Recommendation for Reduced 41 Mag loads

WoodSmith

WoodSmith

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I'm shooting Oregon Trail 215 gr. LSWC (0.412" dia.) in a model 58. I just tried 4.5 gr. Titegroup (listed at 882 ft/s) and 7.8 gr. Unique (listed at 960 ft/s) but still too much recoil for my sore wrist. While searching this forum, 5 gr. Unique was suggested as a PPC load but didn't list a velocity.

Other suggestions?

I'd rather not deal with .41 spl. brass, but just load reduced loads in 41 mag. brass.

Thanks,
 
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Well, I'm not sure you will find 41spl brass! Look real hard though. ;)

I don't have a 41 but I do shoot some light loads in the 44Mag. 4.5gr Bullseye under a 200gr LRNFP Cowboy Bullet. Somewhere between 750 and 800fps, if memory serves me right. That's from a 5" barrel too.
 
Hi, it has been my experience that the fastest burning powders in light loads will generate the lesser recoil.

Be careful with the same faster powders and possible double-charges in a full sized .41 Magnum case. But safe loads can be had as long as you are watching the powder process. I visually check each and every case before I seat a bullet, but I use a single-stage press. May not be able to do that with a progressive press.

The faster powders with a 200 to 215 grain bullet at 600 to 700 fps should give fairly manageable recoil.

Expect a difference in impact from where the sights are pointing. The M58 was probably sighted in for a 210 grain bullet at 900 to 1200 fps.

Lighter bullets may vary even more.

You may have to try several different powders before you find one the most accurate. Accuracy in my handguns is VERY much predicated on the choice of powder.

Good luck and stay the course, my M58, with the proper load will group into 1 1/4 inches for 5 shots at 25 yards from a rest.
 
My point exactly, Thanks for making it.

Gun 4 Fun said:
http://smith-wessonforum.com/accessories-misc-sale-trade/83884-f-s-41-special-brass.html

I just checked a friend's loads, and he got 828 fps from a 220 cast swc and 6 grains of 231 from his 4" 657 mountain revolver.
Click to expand...

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Click to expand...

There is no need for special brass though. Unless you feel the need to clean carbon rings before you shoot magnum cases again! :rolleyes:
 
I shoot 210-215 gr. lead SWC, and 166 gr. WC using 4 grains of Bullseye.
116 gr. WC and round balls with 5 grains of Bullseye.
And 208 gr. WC with 3 grains of Bullseye. This is a tack driver but Lee doesn't make the mould anymore.

The thread Eric linked to above specified 'no Bullseye', so I didn't post.
 
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smith crazy said:
There is no need for special brass though. Unless you feel the need to clean carbon rings before you shoot magnum cases again! :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

You had stated good luck finding any in your first post. I just posted a link to show where he could, if, he wanted to. I didn't recommend it to him:rolleyes:.

I don't use it in my guns, because I personally don't like to have to scrub the chambers, but there is some available still, and since a lot of guys are using it in their custom .41 Specials Flattop's, I wouldn't be suprised to see another run made before too long.
 
I suggest you consider Trail Boss. Fast powder but very high volume for safer reloading at reduced velocities.

Only problem is reloading data in this combination is hard to find.
 
From what I've read about Trail Boss it needs a load density of from 50% to 100% of the available space left after the bullet is seated.

That means you need to determine where the base of the bullet will be when seated and the powder can fill the rest, but it needs to at least be half full.

Trail Boss should not be compressed at all, because breaking the little doughnuts will change the burn characteristics and cause overpressures.

I've used it a couple of times and wasn't very impressed with it's accuracy. That was with published load data and I plan on experimenting with the rest.
 
TB gave me the least accurate of my .41 Magnum loads, ever. Of course, they were as accurate as the best loads I've fired from a .45 Glock, so we're not talking a major problem. As I said on the thread that I linked supra, TB can give you a lot of fun shooting, if that's what you're seeking.
 
WoodSmith said:
I'm shooting Oregon Trail 215 gr. LSWC (0.412" dia.) in a model 58. I just tried 4.5 gr. Titegroup (listed at 882 ft/s) and 7.8 gr. Unique (listed at 960 ft/s) but still too much recoil for my sore wrist. While searching this forum, 5 gr. Unique was suggested as a PPC load but didn't list a velocity.

Other suggestions?

I'd rather not deal with .41 spl. brass, but just load reduced loads in 41 mag. brass.

Thanks,
Click to expand...

Bob,
I do not shoot a 41 Mag so cannot help with specifics on loads. Howver, I have switched to Trail Boss for all my light loads with lead bullets in the straight walled pistol calibers - 38 Spec, 357 Mag, 44 Special & Mag, 45 ACP ACP(revolver loads) and 45 Colt. With Trail Boss you can obtain low velocity and still see the powder fill in the case before seating the bullet. Check the Hodgdon website for load data - if no specifics for 41 Mag you should be able to exrapolate from the other calibers listed with Trail Boss loads. I did just that for Trail Boss in 32 H&R Magnum. You can also call Hodgdon or e-mail them for info on Trail Boss loads.
Tony
 
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Trail Boss works well in my 41 mags for decreased subjective recoil. Haven't made accuracy tests beyond 40 yards yet, but seems to do just fine as anything else I shoot.

I'll be putting it to a 50 yard test here soon in a red dot mounted 6.5" SBH Rooger.

TB does fine for my other cowboy calibers. No mess to clean either.
 
Thanks everyone for the reply's. I'm going to try successively reduced loads of Titegroup, Unique, and Bullseye because that's what's on hand. I'll post results as soon as it stops raining here in MN.
 
WoodSmith said:
Thanks everyone for the reply's. I'm going to try successively reduced loads of Titegroup, Unique, and Bullseye because that's what's on hand. I'll post results as soon as it stops raining here in MN.
Click to expand...

Today's range session:

4.0 gr. Titegroup ave. = 730 ft/s.

4.0 gr. Bullseye ave. = 745 ft/s.

5.0 gr. Bullseye ave. = 853 ft/s.

5.0 gr. Unique ave. = 745 ft/s.

6.0 gr. Unique ave. = 892 ft/s.

7.0 gr. Unique ave. = 1036 ft/s.

Although all these loads were sufficiently accurate, 4 gr. Bullseye had the best accuracy and was most pleasant for plinking.
 
I checked my notes and the 1036 ft/s average is what the chronograph measured for 7.0 gr. Unique. The chrono was located ~ 3 ft. from the M58 muzzle (had to be that close due to the terrain).
 
I clocked 7.8gr Unique / 215 gr. SWCL, .41 Mag. in 6" and 8 3/8" M57s a couple weeks ago, both guns gave 1095fps average. So the 1036 @7.0 seems about right to me.

BTW, WoodSmith - thanks for the other data. I'm going to try light Bullseye loads based on your findings.
 
Good afternoon
I know for sure you can keep reducing Unique until you have 3 grains in the 41 Mag case. I did not try any less but with Winchester primers there was no ignition problems.
You can also find a 175 grain bullet.
Or get some .412 Round Balls.
 
I like the trail boss idea. If you reduce the loads too much you may eventually get to a point where the bullets won't stabilize from lack of rotational speed. Had issues with this reducing loads in .357, at like 2g of titegroup. Found I need to add more crimp to cases to get the powder to burn consistently. Trail boss solves some of these problems.
 
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