I too am a .41 mag fanatic and feel that it is a better fit in the N frames than the .44 is; and a better cartridge for all around use. The .41 mag has quite a unique history behind it which makes it even more fascinating, at least to me anyway. As most of us know it was Keith and Jordan that are mostly responsible for it being brought out, as they wanted a better police cartridge and thought that .40 cal would be ideal. Most of the ground work was put down by Cyril (unsure of spelling) "POP" Eimer, and Gordon Boser. Both produced powerful .400/.401 widcats that were close to .41 mag performance, even Colt almost brought forth a .40 caliber cartridge. For whatever reason Colt was to slow to introduce their .400 Colt allowing S&W to get the drop on them when they unveiled the .41 Magnum. Both Eimer and Boser used cut down .401 WSL cases however 2400 wasn't around yet (1920's) when Eimer was producing his widlcat .400/.401Eimer SPL. When Boser took up the reigns (1930's) 2400 was available at this time. Then came Herter's .401 PowerMag which Herter's brought out in in 1961 3 years before the debut of the .41 S&W Magnum. This cartridge was probably more responsible for S&W bringing forth the .41 mag than any other. It was Doug Hellstrom of S&W however that decided the new cartridge would be a true .41 and not a .40". That little nugget of info can be found here on pg 25 http://www.elmerkeithshoot.org/GA/19...orite_Load.pdf

Heavy weights for the .41 mag can be found for the .41 mag if one looks around. Penn bullets makes a 295gr SSK and Beartooth bullets makes a 300gr SSK bullet as well. Whether or not your revolver will shoot these well is gun specific just as is any firearm when it comes to what it likes or dislikes. So the .41 is certainly versatile but I think that the .41 mag is at it's best with bullets up to 265gr. There is a fella in Idaho that uses .41 mag quite often. He used a .41 mag with enough Unique to launch a 250gr WFN out of his 5 1/2" Ruger to 1100fps. When he turned that load loose on a elk from about 40-50 yards it sailed through both sides easily, the elk got real sick and fell over within 10yds. This same fella's main load that he's used for about 30 yrs on game from deer through moose; is a 230gr SWC over 18gr of 2400 with the same results. With performance like that one has to ask themselves just how much do you really need?

Another point that endears me to the .41 mag is the cylinder throats and barrels have always had good tolerances. Where as .44's can and have ranged anywhere from .429" - .432". This accounts for the reason that .41's have always had a good reputation for being accurate.

However If ones feels they must launch 300gr plus bullets on a frequent basis then the .44 mag is the better vehicle. However the .41 mag will get the same job done with less fuss and recoil. If it can't be done with a .41 mag then it probably can't be done with a .44 mag either. By that time you should have had a proper long gun for the task in the first place.