The 41 Mag goes to the range

[gspn]

I took a friend to the range today. He is new to shooting so I took a variety of calibers...9mm, 40 cal, and 45 ACP. I just got a new .41 mag and I wanted to try it out so I brought that too.

This is a busy indoor firing range with about 25 lanes...the side we were on had 14 lanes. When we got done shooting all of the autoloaders I broke out the .41 mag. My buddy wanted to shoot it so I loaded the Blackhawk, gave him some instruction, and stepped back from the line.

I thought the noise and concussion from the first shot might knock a wall down. Half of the line quit firing on shot one. Shot two got the rest of the line to fall silent. By shot three people were converging on us and asking "what the hell are y'all shootin?"

Another friend who was there came down, I asked him if he wanted to shoot it and he half ripped it out of my hands...he couldn't wait to shoot the thing.

He had never heard of the .41 mag but he left with a smile on his face and a lot of respect for it. Several others who had inquired about the gun declined my offer to let them shoot it.

I love this gun. The buddy I took today described it as a fire breathing dragon.

I also discovered that Alliant 2400 is a very smokey powder. When I started sending my reloads downrange the smoke went halfway down the range.

 

[22-rimfire]

Glad you enjoyed it. No worse a dragon than a 357 mag. I like the 41's. I still have not shot my Blackhawk more than a couple times. I generally shoot a M57 Smith.

 

[FoMoGo]

My wife and I went to the S&W shooting center in Spfld Ma a couple of years back.
There were a sprinkling of revolvers there shooting and a lot of plastic guns.
My darling wife stepped up the the line and unleashed a cylinder full of Fiocchi loads out of my 6" 629.
The whole range stopped and stepped back to see who and what was firing.
Caryn stepped back... gave them a smile... stepped back into the box and cut loose again.
This BIG guy in the next lane was firing a .357 L frame loaded with .38s... and looked like he was about to squeeze off a round out of a scadium .500.
I dont think I have ever seen such trigger fear.
He didnt wanna try the 629.


Jim

 

[Steve C]

The .41 mag is a great cartridge. Haven't found a load that doesn't shoot accurately yet.

I also discovered that Alliant 2400 is a very smokey powder. When I started sending my reloads downrange the smoke went halfway down the range.

2400 isn't smokey, bullet lube from lead bullets is smokey. Never noticed much if any smoke using jacketed bullets and 2400 in my .41's.

 

[gspn]

Thanks for the heads up on the bullet lube being the source of the smoke. It was so much smoke that I figured it had to be the powder. I was shooting cast lead with a nice ring of lube around them.

When I run out of lead I'll buy some jacketed bullets for comparison.

I'm loading up another batch right now...fun stuff!

 

[Drail]

Yup, cast bullet lube is smoky. Most competition shooters will use jacketed bullets at a serious match just so they can see what they're doin if there's no breeze. Indoors you'll choke everybody out. 2400 is one of the best powders for the .41 and .44 mags. I burned through a couple of kegs of 2400 (Elmer's favorite) with my first .41 Blackhawk. Another gun I should have kept. Too much fun.