Barrel length Versus Velocity
DCWilson;1103576]I think the .41 Magnum is one of those cartridges that functions fine out of any length barrel, but really comes into its own when it leaves a long one --
Hello David & Other's
I am
not trying to High-Jack this thread by focusing on Barrel length velocity, but you & Other's may find this article interesting in the fact that it is focused on the .41 Magnum fired out of different barrel lengths and what the author found out, Being that shorter barrels do Not always show slower Bullet velocities. I have saved this article for those that stead fsat elive Longer barrels mean faster velocity.
I am a True hand Loader and feel one Really has to be to see the True Potential of the .41 Magnum round. It is well known the Police Loads developed for it were part of the reason it never grew Popular due to their Powder Puff velocities and even the commercial Hunting loads offered of today, do not hald a candle to what I can hand load for this caliber... Hammerdown
Handgun Barrel Length Velocity Variable May Just Be a Myth
by Dave Workman
Senior Editor
Many shooters believe that velocity of a bullet is, at least in part, determined by the length of a gun barrel, in that the longer bore allows powder to burn more completely, thus increasing velocity as the projectile leaves the muzzle.
Some years back, a couple of gun writers set about to demonstrate that this is not entirely true, and in one case, a gent of my acquaintance started with a very long-barreled single-action Ruger, cutting the barrel off in 1-inch increments, and testing the velocity of bullets fired through that bore as it shrank. These experiments revealed that, at least in some handguns, barrel length may not be that great a factor.
Having hunted for several years with a .41 Magnum Ruger Blackhawk or Smith & Wesson Model 57 on my hip-the former with a 6°-inch barrel and the latter with a 6-inch tube-I had begun to wonder (as these guns seemed to get increasingly heavier over the years) about packing a lighter-weight wheelgun in the same caliber, but with a shorter barrel. The question: Would such a pistol still deliver the goods in the event I had to take a shot with it?
Using a selection of available .41 Magnum ammunition from Winchester, Federal and Remington-along with a couple of handloads using different brand bullets of the same weight over two different propellants-I recently discovered that not only is it not necessarily true about barrel length, my shorter six shooter actually delivered faster velocities over a chronograph in a couple of cases.
First, holding to the accepted wisdom, the 175-grain Winchester Silvertip fired through the 6°-inch Blackhawk, did exceed the same round fired out of the 4-5/8-inch Blackhawk by about 60 feet-per-second (fps). The longer gun sent that pill downrange at 1,292 fps while the short barrel pushed the bullet at 1,238 fps, with velocities measured at 12 yards from the muzzle.
Remington's JSP
Likewise, Remington's 210-grain JSP sizzled out the bore of my older long Blackhawk at 1,338 fps, while the same load fired in the short-barrel gun sent the bullet through my Chrony screens at 1,293 fps, a variation of 45 fps.
However, the worm turned abruptly-at least during one range session over the chronograph-when I stuffed the cylinders of both guns with two handloads. Shooting a 210-grain Nosler JHP ahead of 19.4 grains of H110 brought this surprising result: The load clocked out of the longer gun at 1,129 fps, while it raced out of the shorter model at 1,170 fps.
Then, shooting a Hornady 210-grain XTP over 17.5 grains of 2400 found the longer gun delivering the bullet at 1,171 fps, and the shorter gun booting the same load at 1,242 fps.
Can't happen, you say? I thought so, too, but I fired these loads in front of an independent witness.
What does all of this mean? Not really much to this writer, because variations of a relative few feet-per-second when you're talking about a 210-grain hunk of lead cruising along in the neighborhood of 1,150-1,300 fps are hardly going to be a matter of debate between hunters and the deer they are shooting.
Handgun Hunting
After explaining as gently as possible to this guy that he was clueless about the subject, I went to work editorially. It took a couple of years, but we finally got handgun hunting on the books, and I believe it was the second or third season when I finally scored a blacktail buck with a shot from my first Blackhawk, with a 6°-inch barrel.
By that time, I'd had occasion to shoot that Blackhawk at various targets and many different distances. I've blown up many a water-filled gallon milk jug, and even knocked over some steel chickens and pigs, shattered a bowling pin or two and bounced some tin cans. All that plinking may seem like so much wasted lead to some people, but to others, it is merely p
To establish your maximum shooting range, take an 8-inch pie plate, get some self-adhesive Shoot-N-C 4-inch centers from Birchwood Casey, put one in the middle of the plate, and start setting it out at distances beginning at 25 yards and run it out to 75 to 100 yards. As I mentioned in a previous installment, I've been able to bang a deer-sized gong at 200 yards with the new Ruger, but that doesn't mean I am actually going to take a shot at a deer at that range with this handgun.
The 4" Nickel examples seem to be the hardest one's to find as I Passed up many Examples with the 6" Barrel or 8-3/8" Barrels, and most of those were Blued finish until I found mine. Hammerdown
