What exactly is so great about the Model 58?

[cbfd]

My first Revolver was a Ruger Blackhawk in .41 Magnum with a 4-5/8" barrel.I enjoyed shooting it,but it is long gone now.My next revolver will be another .41 mag.,a Model 57,or a 58,I`m leaning toward a 58,but it may end up being a 57 with a 4'' or 6'' barrel!

 

[k22fan]

Bidding on a 58 while this thread is active would be foolish. On the other hand, I've knowingly spent foolishly on S&W revolvers that I was sure I wanted. Keep them for decades and shoot 5 gallon buckets of home cast bullets though them then the cost per shot comes out quite reasonable.

 

[JP@AK]

shoot 5 gallon buckets of home cast bullets though them

I'm curious. What alloy are you casting for these .41 bullets, if you don't mind saying?

Thanks.

 

[Walter Rego]

I think of a Model 58 as a .38/44 HD that makes bigger holes in things. A .41 Mag handloaded with a Keith style 210 gr. cast bullet at 1000 fps is about all you need.

 

[k22fan]

I'm curious. What alloy are you casting for these .41 bullets, if you don't mind saying?

Thanks.

I have not shot .41s nearly as much as .44s and .45s. My three 5 gallon buckets of bullets were .45 cast in a 225 grain 8 cavity Saceo mold that I bought at a gun show. The revolver I was thinking of is my S&W 1917 that I bought in 1975. At the time unfired Model 29-2s were readily sold for double retail and new Model 25-2s were unobtainable.

I have two favorite alloys for Magnum revolvers and .30 to .35 caliber rifles. The first is a 50/50 mix of bullets recovered out of the back stop and lynotype equivalent. The other is older clip on wheel weights cast into a bucket of water which heat treats them nearly as well as a kitchen oven. It always comes down to experimentation in a particular gun.

 

[6string]

What's so "oddball" about the 41 Magnum?
It's a rimmed straight wall cartridge that was specifically designed for the N frame revolver!!
Can't find it at Walmart? Big deal!
If you're a serious reloader, you're probably going to buy a mold or three anyways, so there's your bullet supply.
It's not like we're talking about the 11.2 Montenegrin, for cryin' out loud!
Personally, I find the use of rimless semiauto cartridges in revolvers to pose more issues (not that they don't have they're benefits).

But, if we're just chatting for the heck of it, that's fine, too.

 

[fishwishin]

Personally, I find the use of rimless semiauto cartridges in revolvers to pose more issues (not that they don't have they're benefits).

I'm in the same camp.

 

[k22fan]

[...] It's not like we're talking about the 11.2 Montenegrin, for cryin' out loud! [...]
But, if we're just chatting for the heck of it, that's fine, too.

Which is better for bears, a 11.3x36 mm Montenegrin or a Model 58?

 

[S42N8]

To answer the OP, if you like the 10mm, you'd love the .41 Magnum. There's brass and all the rest aplenty out there - check AmmoSeek. If you want an actual .41 Special, Reed's Ammunition and Research (Reed's Ammunition & Research, LLC) will happily sell you components or loaded ammo... or you can simply reload with a light .41 Magnum charge. I like Reed's Gold Dot Magnum load; a 210gr at ~1200fps works for me, but I'd go with their Barnes XPB load for hunting. LAX Ammo has good-to-great prices, and their 210 gr at ~1000 fps is smack dab in .41 Special territory, and a nice target round. Ballistically, weight being equal, the. 41 Magnum is equal or better than a 10mm, though combat reloads will be faster in the 10mm. If that's the issue, then a Desert Eagle in .41 Magnum would be an option, but pricey vs. a good 10mm. In the end, personal preference is what it is, but I have several M57/58s, and my M58 shooter gets to the range a lot. FWIW.

 

[Lilly]

Bidding on a 58 while this thread is active would be foolish. On the other hand, I've knowingly spent foolishly on S&W revolvers that I was sure I wanted. Keep them for decades and shoot 5 gallon buckets of home cast bullets though them then the cost per shot comes out quite reasonable.

I did the math on my handgun reloads from '79 when I started, through the 90s.
In 1979, I was buying CCI primers for $6.90 a 1,000, various powders for around $5-6 a pound, all the free brass in various calibers that I could carry home and getting free lead, as well.
My cost of .38s and 9mm per box of 50 in those days was 75 cents. For .41s, .44s and .45s about a dollar a box.
CCI seemed harder to ignite, especially with my bull barrel, S&W comp. revolver. I switched to Winchester primers and then to Federal(my favorite) for 100% ignition.
Just before Sandy Hook and the resulting ammo shortage, I had a premonition. I stocked up on Winchester and Federal primers in small and large handgun calibers and small and large rifle, at about $10 per thousand. I was buying powder at $8 a pound. A year after Sandy Hook, I bought even more, at higher prices of course. Today, I have a lifetime supply. One of the few times in my life I actually got ahead of a situation.
I can still load for about a $1.50 and $2 a box with my cast lead bullets. I stocked a good amount of FMJ and JHPs as well.

 

[S.B.]

I did the math on my handgun reloads from '79 when I started, through the 90s.
In 1979, I was buying CCI primers for $6.90 a 1,000, various powders for around $5-6 a pound, all the free brass in various calibers that I could carry home and getting free lead, as well.
My cost of .38s and 9mm per box of 50 in those days was 75 cents. For .41s, .44s and .45s about a dollar a box.
CCI seemed harder to ignite, especially with my bull barrel, S&W comp. revolver. I switched to Winchester primers and then to Federal(my favorite) for 100% ignition.
Just before Sandy Hook and the resulting ammo shortage, I had a premonition. I stocked up on Winchester and Federal primers in small and large handgun calibers and small and large rifle, at about $10 per thousand. I was buying powder at $8 a pound. A year after Sandy Hook, I bought even more, at higher prices of course. Today, I have a lifetime supply. One of the few times in my life I actually got ahead of a situation.
I can still load for about a $1.50 and $2 a box with my cast lead bullets. I stocked a good amount of FMJ and JHPs as well.

Name the caliber you can load for $1.50-$2.00 in todays world and I'll challenge it cost wise? I know of no ammo that can be purchased for that today? Not even .22LRs. I must be reading this wrong?
Steve

 

[Lilly]

To answer the OP, if you like the 10mm, you'd love the .41 Magnum. There's brass and all the rest aplenty out there - check AmmoSeek. If you want an actual .41 Special, Reed's Ammunition and Research (Reed's Ammunition & Research, LLC) will happily sell you components or loaded ammo... or you can simply reload with a light .41 Magnum charge. I like Reed's Gold Dot Magnum load; a 210gr at ~1200fps works for me, but I'd go with their Barnes XPB load for hunting. LAX Ammo has good-to-great prices, and their 210 gr at ~1000 fps is smack dab in .41 Special territory, and a nice target round. Ballistically, weight being equal, the. 41 Magnum is equal or better than a 10mm, though combat reloads will be faster in the 10mm. If that's the issue, then a Desert Eagle in .41 Magnum would be an option, but pricey vs. a good 10mm. In the end, personal preference is what it is, but I have several M57/58s, and my M58 shooter gets to the range a lot. FWIW.

I didn't know about these guys. Thanks for the tip.

 

[SAFireman]

I've always wanted a 41 magnum. I love fixed sight guns, especially police service revolvers. I wish there was a 3" fixed sight round butt 41 magnum, I'd be all over it. I guess that's why I've never owned one. They never made them in my favorite configuration.

Or am I ignorant?

Here is a fixed sight 3" barrel 41 Mag, model 58

 

[biku324]

It's a Mountain Gun from before such existed. Light enough to carry, powerful enough for any threat.

 

[Skyhunter]

Its old, its a pre lock, its big and heavy, and its a Smith. That's all I would look for.

AND it's a .41 magnum!
'nuff said - Thank you Very Much.

WYT-P
Skyhunter

 

[Hair Trigger]

Name the caliber you can load for $1.50-$2.00 in todays world and I'll challenge it cost wise? I know of no ammo that can be purchased for that today? Not even .22LRs. I must be reading this wrong?
Steve

I think you're not considering that Lilly bought most of his loading components years ago before the prices skyrocketed. He can load ammo today at 1980 prices, because he bought his materials in 1980 (or whenever). Would that I could do that, my last primers cost me $.125 each, instead of per hundred.

Interesting 2-year-old thread resurrection. I've always liked .41 Magnum because it was basically an orphan from the beginning. It was born, but nobody wanted it. Now it's beginning to get respect, and has become popular again, at least within a small, dedicated group. As for the M58, it seems to be the orphan's orphan, an ugly duckling without the fancy adjustable sights, no extractor shroud and a thin trigger and hammer. That is what made it desirable to me, plus I'd bought a M57 not long before, and it needed an ugly brother beside it in the safe.

 

[mooshoo]

I've had three mod 58's and like a dumb*** I sold them now i wish I kept all three

 

[GSP Fan]

I have a 4 inch M57 (my third) on the way. It can't ship before the 20th as my FFL dealer is out of town. 7 days and waiting

 

[Skeptic 9c]

The Model 58 was the subject of popular media (gun rags) conversions to real calibers like .45 Colt and .44 Special for folks who wanted fixed sight carry guns in those calibers, and had more money than sense. (Aren't those folks wonderful?)
Geoff
Who never had much money or much sense in his youth.

 

[Truckman]

I can't think of anything about the Model 58 that is less than great, unless it's the sad fact that my accumulation has none to speak of......Ben