Legionnaire
Contributing Member
Well, I don't know if you were convinced, chaim, but I was. Now I'm waiting on delivery of a Blackhawk in said caliber! 
Should I buy a .41mag?
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Odessa
Member
Legionnaire - you will not be sorry. I have owned a Ruger Blackhawk in the 4 5/8" length and now I own a BH in the 6 1/2" length. I have formerly owned two different M657's and now I own a 3" 657 and a 6" 57 and a new Marlin M1894FG. All are (or were) great guns. You will really want to reload for this caliber - ammo is hard to find (except in big shops) and expensive to boot. I use 16.0 grains of Alliant 2400, WLP primers, a 215 grain LSWC, and R-P, W-W and Starline cases - this load has shot well for me in all of the above guns - it even feeds and shoots great in the Marlin with it's Microgroove barrel. Enjoy your new gun. Odessa
PS I just mailed my application into the A.L. on July 5th (been tossing them for years, but finally decided to do it) - I am assuming that is what your handle is all about.
PS I just mailed my application into the A.L. on July 5th (been tossing them for years, but finally decided to do it) - I am assuming that is what your handle is all about.
Johnny Guest
Moderator In Memoriam
Let's see, now - - -
chaim - - The topic/question you posed is,
Should I buy a .41mag?
Answer: if you want one, YES.
See? You want to make it a complicated issue, but the answers are so simple.
Hope you enjoy whichever one you pick.
Johnny
chaim - - The topic/question you posed is,
Should I buy a .41mag?
Answer: if you want one, YES.
WANTING one is reason enough why you need one.
At the risk of repeating myself, WANTING one is reason enough . . . .
See? You want to make it a complicated issue, but the answers are so simple.
Hope you enjoy whichever one you pick.
Johnny
chaim
Member
Yes, but it might have to wait anyway. I'm not working now because I am in graduate school (I've been for a couple weeks now). I don't want to use financial aid to buy guns. I was expecting a nice insurance settlement due to injuries I suffered after being injured in a car accident that wasn't my fault. Well, I just talked to the insurance company yesterday and it was no where near what I was lead to expect (the amount offered for pain and suffering, for a perminantly bad back, is a joke, and the total, incl. pain and suffering, won't even cover all my medical bills and lost wages ). Lets just say I am going to try some negotiations but I am not holding my breath (I can't let it drag out too much longer, the accident was in April, I lost a lot of wages from missed work and I'm not working due to school now so I pretty much need the cash yesterday).
Legionnaire
Contributing Member
Sorry to hear about the accident. Insurance companies can be headaches, can't they? Good luck with grad school. What/where are you studying?
Legionnaire
Contributing Member
Just picked up my new (to me, it's second hand) 6.5" .41mag Ruger Blackhawk. Got 100 rounds of ProLoad 210gr JHP sitting here itchin' to go to the range!
Unfortunately, a business trip means it'll be end of next week before I can try it out. Will report when able.
Unfortunately, a business trip means it'll be end of next week before I can try it out. Will report when able.
chaim
Member
Wow, I don't believe I missed that question. Right now I am going for a certificate in "Professional Counseling" at an online university (Capella). If I take their masters degree all the courses can count towards the degree, if I go somewhere else for the masters then the courses may or may not transfer.
Definately fill everyone in on how it goes. I think I may trade some of my less used and less liked gun in order to be able to buy a couple over the next few months. I just might use the revolver trade for a Taurus Tracker in .41mag instead of another K-frame .38 or .357 (of course that would cost a little more money than a used K-frame so maybe not).
Legionnaire
Contributing Member
Well, I finally got out with the new (to me) 6.5" Blackhawk in .41 mag today. I was actually out to have my 12-year-old daughter get in some practice for her first deer season this fall, and have her decide her preference between a Remington Model 7 in .243 or a Mossberg 20ga slug gun (she chose the .243).
Anyway, I took the .41 along, with 20 rounds of ProLoad 210gr JHP Game Stoppers. Stuck some 7" paper pie plates on a cardboard box at 35 yards to see what I could do with the open sights. I shot sitting on the ground, with elbows resting on my the tops of my knees. Looks like I need to adjust the sights a bit. All three cylinders I shot were grouped tightly enough to be covered by one of the pie plates, but the group was slightly right. I averaged four shots in the right half of the plate, with two an inch or so off to the right. I didn't measure the groups, but they looked between five and six inches. Not too bad for the first time out with the gun.
Nice shooting gun, but the grip seems a little short for me, with significant muzzle flip as a consequence. Probably wouldn't be so bad with some lighter loads, though. Nevertheless, I'm very pleased, especially for a gun I bought primarily for demonstration purposes (I needed a single action revolver for my hunter safety classes).
Anyway, I took the .41 along, with 20 rounds of ProLoad 210gr JHP Game Stoppers. Stuck some 7" paper pie plates on a cardboard box at 35 yards to see what I could do with the open sights. I shot sitting on the ground, with elbows resting on my the tops of my knees. Looks like I need to adjust the sights a bit. All three cylinders I shot were grouped tightly enough to be covered by one of the pie plates, but the group was slightly right. I averaged four shots in the right half of the plate, with two an inch or so off to the right. I didn't measure the groups, but they looked between five and six inches. Not too bad for the first time out with the gun.
Nice shooting gun, but the grip seems a little short for me, with significant muzzle flip as a consequence. Probably wouldn't be so bad with some lighter loads, though. Nevertheless, I'm very pleased, especially for a gun I bought primarily for demonstration purposes (I needed a single action revolver for my hunter safety classes).
sctman800
Member
I also felt the grips on my Blackhawk (.41mag 4 5/8 barrel) were too short so I got a set of Houge rubber grips and now have somewhere to put my little finger. I would highly recommend them, made it more comfortable and improved my accuracy. Jim.
Bullet Bob
Member
w1mnk
Member
The comments on reloading are really true.... factory ammo is very expensive. However, I have found reloaded ammo at the local gun show that is reasonably price for occasional shooting ($20/50 LRN). However, I wouldn't let the ammo cost be the main criteria. I bought a S&W 657 5 or 6 years ago. Once every couple of months, I take it to the range, and shoot 100 rounds. It's a great piece, and 41 Magnum is an excellent round (along with 10mm, which I shoot with my 610). Both Ruger and Taurus now chamber weapons for 41 Magnum. Both are available at reasonable cost.
chaim
Member
I still want a .41 mag. I don't know when I'll have the money (and I do right now have a few other priorities). I'm actually leaning towards the Taurus Tracker. I just love medium framed revolvers, and on TaurusTalk a guy was telling me how his 415 (28oz, 2" medium framed snub in 41mag) is more comfortable to him than a 3" K-frame .357. Apparently the ports plus the Taurus "ribber" grips make a big difference in his opinion. The Tracker has the same ports and "ribber" grips but it is a bigger gun (min. barrel length is 4"). This camping season (I plan to do most of my camping this fall) I'll probably make due with my 6" .357 (a 586) and maybe my 30-30, at least when I'm someplace that carry is legal. Hopefully, I'll have the .41mag by next spring (though I can be impulsive so who knows, my next gun may be a .41mag, especially if I run across one that calls my name when I see it ).
).Chaim,
Regardless what most gunrags claim the .41 recoils much closer to a .44 than a .357. A large, heavy framed revovlver best serves this caliber. Sure ports will tame it so you can use medium frames, but at the expense of robbing the bullet of energy. IMO if you are going to rob energy of a cartridge to control it, you might as well shoot a lower powered cartridge. Seems you would be better off with a .44sp if you wanted to stay with a big bore or move down to the .357. If you can't control the shot without ports then you have too much cartridge for you. Move down a level, which is exactly what the ports are doing for you.
I have never understood the reasoning of taking a magnum cartridge and placing it in a smaller framed gun, bleeding energy off every shot for the sake of saying you are shooting a magnum. This negates the purpose of the magnum, it's added power. Plus it adds noise and directs flash into your sight picture.
IMHO buy a revolver that can utilize the full power of the cartridge and enjoy, or buy a lesser caliber and save the added expense of buying an expensive cartridge and not being able to utilize the full potential of it.
Regardless what most gunrags claim the .41 recoils much closer to a .44 than a .357. A large, heavy framed revovlver best serves this caliber. Sure ports will tame it so you can use medium frames, but at the expense of robbing the bullet of energy. IMO if you are going to rob energy of a cartridge to control it, you might as well shoot a lower powered cartridge. Seems you would be better off with a .44sp if you wanted to stay with a big bore or move down to the .357. If you can't control the shot without ports then you have too much cartridge for you. Move down a level, which is exactly what the ports are doing for you.
I have never understood the reasoning of taking a magnum cartridge and placing it in a smaller framed gun, bleeding energy off every shot for the sake of saying you are shooting a magnum. This negates the purpose of the magnum, it's added power. Plus it adds noise and directs flash into your sight picture.
IMHO buy a revolver that can utilize the full power of the cartridge and enjoy, or buy a lesser caliber and save the added expense of buying an expensive cartridge and not being able to utilize the full potential of it.
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