bullets for handloading, from 175grn to 265grn, cast or jacketed. I've loaded for the .41 for about 30 years... and never had a problem coming up with something to shoot. Granted, it's typically not on the shelf of the General Store in Nowheresville, IN, but it's out there. The components available allow the .41 to be just as flexible as the .44 or .357.

 

[EIB0879]

I shoot a .41 Mag. I have some Corbon 250 gr HC for hunting but have yet to shoot a critter with it. A few years ago I was hitting pie plates at 100 yds off a bench with it using iron sights.

 

[.308 Norma]

I don't really know why people insist on saying that.... for what is, essentially, a 'forgotten' cartridge, there is quite a bit of, and quite a variety of, factory ammo... including some custom loads from HSM, Grizzly, Buffalo Bore, etc... and plenty of selection for bullets for handloading, from 175grn to 265grn, cast or jacketed. I've loaded for the .41 for about 30 years... and never had a problem coming up with something to shoot. Granted, it's typically not on the shelf of the General Store in Nowheresville, IN, but it's out there. The components available allow the .41 to be just as flexible as the .44 or .357.

I'm with you Charlie98. I love my 41 Mag, and as a avid handloader, I've never experienced a lack in the flexibility of the cartridge, nor a shortage of available components for loading it.
Unfortunately (and I do mean unfortunately) there doesn't seem to be a large selection of guns chambered for the great 41 Mag. I think the situation has improved slightly in the last few years, but there's still no one out there building new 41 Mag revolvers that I'm likely to buy.
I bought one of the new Smith Model 69s (44 Mag) when they first came out a few years ago. It's a great gun, but I'd trade it in a heartbeat for a 41 Mag on that same sized frame - which BTW, I think is the size of frame Smith should have built 41 Mags on in the first place.

 

[Pat Riot]

I don't really know why people insist on saying that.... for what is, essentially, a 'forgotten' cartridge, there is quite a bit of, and quite a variety of, factory ammo... including some custom loads from HSM, Grizzly, Buffalo Bore, etc... and plenty of selection for bullets for handloading, from 175grn to 265grn, cast or jacketed. I've loaded for the .41 for about 30 years... and never had a problem coming up with something to shoot. Granted, it's typically not on the shelf of the General Store in Nowheresville, IN, but it's out there. The components available allow the .41 to be just as flexible as the .44 or .357.

The last time I saw .41 Magnum on a shelf in a store there was a couple of boxes of Winchester, I believe, JHP. That was a while back. That is what I mean about the round not “getting the love”. For a long while I considered buying a S&W model 57 so I paid a lot of attention to the supplies of factory ammo in stores. Supply was sporadic and selection was nil.

But you are correct about reloading. There are bullets and cases out there. But not the selection that you have with other calibers and rounds.

I spent a long time reloading and feeding a 38-55 rifle which I no longer have. After that I decided I really didn’t want to work at finding components for a reloading if I had to settle on components available and not select from components available.

I appreciate the fact that there are folks like you that keep a great round alive. My favorite revolver rounds are .38 Spl, .357 Mag and .45 Colt. They keep me busy enough.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

I like the .45 Colt -- I have a Colt New Service and a Ruger Blackhawk. My favorite load is a 255-grain Lee wide nose bullet, powder coated and loaded over 11 grains of HS 6.

 

[cfullgraf]

I'm a big fan of 45 Colt. I like the heavy, lumbering bullet heading towards its target and hitting with a resounding thump. I do not hot rod the 45 Colt, even in my Blackhawk but whatever floats your boat. If I want a magnum 45 caliber revolver I'd get a 454 Casull or a 460 S&W Mag, which I do have already.

44 Magnum is probably the most flexible of three between availability of guns, ammunition and reloading components.

But, if you reload, any of the three would be reasonable options.