The .41 Magnum is my favorite handgun cartridge, and I have alot of experience with both the .44 and .357. In terms of the .44 vs. .41 debate, I just say that I wore out a Model 29-2 on about 20,000 rounds of hard cast linotype bullets in the late 70s. It was accurate and I loved it. It shot loose, and I just didn't want to have it refurbed, so I sold it...right after I got my first Model 57 (have three now, including the original I mention here).

The .44 Magnum is more powerful, period. Just not by so much as many would have you believe. With the larger bullets, it will penetrate as deep as similarly shaped and constructed bullets (same S.D.) in the .41. It's also nearly identical in trajectory (210 vs 240 or similar comparisons); the swamp gas that the .41 shoots flatter is just that. Run the ballistics.

The real kicker for me in the discussion/argument is that .41 caliber is the perfect size for the N frame Smith. The .44 (or really, .429) Magnum is oversize for that revolver, IMO. Let's not even speak of the Model 25 chambered for 45 LC (better load down to Colt SAA pressures, as there's not much steel in those cylinders).

That's the real picture, for me. It's not trajectory, not recoil (if you don't like the .44, you won't like the .41 either), but simply the ideal fit for a real magnum cartridge loaded repeatably to magnum pressures. The Model 57 will take it; the Model 29 will not.

Here's my 4" no dash Model 57 (bought new for $300 quite a few years ago):