OK, I asked about the 454 Casull, what about a 41 Mag?

[Rule3]

So between 357 Mag, 44 Special, 44 Mag, 45 Colt What would a 41 Mag do for me?

I know a lot of folks like them and this is not a caliber war. I just never got one due to the other above calibers.

Is it worth setting up to load yet another caliber other than being a caliber short of a full load.

 

[John Ross]

Shoots a bit flatter than the .44 mag. Slightly less recoil. Can be had in the fixed-sight M58, which some will mistake for a Model 10.

 

[Gun 4 Fun]

I like the .41 magnum. I haven't been without at least one for the last 23 years. It doesn't do anything that the .44 can't, and the .44 is better with heavier bullets, but overall it's simply a great round. It's generally quite accurate without much effort at the loading bench.

It can take bullets up to 250-260 grains quite easily, but if you want to shoot that weight slug in one, buy a Freedom Arms instead of a Smith. Not for strength (since the .41 is THE ideal size round for an N frame), but because the twist rate is too slow in a Smith for bullets much heavier than 220 grains. Freedom Arms have a faster twist in them and will stabilize heavier bullets much better.

No direspect meant to the poster above, but the whole "shoots flatter than a .44" is a myth. How that one got started God only knows for sure, but I think that it got started, at least in part, by gun writers comparing the factory loads for the .44 with 240 grain bullets from a 4" vented test barrel, and listed at 1180 fps, to the full power load for the .41 that supposedly dove a 210 grain bullet to about 1510 fps from an 8 3/8" vented test barrel.

When compared side by side at an actual firing range with real world guns that have the exact same barrel, and with top loads for each, it's so close that any difference is only in the mind of the person who favors one round over the other.

One other thing-
the .41 is closer in bore diameter to the .44, than the .44 is to the .45 Colt-
.410" vs .429"/.430" = .019"-.020" difference (depending on on which brand .44 bullet is chosen)
.429"/.430" vs .451"/452"= .022"- .023" difference (depending on which brand of bullet is chosen for either caliber).

 

[Frank237]

The .410" .41 Mag is not really that far away from the .429" .44 Magnum/.44 Spcl.

I never understood why they named a rd thats not even a "forty three"...a FORTY FOUR.

The only game I've ever taken with the .41 was an antelope and a single muley doe. They dropped after a short run...same as those hit by .44 mags or .45 Colt +P's. Couldn't see ANY difference.

FN in MT

 

[duckloads]

So between 357 Mag, 44 Special, 44 Mag, 45 Colt What would a 41 Mag do for me?

I know a lot of folks like them and this is not a caliber war. I just never got one due to the other above calibers.

Is it worth setting up to load yet another caliber other than being a caliber short of a full load.

What would it do for you? It would get you another S&W revolver! What else do you need?

 

[Frank237]

We can thank Elmer Keith for the idea that the .41 mag shoots flatter than the .44 mag. I've read that in both one of his books and recall reading it in one of his Gun Notes articles many years ago.

But...given slugs of equal weight...the forty one bullet would have a slightly higher BC so it WOULD shoot a minute amount flatter. Just saying...

 

[ken158]

I have been a 41 fan for years and agree with gun4fun. For the record, I have shot deer with a 357, 41, 44 and 454. Once you hit the 40 cal things really start to happen. All 357 hit deer have run but were recovered. The 40 cal deer all fell within a short distance of where they were when shot. The most impressive wound channels were with the 454. After the bullet leaves the target it does not really matter how far it goes... Keeping in mind the distance you would be shooting in a handgun hunting situation, I dont think any 40 cal is an advantage over the other.

 

[Gun 4 Fun]

But...given slugs of equal weight...the forty one bullet would have a slightly higher BC so it WOULD shoot a minute amount flatter. Just saying...

That's true, but in my experience with both (which is quite a bit) the .44 will reach slightly higher velocities with top end loads with the standard bullet, than the .41 does with its top loads and the standard 210 weight slugs in equal barrel lengths, so it tends to even out in the real world.


I think you are correct about the "myth" being started by Keith, and I know that Dick Metcalf of Shooting Times magazine is a diehard .41 lover, and has written many articles espousing its virtues, and saying a lot of things that are a pantload too. He seems to be a gun company yes man. His articles did the same thing with the .480 Ruger when it came out. It too, is a great round, but Metcalf wrote things about it that are simply not true trying to bolster its sales for Ruger.

Ol' Elmer knew how to sell the public on his ideas, and the .41 being the ideal lawman round was one of them.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

I never understood why they named a rd that's not even a "forty three"...a FORTY FOUR.

Probably for the same reason they named a round .38 S&W or .38 Special but they are really a 35 Cal.
(or 36 Cal if you want to round up)

At least they named the .357 Magnum perfectly.

 

[SMSgt]

I had a .41 Blackhawk in AK and loved it. Second-third shots were demonstratively easier than with the .44 Mag. Just too much recoil for me. Gun was stolen, still have the ammo, but it's loaded with Blue Dot, which today is a no-no.

Being "popular" doesn't make any particular caliber "better," it just makes ammo easier to find.

 

[John Ross]

No disrespect meant to the poster above, but the whole "shoots flatter than a .44" is a myth.

When compared side by side at an actual firing range with real world guns that have the exact same barrel, and with top loads for each, it's so close that any difference is only in the mind of the person who favors one round over the other.

None taken. I said "a bit" flatter, and that came from shooting two scoped 8 3/8" guns off sandbags and zeroing them at 100 yards. When I then shot the guns at 200 yards, the .41 showed about 2" less drop than the .44. Remington factory ammo in both. This was in 1974. Don't know about the factory ammo today.

 

[Rule3]

What would it do for you? It would get you another S&W revolver! What else do you need?

I am thinking along this "logic" Who says I actually have to load and shoot it??? Although I do not own a gun I have not shot (at least once) even so called "collectibles"

The only other small problem may be divorce.

 

[John Ross]

Think of it not as a problem but an opportunity...

 

[Gun 4 Fun]

Think of it not as a problem but an opportunity...

Which? Buying another gun, or getting divorced?

 

[Too Tall Tom]

41 Mag

I have a model 57 and 657 and I can tell you that the feral hogs around here don't like them.

 

[Rule3]

I just went and looked at it. A 657-4 pre lock, like new. Just came in. Don't think I want to pay that kinda money even though it's a good price and great shape.

What should one of these sell for??

 

[Skip Sackett]

I just went and looked at it. A 657-4 pre lock, like new. Just came in. Don't think I want to pay that kinda money even though it's a good price and great shape.

What should one of these sell for??

All that traffic will bear!

If you are so all fired flush with "gun" cash, how about a lone!

 

[Rule3]

All that traffic will bear!

If you are so all fired flush with "gun" cash, how about a lone!

Nope I am cheaper than you. But I might give you a Loan

I would need to sell a gun and that is pretty much not something I really like to do, I am pretty fond of most of them and any plastic guns I wouldn't get much for, so I'll just keep them.

 

[NE450No2]

The only thing it would do for you is to cause you the have a revolver that is hard to fine ammo for... Just get another 44 Mag.

Sorry Superman....

 

[NE450No2]

And my apologies to all of you 41 Mag Freeks.

I used to have a 41 Mag A S&W Mod 58 that I used as a foul weather Duty Gun, and an off duty gun in an upside shoulder holster with a second fited bobbed hammer...

Baised on its own ballistics, it is a good calibre.

It just did not make it to the Mainstream...

So why bother???? A 44 Mag is a better tool, as you can find ammo, 44 Mag or 44 Special in many, many more places...

I do wish, back in the day, that S&W made a M&P [like the Mod 58] in the 44 Mag...