An old wives' tale, that I tend to agree with, to some extent. I can't say I have the engineering background to pass judgment on the matter, though.

I have found Model 57s less troublesome over the years than 29s. The 57s had the benefit of being able to start with a clean sheet of paper, so to speak. Much that was learned in building the 29 could be incorporated into that gun, with no need to be concerned about existing dimensions that carried over from the 44 Special. That is the main difference I see between the two guns. To say the .41 is a better round seems a bit fanciful. The cartridge is just a 44 Magnum that is a tiny bit smaller. The gun is where I see the difference.