Question about 41 Special

[Joe in SC]

I am a great fan of big bore revolvers, anything starting with a 4. I own 41 mag, 44 special, 44 mag, 45 acp and even a 40 S&W revolver (un-fired, nib.) Others consider the 357 big bore and I like the original magnum (I must as I have 8 or 9), but I do not consider it as big bore.

I have been reading a few post which mention this round, also a few remarks about it in some of the gun rags. I reload all my centerfire ammo and mostly shoot homecast bullets. I have no trouble loading 41 mag. lite enough for recoil sensitive shooters to enjoy shooting it.

What are the advantages or positive attributes of this round. I understand you could probably put it on an L frame if you made a 5 shooter. Please educate me regarding this interesting (starts with a 4) cartridge. TIA

Joe in SC

 

[gizamo]

Joe,

Hamilton Bowen and a few of the other well-known gunsmiths have been doing conversions on single actions for a while. The 22 cal Ruger Single Six is a good candidate for such a conversion. Makes a perfect packin' pistol. Small frame, and lightweight....with plenty of punch.

Think that is what really fired up the interest....

giz

 

[Bailey Boat]

The L frame, 5 shot that you speak of is the 696. Only made for a few years and are now highly sought after. I'm a lucky cuss, I have 2, one is NIB and the other is shot regularly with great pleasure........

 

[Joe in SC]

Gizamo, I think I recall an article in Handgunner by Taffin mentioning the conversion by Bowen that you are referring to. Somewhere I saw something about a S&W conversion and there has been a post or two here recently about the cartridge. I think I saw something, maybe in "wishlist" about it.

Maybe a 5 shot L frame , something along the line of a 696 would be a good carry gun. With a longer tube a good woods walking revolver. In my case it would be redundent because I have all the others that I mentioned, but I'm always looking for something new and different to play with.

I guess my question remains, does it offer something the 44 special, the ACP or 45 long colt does not (other than a smaller package)?

Any Forum members here presently shooting one of these? Would the L-frame handle this cartridge with a 6 shot cylinder?

 

[BUFF]

"I guess my question remains, does it offer something the 44 special, the ACP or 45 long colt does not (other than a smaller package)?

Any Forum members here presently shooting one of these? Would the L-frame handle this cartridge with a 6 shot cylinder?"

S&W has made six shot .40 S&W revolvers on the L frame. The .41 Special is barely thicker and no longer. I believe that there are some 6 shot .41 Special conversions running around the archives of recent handgunner literature.

How they would hold up would be strictly a fuction of how the shooter loaded his ammo. A 200-210 grain bullet at 800-850 fps with fairly fast pistol powders should be plenty mild enough.

 

[ISOM]

.41 Special

I have been loading what they now call ".41 Special" loads ince the 1980's.
I got started duclicating the "Old Police Load" of 210/215 grain cast with 8.0 grains of UNIQUE.

Also, I load 5.0 grains of UNIQUE with a 210 or 220 jacketed or cast bullet.

I do not trim my brass and have not had any trouble....

 

[Roadranger]

John Taffin has information on the 41 special in one of his books. The 41 special is a 41 Magnum case shortened to the same length as a 44 special case and loaded with traditional 41 bullets to around 1000fps or less. S&W L frame revolvers such as the 581,586, or their SS counterparts can be converted to a SIX shot 41 Specials(John used a 581). Awhile back I had a 3" 586 that I acquired for that purpose. The cylinder is long enough for 41 Magnums, but I doubt that anyone would ream it out to 41 Magnum. The purpose of the whole exercise is to be able to obtain a L frame police revolver with the ballistics of the original 41 magnum 210 lead bullet police load in a lighter revolver. This it does!!

 

[Joe in SC]

Thanks Roadranger, That's more of what I was looking for. With that in mind I can see the appeal of such a round. Wouldn't mind having a 3 or 4 inch L-frame, 6 shot revolver to play with.

Thanks for the response and any additional info, especially from someone shooting this interesting cartridge, feel free to chime in.

Joe in SC

 

[Roadranger]

Joe, I didn't pursue getting the 586 made into a 41 special. Naturally, since it was a RSR limited edition gun, I sold it lake a fool. Those of us who handload can get the 41 special ballistics in 41 mag brass in our m57's, m58's, etc. The 41 special concept came about when there was still some interest in revolvers for police use, since the converted S&W L frames would have fit the existing holsters and loader pouches in use at that time. I doubt if we'll ever see the return of revolvers to LE use in mass. There is no interest in LE for revolvers today, alythough my M627 8 shot would get the job done. Bob!!!!

 

[colt_saa]

Myself, I love the 41 Magnum. I have quite a few of them. This decade old group photo is probably missing about a good dozen of them by now.

Personally, I do not understand wanting to create a 41 Special or even wanting to shoot one. There is nothing unsafe with loading the 41 Magnum to lower pressure, say for target loads. We all shoot 210-215 grain LSWCs at around 1000 FPS.

As to L-frame sized 41s. I have had two of them for many, many years now. Not custom revolver, factory originals offered by Taurus in either stainless steel or total Titanium. S&W could produce these if they wanted however I am sure it is a pretty small market.

The only reason that I can see for a 41 Special is if you were trying to make a revolver fire a .41 caliber projectile that is not fit for the pressure of the the 41 Magnum and you obviously needed to make sure you could not accidentally chamber the wrong ammunition.

Some will argue that the shorter case is more efficient with the lighter powder charges. But then you have increased the distance that the bullet has to travel before it engages the rifling thus reducing accuracy. Both if these changes are tine, but I will take the less efficient more accurate version without blinking an eye.

 

[SWID]

I've been shooting what I call .41 Special for decades in my N frames, 57s and 58s. Basically I just use .44 Special or .45 Colt data with the same weight bullets. Anyway that's how I started. Lot's of fun and accurate.

 

[whitecoyote]

Are there any factory loads for the .41 special?

 

[Roadranger]

I just checked with MidwayUSA. No ammo was shown but the do carry 41 Special brass made by Quality brass @ about $1.00 a piece. Bob!!

 

[2sigs]

Seemingly Valid Reason for Special

Greetings all !

I own a few .41's myself, One of which is a 686 rebored ".41 Special"

Now as for the "Need" to have a designated ".41 Special" case with headstamp there is a valid need I believe.

I read somewhere of a person needing Special version Headstamp due to Range restrictions of Magnums. "NO Magnums" at the Range means we can not fire our beloved .41's since no factory .41 Special is available, or is it?
".41 Spl" headstamped brass is available for sale at Midway or was anyway. A much better deal is available from a guy in TX. I believe, I think that his username on the boards is Dixie something or another, a search should find it easily.

So yes there is a valid reason to have ".41 Special" ammunition

Take Care all and Have a MERRY CRISTMAS !!
-2sigs

It's "Revolver Season" here in the land of snow so take your favorite .41 out and leave that Darned brass spitter at home!!

 

[ddixie884]

This is a .41spl thread I haven't posted in..............

 

[ddixie884]

ttt.....................