657 41 Magnum question
- Thread starter WheelMan321
- Start date
- Joined
- Dec 17, 2008
- Messages
- 6,619
- Reaction score
- 1,208
Yep, My fav. caliber. Welcome to the .41 club!
SuperMan
Member
...yes, welcome to The Cult.....we .41 Lovers never get any respect... ;-)
Some reference material for you...
Have had four of the 3" 657s over the years...good shooters but take some learning...
If you don't reload, take a look at Lost River Ammunition. Mac is a member here and makes two great .41 loads...one target and one general purpose...
Last count I had 29 .41 revolvers (down from 40), 2 lever guns (down from 4) and a 10" TC handgun and 16.5" carbine....
The 4" guns are my favorite...
3" guns shoot well...
Enjoy....Bob
Some reference material for you...
.41 Magnum / 41 Special Load Data Center
For you lovers of the .41, be it Special or Magnum, I would like to start a thread that I hope one day will be a sticky... If we all contribute our own experiences and articles/posts that we find on line I hope to build a library that any new .41 shooter can come to for a good base of...
castboolits.gunloads.com
Okay guys, here is your chance....post your photos, stories, and favorite loads for the unloved beast that is the Smith & Wesson Model 58.
I have been a fan since I held one the first time...many months later I finally came to own 2, now I am totally sold on them...how about y'all?
Here are my two, both are first year of production. The blue one gets carried while riding the fence lines, the nickel one is on BBQ detail
...
I have been a fan since I held one the first time...many months later I finally came to own 2, now I am totally sold on them...how about y'all?
Here are my two, both are first year of production. The blue one gets carried while riding the fence lines, the nickel one is on BBQ detail
Have had four of the 3" 657s over the years...good shooters but take some learning...
If you don't reload, take a look at Lost River Ammunition. Mac is a member here and makes two great .41 loads...one target and one general purpose...
Last count I had 29 .41 revolvers (down from 40), 2 lever guns (down from 4) and a 10" TC handgun and 16.5" carbine....
The 4" guns are my favorite...
3" guns shoot well...
Enjoy....Bob
OP
WheelMan321
Member
- Joined
- Jun 20, 2025
- Messages
- 17
- Reaction score
- 21
Yes, I would say that will do !...yes, welcome to The Cult.....we .41 Lovers never get any respect... ;-)
Some reference material for you...
.41 Magnum / 41 Special Load Data Center
For you lovers of the .41, be it Special or Magnum, I would like to start a thread that I hope one day will be a sticky... If we all contribute our own experiences and articles/posts that we find on line I hope to build a library that any new .41 shooter can come to for a good base of...castboolits.gunloads.com
Okay guys, here is your chance....post your photos, stories, and favorite loads for the unloved beast that is the Smith & Wesson Model 58.
I have been a fan since I held one the first time...many months later I finally came to own 2, now I am totally sold on them...how about y'all?
Here are my two, both are first year of production. The blue one gets carried while riding the fence lines, the nickel one is on BBQ detail
...
Have had four of the 3" 657s over the years...good shooters but take some learning...
If you don't reload, take a look at Lost River Ammunition. Mac is a member here and makes two great .41 loads...one target and one general purpose...
Last count I had 29 .41 revolvers (down from 40), 2 lever guns (down from 4) and a 10" TC handgun and 16.5" carbine....
The 4" guns are my favorite...
View attachment 769787
3" guns shoot well...
View attachment 769788
Enjoy....Bob
OP
WheelMan321
Member
- Joined
- Jun 20, 2025
- Messages
- 17
- Reaction score
- 21
No body here is trying to say I’m smarter than you.
I have been doing some research and I have found a really good source of information on these guns.
I get where your coming from there is a lot of things that can go wrong if you try and monkey around with the internals of these guns. I am amazed on how much fitting it takes to put one of these older guns together.
Anyway not sure if this has been posted here before but I will throw it out there anyway, this guy is super cool to listen to.
He has a lot of other information that is relevant to firearms. I have learned a lot from him, take a look.
He was a certified Smith & Wesson armorer for the police department back in the day.
Last edited:
Groo01
Member
Groo here
A gun "Doctor" gave me this trick...
Remove grips ,, put in a container of K-1 "keroceen" and let soak for 24 hrs or so..
Then hang and drip dry or shoot with air...
The crud will float out and the are will blow out the rest.
There is usually enough k-1 left to "lube" the action , no takey aparty necessary..
A gun "Doctor" gave me this trick...
Remove grips ,, put in a container of K-1 "keroceen" and let soak for 24 hrs or so..
Then hang and drip dry or shoot with air...
The crud will float out and the are will blow out the rest.
There is usually enough k-1 left to "lube" the action , no takey aparty necessary..
OP
WheelMan321
Member
- Joined
- Jun 20, 2025
- Messages
- 17
- Reaction score
- 21
That actually sounds like a great idea !
I know Karosine has a lot of oil properties in it.
I use it to take the heavy grease off my motorcycle chains when new and add wax base lube once cleaned, the Karosine does not damage the rubber O rings.
Again this man in the video has a vast amount of videos on firearms his knowledge is impressive.
In one of his videos he states that most of his firearms he’s owned for over 50 yrs have never been oiled or greased, ran completely dry, even 1911’s.
He states there is absolutely 0 wear and are as good as they were new.
Grease and oil is a dirt magnet and will gum up.
Once the hardened metal surfaces have polished themselves, they are not going to have any wear.
He’s states firearms are not your John Deer tractor, LOL.
And I have to believe he is 100% correct, it makes sense, these parts are not high friction components and do not require oil or grease especially on a Stainless gun.
So on a whole most who have stated down break down I will have to agree are correct.
Don’t open it up, and I have not yet.
Love the idea of soaking in Karosine and let dry, thanks for your input, and everyone else who have suggested not to open it up!
Thanks guys.
doubletapp357
Member
amazing collection!...yes, welcome to The Cult.....we .41 Lovers never get any respect... ;-)
Some reference material for you...
.41 Magnum / 41 Special Load Data Center
For you lovers of the .41, be it Special or Magnum, I would like to start a thread that I hope one day will be a sticky... If we all contribute our own experiences and articles/posts that we find on line I hope to build a library that any new .41 shooter can come to for a good base of...castboolits.gunloads.com
Okay guys, here is your chance....post your photos, stories, and favorite loads for the unloved beast that is the Smith & Wesson Model 58.
I have been a fan since I held one the first time...many months later I finally came to own 2, now I am totally sold on them...how about y'all?
Here are my two, both are first year of production. The blue one gets carried while riding the fence lines, the nickel one is on BBQ detail
...
Have had four of the 3" 657s over the years...good shooters but take some learning...
If you don't reload, take a look at Lost River Ammunition. Mac is a member here and makes two great .41 loads...one target and one general purpose...
Last count I had 29 .41 revolvers (down from 40), 2 lever guns (down from 4) and a 10" TC handgun and 16.5" carbine....
The 4" guns are my favorite...
View attachment 769787
3" guns shoot well...
View attachment 769788
Enjoy....Bob
This, a thorough cleaning and lube will do wonders I’d bet.
My one and only .41 Magnum is a Model 58 that looks rougher than a waterfront whore. The story I got was it came out of a police evidence locker in Georgia. Perhaps we now know what Billie Joe McAllister was throwing off the Tallahatchie Bridge. Regardless, it was cheap and the action is as slick as an old N-frame gets. The bore and chambers are excellent and it shoots like a house afire.
I understand on a stainless steel, but will it damage the blue finish?
Is that a Colt .41 magnum in the lower part of the picture? I did not know Colt made a .41 magnum.I have been a huge fan of almost all firearms chambered in the 41 Magnum cartridge since I bought my first one accidentally in 1980.
This 15 or 20 year old group photo shows about half of the 41 magnums currently in my collection
The 3" snub nose revolvers were a fantastic firearm. I can not recall how many years I carried mine
If you have not yet cleaned and lubed the firearm then it is way too early to decide if it needs to be sent off for an action job. Also before choosing a gunsmith you probably would need to decide what the revolver will be used for and what level of trigger work you want done.
The bulk of my revolvers have stock actions, smoothness comes simply through the repetitiveness of pulling the trigger the parts we're into each other and everything gets better. Action jobs typically make that natural process occur faster
Also remember when asking about opinions to do or not do something, here on the forum We have an extremely high percentage of purists as our active discussion base.
However out in the real world, the purists make up a teeny, tiny portion of the Smith and Wesson buying public. So our opinion of what will sell or what will work on the used market is dramatically different than what Smith and Wesson's buying public are consuming
The Smith and Wesson Performance Center may not be the shining star that it once was, but it is still not a bad place to get work done. There are also dozens of extremely skilled Revolver shops around the US that are still taking firearms in for work. Pinnacle High Performance, Cylinder & Slide, Clark Custom, Gemini Custom, Mag-na-Port, Ron Horvath, and many more
I will use Mark over at Pinnacle for those things that I do not do myself
bph9,
Yes that is a 41 Magnum Colt Python
Check out Post 23 above . . . . https://smith-wessonforum.com/threads/657-41-magnum-question.743753/page-2#post-142262996
All I can give for advice is... oil the interior of that 3" .41 first and slick up the action (I bet it is dry as a bone.)
If you are gonna shoot it... 210gr LSWHP with a modest change of Unique will do for most uses. Nice leather flap holsters are for sale on line.. suede lined is what I'd get.
Gonna just look at it? Get it engraved by S&W.
I just use my 3" 625 .45 ACP... life is short!
Yes I handload .45 Auto Rims.. and if I want I can load 250 grain LBTs to over 1100 fps... but I tell you ... the recoil is real stiff at that level!!
If you are gonna shoot it... 210gr LSWHP with a modest change of Unique will do for most uses. Nice leather flap holsters are for sale on line.. suede lined is what I'd get.
Gonna just look at it? Get it engraved by S&W.
I just use my 3" 625 .45 ACP... life is short!
Yes I handload .45 Auto Rims.. and if I want I can load 250 grain LBTs to over 1100 fps... but I tell you ... the recoil is real stiff at that level!!
Similar threads
