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.41 Magnum SD ammo

CCantu357

CCantu357

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What are some of the best .41 self defense rounds? It seems that most .41 Magnum loads are geared for hunting, and are designed for maximum penetration. Are there any good factory loads that would be suited for home/self defense in the middle magnum?
 
CCantu357 said:
What are some of the best .41 self defense rounds? It seems that most .41 Magnum loads are geared for hunting, and are designed for maximum penetration. Are there any good factory loads that would be suited for home/self defense in the middle magnum?
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You are correct that most factory rounds are designed for hunting/outdoor use. The Winchester Silvertip is a good dedicated SD round. I have a local guy make me a similar round to the original Police load of a 215 grain LSWC at around 1000 fps. It is my go to, general purpose round for my Model 58.
 
rbmac52 said:
This is a decent and relatively affordable round for self-defense purposes.

Remington HTP 41 Remington Magnum Ammo 210 Grain SP
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Probably the worst round for SD and best one for hunting...bullet hardly expands at all and will shoot right through most any human made. It also is one of the hardest kicking .41s made making follow-up shots difficult.... Velocity from a 4" is right at 1250 fps...

The Silvertip runs in the mid-1200 but kicks much less because the bullet weight is lower. It has a very good track record and follow-up shots are as good as it gets with a .41.

CorBon makes a SD load using a 170 grain Sierra JHC at 1275 fps. The bullet expands fairy well. One of the other small companies runs this same bullet at about 1500 fps and is much better for deer hunting.

For a factory load at this point my money goes to the Federal Premium with the 180 Barnes Expander... Velocity from a 4" gun is in the 1300s and it expands VERY fast but penetrates just as well an any defensive bullet should.

I asked Peter Pi of CorBon about .41 loads at the SHOT Show a few years ago. He is a .41 Guy and used to carry a 58 when he was a LEO. He says he used to carry his companies 170 load but switched to their 180 Barnes load when he carries his 58...

With a .41 look for a fast expanding bullet because otherwise you are going to depositing all the energy in the area on the other side of the target...

Bob
 
Thanks. I have always thought the Silvertip was the best defensive load in .41, but it can be hard to find. Federal makes a 210 grain JHP that looks good, as well as Hornady's XTP loading. I always forget about CorBon, as they have gotten hard to find around here - they used be everywhere.
 
Through and through shots are nice but it a] wastes a lot of energy b] has a LOT of energy that could cause way too much collateral

The Hornady XTP, Federal Fusion and Classic HP and Winchester 240 Platinum Tip are all hunting bullets...they will work great on 2-Legged vermin but there is a lot of recoil... I've run the Speer 210 Gold Dot, now called Deep Curl, HP and it expands well down into the 900s. The box of factory rounds I had ran 1180 from a 4". I only wish Speer would make a 180+- grain bullet constructed like the 200 grain .429 HP that is made to expand much quicker...then .41 shooters could have a SD load that didn't kick and still expanded...
 
I don't mean to sound like a wise guy when I say this, but the idea of specialty "self-defense" ammo for a cartridge like .41 or .44 Magnum seems redundant. You hit a guy with anything out of those two calibers and it will be effective. I can see why manufacturers have bullets like Hydra Shock and Gold Dot for smaller and/or less powerful autopistol cartridges like 9mm and .380, but the bullet diameter, weight and velocity/muzzle energy of the .41 Magnum makes just about any bullet configuration an effective manstopper. As to the concerns regarding overpenetration...that is more the result of Mas Ayoob's decades of fearmongering...and without hardly any quantitative data to back up his claims. People worry about overpenetration but no one seems to care about the very real and highly likely danger posed by their bullets that just plain miss the bad guy and fly into the wild blue yonder.
 
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As I was reading thru here I started looking at SD ammo in .41 Mag, thought maybe I'd buy a box or two.

A close friend is going to load 500 magnum rounds for me. I'll probably put 50 rounds thru my 57 and another 50 thru my 58 as soon as they arrive.

Then I have no idea if or when I'll ever even shoot them again unless a friend wants to try them out.

I have no intention or desire to ever carry either one of them. I am really looking forward to shooting the 58.

Why did I get them???? Just because. :D

That and because they share the same frame as my 27s and my 28-2. All the same gun.
 
500SNW said:
As to the concerns regarding overpenetration...that is more the result of Mas Ayoob's decades of fearmongering...and without hardly any quantitative data to back up his claims. People worry about overpenetration but no one seems to care about the very real and highly likely danger posed by their bullets that just plain miss the bad guy and fly into the wild blue yonder.
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I actually know of a case from about 10 years ago when an Albuq PD officer shot a guy who was attacking him with a knife using a 40 caliber 180 grain JHP. The bullet passed through the (soon to be) decedent and struck an infant being carried by her mother in the foot nearly a block away. No permanent harm was done, and no result of nightmarish civil liability.
 
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