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Lennyjoe
Member
Thanks for the inputs everyone. I’ll be keeping an eye out for a .41 Magnum revolver.
Question for the .41 Mag fans
- Thread starter Lennyjoe
- Start date
Really like the caliber and have always had several guns in it since the late 60's. Rugers & Smiths plus one Marlin lever.
IIRC, it was Brian Pearce in one of his articles on the .41, who said the tolerances on the .41 Mag guns were some of the best in the industry. Smith, Ruger, Dan Wesson...they all kept their bore and cylinder tolerances tight. He also opined that that was one of the primary reasons .41 Magnums were inherently more accurate right out of the box vs. other big bore offerings.
That's been my experience over the years as well....the guns just work well with most any load combination from tgt level to full house. Good guns, good ammunition (but scarce in factory ammo), adequate selection of lead alloy as well as jacketed bullets...what's not to like....BUT YA GOTTA BE A HANDLOADER TO REAP THE BENEFITS!!.
Best regards, Rod
IIRC, it was Brian Pearce in one of his articles on the .41, who said the tolerances on the .41 Mag guns were some of the best in the industry. Smith, Ruger, Dan Wesson...they all kept their bore and cylinder tolerances tight. He also opined that that was one of the primary reasons .41 Magnums were inherently more accurate right out of the box vs. other big bore offerings.
That's been my experience over the years as well....the guns just work well with most any load combination from tgt level to full house. Good guns, good ammunition (but scarce in factory ammo), adequate selection of lead alloy as well as jacketed bullets...what's not to like....BUT YA GOTTA BE A HANDLOADER TO REAP THE BENEFITS!!.
Best regards, Rod
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Lennyjoe
Member
Short of the Taurus or Ruger Blackhawk, every.41 Mag I have seen online are over $1K.
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Lennyjoe
Member
Here’s my 629-6 .44 Magnum with a 5” barrel. Paid $850 locally here and it’s hardly been shot before I picked it up. I’m still interested in the .41 Magnum and will continue to keep my eye out for one.
Charlie98
Member
Part of that is the market we are in. There is another discussion going on about Marlin rifles, and lever-guns in particular... and the market price on them. 3 years ago we were not having this discussion, and I'm hoping in the next year or two things will calm down in the firearms market, too, as the shelves continue to populate with not only firearms, but ammos and reloading components.
.41's are out there, I don't know that they are priced any more or less than the majority of apples to apples pistols... that is to say, 4" N-frame vs 4" N-frame, etc.
I would tend to agree. Particularly with the .44... where the bore size can bounce around a bit between rifles and pistols, for example... the .41 is as easy to load for, without pulling teeth. One load that works well in one pistol, seems to work well in all of them, and in the Marlin, too. The .41 Marlin, with it's MicroGroove rifling, puts the lie to the idea that MG barrels can't shoot cast well, too.
With the exception of the single Ruger Bisley in .41, which was a pile of junk from the factory, every other .41 pistol I've ever handled or fired has been a solid pistol.
That's my experience as well, Charlie...particularly the rifle vs. handgun bore difference in .44 Magnum. My Marlin .44 takes 0.432" cast lead alloy bullets or it won't group at all. But all of my .44 handguns use 0.430" with superb accuracy.
In the .41 Magnum, my Marlin, Ruger BH's and a Smith M-57 all perk with 0.411" lead alloy.
Regards, Rod
I enjoy the .41 magnum...but I handload my ammo. I predominantly use 250-265 grain hard cast bullets. Here are my .41s:
Congratulations! You have one of the best N-frame S&W made; 41 Magnum, with endurance package (long bolt notches) and all parts in mechanismare forged, no MIM.
The only thing I will do, if it's mine, get smith to make flutes on a cylinder.
You nailed it squarely! Also, production of 41 Magnum revolvers never been large as of 357 Magnum and 44 Magnum revolvers. As a consequence, companies were running tooling as long as possible. And of course, dull tooling on the end of life makes mediocre products. That is the reason why revolvers have scores in cylinder chambers, too large or too small chambers, and barrels like this:
As you could see, barrel was first broached on field dia, with straight stroke, using worn out broach, than rifling broached on groove dia, with twisting stroke, using again worn out broach.
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Great pic, Onty...I've never seen a better depiction of tool wear vs. groove and bore. My first big bore (greater than a .357), was a M-57 Smith with an 8-3/8" bbl. This was back in the Dirty Harry craze...'77 if memory serves.
The gun was superbly accurate...with 31 yo eyes back then, my first group with a hefty load of 2400 pushing a Sierra 170 JHP put 'em all in 3/4" at 25 yds. With the bloom of new gun love, I looked it over carefully while cleaning and found a chip out of the muzzle crown...the size of a paper match stick.
We were living in Connecticut at the time, an hour and a half south of Springfield, so I took the brand new gun back up to the factory and had the smiths at the service desk look it over. "Well that's not right, we'll replace that...", and I asked them to put on a 6" bbl. instead. It shot as well as the 8-3/8 and was a hellofa lot easier to tote around. I've still got the old piece, get it out a cpl times a year...and it's as good as it ever was. That particular Smith has the best triggers of any I've ever shot...they'd spent some time swapping out trigger return springs and mainsprings to tune it up....And the look down that 46 yr old bore is amazing...smooth as a baby's behind.
Thanx for the pic...it's an eye opener. Rod
The gun was superbly accurate...with 31 yo eyes back then, my first group with a hefty load of 2400 pushing a Sierra 170 JHP put 'em all in 3/4" at 25 yds. With the bloom of new gun love, I looked it over carefully while cleaning and found a chip out of the muzzle crown...the size of a paper match stick.
We were living in Connecticut at the time, an hour and a half south of Springfield, so I took the brand new gun back up to the factory and had the smiths at the service desk look it over. "Well that's not right, we'll replace that...", and I asked them to put on a 6" bbl. instead. It shot as well as the 8-3/8 and was a hellofa lot easier to tote around. I've still got the old piece, get it out a cpl times a year...and it's as good as it ever was. That particular Smith has the best triggers of any I've ever shot...they'd spent some time swapping out trigger return springs and mainsprings to tune it up....And the look down that 46 yr old bore is amazing...smooth as a baby's behind.
Thanx for the pic...it's an eye opener. Rod
Charlie98
Member
I had one of the early 657 Classic Hunters, with the 6.5" lugged barrel, and non-fluted cylinder... very similar to DR505's. As it came from the facotry, the forcing cone looked like it had been cut with a dull hacksaw... no kidding. It was about .010" on one side, and .006" on the other... and just rough. Boy howdy that thing spit lead! ...so bad you couldn't fire it with your second hand bracing unless you were wearing a leather glove.
I sent it back to S&W, and they sent back a completely worked over pistol... cylinder gap was about .004", and I swear they smoothed up the action. It was a beautiful revolver.
Once I got it back, I took it to the range... the first 5 rounds out of the barrel...
... I wasn't even trying, just running a few rounds through it before I got busy with it.
Yes, I stupidly sold it some years ago, when I decided to get out of the 'long barrel' business. It remains the One Pistol I Regret Selling after all these years. I won't tell you what I sold it for, you don't want to see me break down into tears.
I sent it back to S&W, and they sent back a completely worked over pistol... cylinder gap was about .004", and I swear they smoothed up the action. It was a beautiful revolver.
Once I got it back, I took it to the range... the first 5 rounds out of the barrel...
... I wasn't even trying, just running a few rounds through it before I got busy with it.
Yes, I stupidly sold it some years ago, when I decided to get out of the 'long barrel' business. It remains the One Pistol I Regret Selling after all these years. I won't tell you what I sold it for, you don't want to see me break down into tears.
I just hate hearing stories like this...unless I am the one who benefits from the seller's error.
I did not buy my 657-2 Classic Hunter new, so someone else sold it and probably regrets it now!
Charlie98
Member
Further heaping bad stories... at the same time, I also sold my Browning 1886 .45-70 SRC. The Browning is The One Rifle I Regret Selling...
WisBorn
Contributing Member
I had a Winchester limited edition 1886 45-70 I traded off. It to is the rifle that I regret selling
black mamba
Member
- Joined
- Feb 29, 2020
- Messages
- 361
When living out in the country I had an hour drive to work each day, and so was gone for 9-10 hours at a time, every week day. My house got burglarized and they found my 4" nickel model 57 no dash, and my 1939 Registered Magnum 5" .357. Still heartbroken over it . . .
aaaaa
Member
Can't "like" that post but sorry about such a horrible loss.
Riomouse911
Member
Same here. I hate burglars, they were by far my favorite crooks to catch and prosecute.
Stay safe.
