I am a big fan of the S&W Model 58 Military and Police .41 Magnum Revolver. I have been searching for a load that duplicates the original Police Load as advocated by Elmer Keith and others. Met a gentlemen named Michael Loeb at the local Gun Show who produces ammo. He loads a .41 Magnum 215 grain LSWC at 1050 fps with new components. The ammo is outstanding. It strikes the right balance between power and controllability. I don't reload at this time, so this is a good find for me. Mr. Loeb offers ammo and reloading supplies in South Florida.

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If I recall correctly, the original police load was closer to 900 fps. I used to load 210 lead slugs over around 7-8 grains of Unique. Didn't have a chrono back then, but by extrapolating load data, these were in the 850-900 range. The load was very pleasant shooting out of a 6" M57, and was absolutely a bowling pin's worst nightmare.

The original .41 Magnum 210 grain LSWC Police load would lead the bore BIG TIME !

Sixgun100 is correct

The original Police load was a 210 soft lead SWC at 1050

The 850-900 range that epj mentions is what Elmer Keith had originally suggested.

I used a 210 JHP over 14 grs of 2400. It did all I needed as an LEO. Loading manuals back then indicated that load was in the 900 to 1000 fps range. That was what Elmer and others recommended for police work.
I shot that load every week on my days of for 13 years. My gun is still tight as a tick.

That load went thru the rear end of a 1978 Ford Bronco and plumb ruined the radio in the dash board.

I still wear the bullet as a tie tack.

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Eccentric old coot

The .41 would have done much better if someone had loaded a .41 Special/Police round in a slightly shorter case and offered it to Cops. Way to many tried using .41 mag rounds and it soured them on the gun. Remember that ,unfortunately, most Cops are NOT gun enthusiasts.

Here is a good read on the .41 mag and goes on to explain about the leading issues with that loading.

Why We Don't Have A .41 Keith

HSM loads the .41 magnum in their cowboy line of ammo that looks to be a ringer for the "Police Load" as well.
Cowboy Action

Unfortunately I haven't seen any for sale locally to try.

"That load went thru the rear end of a Ford Bronco and plumb ruined the radio in the dash board."

Yeah, but those early Ford Broncos were made out of Campbell's soup cans.

Must have made an interesting sound, though.

The factories liked to use those soft swaged bullets they were so fond of, These caused problems in both the 357 magnum and 41 magnum.
I wrote to Guns & Ammo seeking a load similar to the "police" load, Elmer Keith answered , said to use the Lyman mould #410459, 220 grain SWC, cast of Lyman #2 alloy , load over 8.0 grains of Unique. 7.5 grains of Unique is what I settled on for general purpose, plinking, tin can and paper target.

8.0 grains of Unique is near or at 1000 fps and for my use 7.5 grains at around 900 fps does fine, and seems to be a little more accurate in my model 58.
Elmer always did load them on the "warm " side

Gary

I have loaded a cast swc over 7.0 of Unique for years and I think it would be a fine LEO load.

I've never chronoed the "Police" load but have several boxes downstairs that I bought a couple of years ago... I believe the velocity from a 4" is in the 950 fps area. 8.0 grains of Unique runs 925-975 fps from a 4" barrel depending on the weight of the bullet from 210-230 grains.

I can still remember the cleaning session on my nickel 58 back in about 1973 when I fired my first box of "Police" loads...it was also the last time I ever did that...

Bob

This wasn't no soup can. The bullet went through the spare tire, the tail gate, the back of the front seat and into the radio.
The guy driving the Bronco didn't have permission to have it and went to the PD to report a bunch of mexicans chasing and shooting at him to cover the bullet hole. Another Patrolman who was there arrested him.

I always figured that it was "sort of" a one shot stop.

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Eccentric old coot

I was lucky enough to pick up 400 41 special cases from a Starline special run a few years ago. Loaded with 215 grain semwads at 950 fps, extremely accurate out of a 6.5" Model 57 and a 8 3/6 57 as well. Dave_n

ah yes the load that introduced me to the Lewis lead remover!

Got to run both the Winchester and Remington Police loads through the chrono and waterbox today.

S&W 58 4" with Mag-Na-Port Quad-ports

Winchester: 966 fps. Penetrated one milk carton and 4 water jugs until it was stopped by a Kevlar vest insert wrapped around a gallon jug. Very little deformation of the bullet.

Remington: 927 fps. Repeat of Winchester but the nose of the bullet was a little more deformed.

Handload: 213 grain Keith from a MiHec mold with HP. 8.0 grains of Unique. 950 fps. Damage to the carton and first jug was much more than the factory rounds. Pieces of the nose were in the first jug. The body of the bullet continued and hit the vest.

Handload: same but 9.0 grains of Unique. 1102 fps...same but more damage to the carton and first jug.

Handload: same but 10.0 grains of Unique and the bullet had a penta-point cavity. 1188 fps. As above and even more damage to the carton and jug.

Unlike JHP ammo that holds together and stops by the 3th jug, the cast HPs drop a lot of energy very quickly and then keep on penetrating... The no longer made Speer 200 HP used to do the same. It would shed the HP nose of the bullet and then what looked like a little ash can just kept going...I miss that bullet...

Bob

I like unique as well for 41 mag.its probably my fav.caliber

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SWCA#2208
KK4EMO

While the published factory velocity for the .41 seems to vary according to the source, the ''Police Load'' from the '70s I chrono'd from my M57s was 972 fps. from the 4" and 1017 from the 6".

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Good shooting.

...and if one checks the 210 JSP was listed at 1500 fps...which it will do from a 10" test barrel.

Bought a new 4" Ruger Redhawk .41 Magnum today. Shot up some OLD 210 softpoints. One pretty clean lot of 5 ran very consistently in the mid-1200. The older stuff that had been in some leather belt loops ran from 1070-1403.

These were the tests from yesterday.

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8.0 grains of Unique with a 212 Keith HP. Better energy transfer at the same velocity and same amount of penetration...

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Groo here
Not quite the police load,
We use this load.
215gr swc cast[coated] win primers, medium to heavy crimp,
AND 6 gr Trailboss [1/2 gr under book max.
Should run 800 to 900 depending on barrel.
Shoots clean, and accurate.
We tried this load in 5 different revolvers and all
shot VERY well..

Someone posted on another forum that they had a few of the original police cartridges left over . They pulled the powder and submitted to a lab for identification . The response came back , 7.0 grains / bullseye . I'm just passing on what I have read w/o any further verification to it's authenticity .

Our sister agency carried model 58's in the mid 80's. They issued a 210 grain Winchester Silvertip.

I believe the best .41 Magnum "Police" loading is the Winchester 175 grain Silvertip. Controllable, accurate, clean barrel, probably an excellent stopper.

I lobbied for a big bore option to the .38/.357 at my old department and as sort of a demonstration, shot a 100% on our 60 shot qualification course with the Remington lead load and my Model 58. This was about 1983/1984. I was worried about the lead bullets maintaining the needed accuracy for 60 rounds but wanted to demonstrate factory ammo in a factory gun. It must have been a fairly new production, as I bought it just for the test and it shot better and leaded the bore less than older stuff I had bought and shot. I never saw the Winchester .41 Magnum Police loading for sale around here, just the Remington.

I did the same with the Winchester .44 Mag lead bullet "reduced" load and a 4 inch Model 29. It was rated for about 1,000 fps with a 240 grain swaged SWC bullet, if I remember right. It leaded a lot less than R-P's .41 loading.

In both cases, the armorer was unimpressed.

Tom Ferguson was an excellent and entertaining writer.

I loved my 41 Mags but sold them off years back. I liked 8.0 grs of Universal with 215 gr SWC as mid range load. Used Lyman data using 2400 for magnum loads.

When I carry a .41 for personal defense against 2-legged vermin I now use the 180 grain Barnes or C.O.P all copper HP bullets. Several different companies load them at velocities from 1050 to 1300 fps from a 4" barrel.

They open up very fast and penetrate more than enough to get the job done. And the recoil is noticeably less than other JHPs...

Bob

That sounds plausible.
Many years ago- 6.5 gr. B/E w/210 gr. cast SWC clocked at 966 fps. from a 4". My notes say "Very accurate".

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Good shooting.

H&G # 256 or #258, pushed with somewhere between 7.5 and 8.5 grains of Unique, or around nine grains of AA #5. More accurate than you can hold, and easy on the wrists...