tame 41mag factory ammo?

[Richard Simmons]

Actually I just checked a box and the Remington HTP I shot was the JSP not the JHP. Still a 210gr at an advertised 1300 FPS. This was from back in 2017. My local Gander Mountain had it priced at over $70 for a box of 50. When they decided to close the store I waited until the final day and bought up all they had left for $21.99 a box. It and .45 GAP were the only handgun ammo left in the store. Haven't tried it in my 6" M57 no dash but suspect the 6" barrel might tone it down a bit over my 4" gun.

 

[SourwoodTom]

Is it bad my first load for my 657 was h110 under a 210gr jsp nosler, lol. Recoil wasn't bad at all, and I'm no fan of being beat up. However, it is magna ported, so that tames it down. The muzzle blast was worse than anything. That's not what you're looking for, but magna port will help tame it down.

Be careful with trying the wuss powder charges, all I've found for 41 "special" loads are in forums. Too weak on the powder and a stuck bullet or worse will happen. Unique doesn't fill the case very much in special length brass, bullseye darn sure doesn't. But, I've never had trouble and use unique only for 41 special, it works better than I can shoot, so I stayed with unique.

Not so much "wuss" charges, but rather slightly subsonic or even sub-1000fps.

Biggest thing, other than burn rate, when reducing charges is VMD or case fill. 5 grains of Unique, HP38, or even 296 doesn't fill the case enough. If the powder is forward (toward the bullet) when the primer ignites there could be issues with burning. MAKE SURE WHEN LOADING LIGHT THAT YOU USE A POWDER WITH A HIGHER VMD -- it is safer.

The advantage of a high-VMD powder like Trail Boss is that it fills the case better with less powder. Trailboss=.2172 cc/grain whereas WIN296 is only .0656 cc/grain. Same charge, TB uses three times the volume.

You have to have really poor ignition, or be woefully undercharged to put a bullet in the barrel. Most stuck bullets (assuming the reloader used the correct size bullet) come from no charge at all rather than a light charge. If you keep your head out of your backside when shooting, you'll know if something (squib?) isn't right and will hopefully open the cylinder and look down the barrel to insure it is clear. Note: Open the cylinder first. (Had to say that or someone would gripe)

Some of the characters I've shot with in SASS use as little as 2gr. of HP38 or WIN231 in a 38sp or even a .357 case. They'll put a wad on top of the powder before seating the bullet. They get good ignition, but you can see the bullet fly if standing directly behind them. Zero recoil - I think it is cheating, but it isn't against the rules. Couple hundred fps rings the steel and counts as a hit.

For reference VMDs: TB=.2172, HP38=.0926, Unique=.1092, 296=.0656

 

[Ugly Hombre]

I just wish we could find some factory police load .41 ammo!

This ammo famine is awful.

 

[cowboy4evr]

The original " Police load " was supposedly 7.0 grs of Bullseye powder using a 210 gr swaged bullet . I personally have never tried this load . From what I have read it " leaded " a barrel something fierce . After 5-6 rounds you couldn't even see the rifling because of the soft swaged bullet . Regards Paul

 

[Jellybean]

The original " Police load " was supposedly 7.0 grs of Bullseye powder using a 210 gr swaged bullet . I personally have never tried this load . From what I have read it " leaded " a barrel something fierce . After 5-6 rounds you couldn't even see the rifling because of the soft swaged bullet . Regards Paul

I bought my first .41 magnum in 1980, with more to follow in the years since, and shot a ton of the "police loads" with no leading issues. It's possible the leading was an issue earlier but they corrected it.

I carried a .41 mag. on duty for about ten years and it's my favorite cartridge.