41 Rem Mag, Educate Me

So this afternoon I came into a horde of reloading supplies. The most prevalent caliber by far was the 41 rem mag. I have never personally shot, reloaded, or even held a 41 mag. I’m sure there are some Tman experts in this matter, so educate me please! Would also like suggestions of a gun to purchase in this caliber. Here’s a picture of the bullets, I have double the brass that I have bullets for it.

I'd like to have one for deer hunting, a revolver with a 7+" barrel.... that's about as far as my research has taken me. Most people give you the old "go with the .44 instead", and those people recommend 12 ga and .243 and .30-06 too... boring. plus they don't have a hoard of components to make ammo for it!

I have 2 Ruger Blackhawks and a Henry Big Boy steel carbine in 41 mag. I load coated lead from Missouri Bullets for them. Don't beat you up as bad as my 44 mags do. That's a nice score on those bullets.

Minimal research showed a coonan semi auto on a 1911 frame. Cool concept but I think they made about 3 of them ever. Know anything about the blackhawks?

Saw this after I typed my last response asking about the blackhawks! Which gun do you prefer Jags?

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/914670703 - don't drool on your screen.

I got a Redhawk with a 4" barrel, it shoots ok, I don't care for the factory sights on it.

Daaannggg.....definitely the score of the day. I will educate you on the 41 mag, underrated and phenominal.as for guns my first pick would be a model 57 Smith and Wesson (older one) and second choice would be single action Ruger. I'm envious of your score!

I like my 4 5/8" Blackhawk better the 6 1/2". I am more comfortable shooting a shorter barrel. The Henry rifle is a nice shooter also.

You can reload them from a mild target load to something snappy or anywhere in between. Now you just need to find the powder primers and casings. I bought a couple of thousand bullets over the summer, just haven't had anytime to reload.

I Have a S&W 41 MAG like new with custom grips.

Brought out by Elmer Keith for law enforcement if i remember correctly.

Plenty of primers and casings, that came with this horde. Don’t have enough powder to load a couple thousand rounds but I’ll find it. I have some 2400 and unique and I see loads with both of these powders posted in the alliant reloading guide. Won’t do me any good if I don’t have a gun to shoot them!

Great cal. I shot a 44 mag in the Dirty Harry years. Most likely 80s. 44 was to much for this little man. Searched and drove down to West Plains Mo and bought a Ruger Blackhawk in 41. Wanted to shoot a deer but never have. My problem not the pistol. I reload and the pistol is cool. Hard to beat.

Excellent cartridge. I'd say look for a S&W 657.

I like unique for target shooting nice and soft loads, 296 will get you more speed but is heavy with recoil. A lil powder goes pretty far with pistol ammo.

The powders you mentioned will work for mid level loads. Trail boss for plinking. For full house magnum high velocity. H110, ww296 , lil gun. Excellent cartridge. Nearly the power of the.44 mag but less recoil. If you like the cowboy style single action the Ruger Blackhawk is good. If you prefer the Dirty Harry look and feel of a double action then a S&W 57 or 657 will be the best accuracy followed by the Ruger Red Hawk. IMO. Be aware that the shorter bbls will produce a lot of muzzle flash and bbl flip. A Past shooting glove is a good way to start out.
To learn to control recoi induced flinch only load two chambers and gently rotate the cylinder so you don’t know if it’s going to go boom or click. Focus on front sight with the target a soft blur. In the hands of a competent shot
Black bear, hogs, deer and elk are all fair game. For these animals avoid the hollow points.

Great info, thanks all. Gutt hooked, which gun are you shooting?

I don't know if Coogan ever made one in 41 but his 357 is famous and still in production.

Awesome info, thanks cmcf! I have an abundance of lil gun, I’ll have to look into that option. Either the 57 or the Blackhawk would suit me, it will come down to what I can find for a decent price

I don’t think the 41 ever fully came to fruition from what I’ve read, would have been really cool. There is a 357 on gunbroker

No love for the link I gave ya?

Looks like the starting load with lil gun is 20.5 grains resulting in 1505 FPS at 23,500 CUP, max load is 22.5 grains resulting in 1626 FPS at 29,900 CUP. That is smokin!!! Also a load with longshot which I have a bunch of. Lower speed and much higher pressure though

I loved that one, just betting that when bidding is done it will be out of my price range

That's what you said about the World Series tickets. YOLO remember.

There is a following for the 41 mag. They are a relatively small bunch, but they are serious and dedicated. Good luck prying one out of their hand, unless it is cold and dead.

The H110 gave a little tighter groups lil gun a little more velocity but the difference is marginal. They were both developed for.410 shotshell
Can’t help with the pistola purchase. My buying days are done the last boat crash nearly kilt me!

PS; if I am seeing straight those bullets are for silloett(sp) non expanding

Kick myself every time i think of not buying a super 14 41mag barrel for my contender.

Yes sir I think you are right. JTC-SIL is what the box is marked as. From my understanding they are more meant for heavy metal targets. Great knockdown power, not much expansion

I've been a huge fan of the .41 mag for many decades. Have taken moose, caribou, dall sheep, Sitka deer, grizzly, and black bears with it. It'll do about anything you ask of it.

Jack

X2 I have both as well as a TC contender which was the first 41 mag I got, like others have said vastly underrated and often unless a classic often cheaper then a 44 mag

I have 3 S&W 57's. A 4", 6 1/2", and an 8 3/8. All three are very accurate and I've taken deer with all of them using both jacketed and cast bullets. IMHO the 8 3/8 is a bit unwieldy. I took my first handgun deer with it at an astounding long distance of 15 to 20 feet. The 6 1/2 is very handy, comfortable in the hand, it just feels good. The 4" is my favorite, quick to bring to bear on target. I used it to make my longest shot with an open sighted gun at 89 long paces on a dead run. A doe that skidded 9 paces on her chin. My jacketed bullet of choice for deer/bear is the Sierra 210 grain Jacketed Hollow Cavity. Varmints get the 170 JHC which is very explosive. The 210 gives me a good exit hole, bigger leak. The 170 rarely exited. For cast the 210 grain Kieth bullet is the ticket, good holes and plenty of blood. And it doesn't need smoking velocities, 1200 fps is real good. For the powders, I use H110 to hunt and Bullseye with cast for target work. Compared to a full powered 44 the 41 has 10% less wack with 25% less recoil.

I will have to look into those Sierra 210's for hunting purposes. I've never shot a deer with a handgun so that could be interesting. I'm thinking the 6" barrel would be the "best of both worlds" for my mixed uses of target shooting and hunting. I would be open to a 4" if I could find one for a good deal. Thanks for the feedback Paul!

Well coondagger, we are at opposite ends of the problem. I recently passed up a really good deal on a Ruger blackhawk .41 mag just because of the problem of finding components. I nearly bit but then thought about all the shortages and decided to stick with my .357s and .44s.
If you want to go after a true cult classic, try finding an original S&W model 58, but get out your wallet.

I was able to find a box of those Sierra 210 JHC bullets. I ordered them. That should get me by a long time for hunting purposes, I have plenty of stuff for target shooting. Now to find a gun!

Still got a lead on that good deal for the blackhawk?? How "good" of a deal is a good deal on one of those

Nope. It was at an out of town gunshow and was $325. It was used but not much and had the box. I almost asked for the guys info, but then thought it would haunt me until I bought it.

This model 57 is beautiful. I think it would suit me well, but money doesn't grow on trees

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/914730131

Those older N frames are great guns. This one should have had the fitted wooden case with all the extras. Not sure when Smith quit doing that.

I shoot a S&W model 57 with an 8 3/8 barrel, it's sweet, and it can reach out there. I don't reload.

I like the look of them much more than the humpback look of the blackhawk, and it would be nice to have a double action. But if I found a blackhawk for $325 I wouldn't be able to say no!

I have a Ruger Blackhawk stainless Bisley frame .41 mag and a Henry Big Boy steel lever to go with it for hog hunting. Both are great shooters. 240 gr bullets for the rifle and 210s for the Ruger.

Me neither and i don't care for them at all But since you bought the cart and are now looking for a horse mho is to look at a henry lever to hunt with or cure the itch instead of looking for a handgun you may not enjoy shooting but bought based on price

I will have to research the henry rifles more. My impression was that the rifle would cost more than the model 57, but I could be wrong. Thanks Jeff

Nice rifles.

Nice!! Not seeing any available online but I haven't called any shops around. Probably would be a lot easier to find one in 357 or 44 mag

Yep, that one is .44 mag., the reason I wanted a few more rounds for it. Although the way he shoots I likely have enough for several years.

5 members of my family own Smith and Wesson model 57's in 41 mag. My dad bought the first and I bought the second. 2 uncles and a cousin followed shortly thereafter.in the 20 years I've owned it I've packed mine what seems like a million miles hunting hogs behind dogs. I've used it to take hogs and deer to great effect. Use unique powder for plinking and h110 for hunting loads. We always used the silhouette style bullets for hogs over dogs because of the penitration potential. On large boars with a heavy shield plate the lead nose and hollow points had a habit of flattening on the plate and not getting into the vitals. Silhouette bullets cured that problem.

Interesting. What’s your experience with the silhouette bullets on deer?

A 41 rem mag saved my neighbors life when being mauled by an ole sow grizzly some years back. Had to shoot with his hand as she broke his right shoulder and ripped apart his face. Bloodied eyes all he could see is a blob coming at him for a second and finishing attack. He shot twice and put her down!

Left hand.

I’ve got a 41 in a Blackhawk 6 1/2 barrel not as much kick as my 44 but it’s nice to shoot if your looking for a double acting look at the redhawk.

I’ve got four. A Blackhawk a super redhawk, a S&W and a Henry. Been looking a Marlin but haven’t come across one yet. If your wanting to part with some of that I might be interested and may he half way local. I’m in Goldsboro

I might part with some of it if you’ve got a lead on a S&W or Henry? Would like to hang on to a majority of it though

Never tried them on deer Dagger. I'm fairly certain they will punch a 41 caliber hole going in and coming out, that seemed to be the effect they had on swine. When I deer hunted with it I loaded nosler 210 grain soft nose hollow points. Made for a very respectable exit wound that bled buckets. On the hogs we weren't super worried about tracking them after the shot because we were hunting with dogs and blood trails weren't as important as penitration.

A little update on the 41 mag situation. I was telling my dad about all of the stuff that I acquired and he started looking locally for a gun. He wants to kill a deer with it, bad. Last night he sent me this



Time to start loading!

I have a Blackhawk in 41. No complaints. Haven’t reloaded for it but is on the wintertime list of things to do.

I'd love to buy one myself in a good revolver. Even better now that I know CD2 can reload for me. lol

Lol that's right. I still have my eye out for a S&W model 57. If I ever run across one at a gun show or local gun store for a decent price it will be added to the collection for sure

Coondagger, last week Exile Armory had one it was a model 57 4 inch S&W. They had 925 on it. I don.t know if they still have it. I almost jumped on it but just ordered a S&W 629 performance center 44 magnum. Exile Armory runs a you tube daily with their daily deals. It's about a four or five minute watch. They sale and ship a lot of guns. Good luck. I hope you find one.

Finally got around to loading up some 41 mag. My dad got a barrel for his thompson center and plans to deer hunt with the 41 mag this year. He even had the barrel threaded for a suppresor

This load is the 210 grain sierra JHC with H110 powder. Fought the press getting it dialed in but I am happy with the final product. From my reading the magnum loads need a good crimp in the crimping grooves to maintain consistent velocity and accuracy. That's what I fought the most but finally got it dialed in. Ready to shoot this afternoon

In a contender the crimp is not quite as important. A must if shooting out of a revolver.

Thank you MT, I shot it 8 times this afternoon and it did very well. Only shot it at 50 but plan on backing it up to 100. I was able to put 3 shots in the same hole. That 210 grain bullet sure does make a hole

I love my Blackhawk