41 Magnum love

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"Of all the somewhat "off the wall" latest and greatest oddball revolver cartridges to be marketed in recent years with often mixed sales to say the least one wonders why the .41 special was never marketed in a revolver chambered for .41 special only or be made available for those 41 mag shooters that are older and want a lower recoiling cartridge without having to handload for it. Perhaps this concept is too far advanced for the marketing geniuses in the gun industry or maybe not odd enough to be classed as the latest and greatest."


Gun owners are a funny bunch.
The .44 Spl was around BEFORE the .44 magnum. So,, those that always seek more power,, got what they wanted & it has become a mainstay. As such,, the .44 spl has taken a far backseat to it.

The .41 magnum is a reverse of that. It was created as a "perfect LEO caliber" long ago. Bigger & better than the .38 spl & .357 magnum,, w/o the recoil of the .44 mag. However,, to make it work,, the gun is heavier to carry than a .38/.357. LEO's didn't like that. Recoil was bigger than the .38/.357 and since only about 15% of LEO's are gun people,, another strike against it. So the .41 mag has for a LONG time been a slower seller & less accepted by the masses because it wasn't a popular LEO caliber. (If you don't think a lot of the regular market doesn't follow LEO's choices,, just look at how the 9mm is now the caliber. Or how after the FBI adopted the 10mm, then the .40 S&W followed it because of the recoil & weight issues.)


The LEO market, as well as the military choices drive a lot of the reasoning behind consumer sales & marketing. That's just a fact.

Now,, the .41 mag has survived because of the smaller group of real gun folks who actually shoot a lot,, understand it's abilities, AND at a better feeling shooter to many over the .44 mag.

So now within the .41 mag aficionado's along comes the .41 spl. While they are a very small group,, they are not likely to see a gun built just as a .41 spl by a manufacturer. It would be easy to use a mid-framed Ruger SA and build it,, but I think the marketing people look at the numbers of actual sales of the .41 Mag guns,, and figure that many of those people may not buy one. Yes,, collectors would snap up a limited production run,, but for field purposes,, it'd not be a good seller to the public at large.
Now throw in the (sad) fact that the more modern gun buyers lean heavily towards the semi-auto handgun design. You have the 10mm,, and the .40 S&W. The .40 succeeded where the 10mm failed the first time around because of LEO's not capable of handling the recoil of the 10mm, and the weight of the guns. Plus,, the initial expense of the few 10mm handguns kept a lot of people from buying them. The .40 S&W came along,, and LEO's all over adopted it,, and sang it's praises. But now,, it's a much slower seller in favor of the 9mm. Ammo expenses,, firearm weight,, felt recoil, all are considerations a LEO budget has to face. Throw in the fact that our military went to the 9mm in favor of the tried & proven .45 acp also makes the market follow that trend.

And the new calibers that seem odd,, if you study them,, they are catering to the "power" crowd as well as the "AR-15 lovers" crowd.

In short,, I don't see any gun maker building a production .41 spl for a very small portion of an already competitive market. Except for the potential of a limited special run by a distributor.

As for factory ammo,, we MIGHT see a maker eventually decide to offer it,, if the sales by brass makers point to the potential for brisk sales. But for now,, it's a handloaders only option.
 
Great caliber, all my Redhawk's, Blackhawks, Desert Eagle and even a Marlin .41 mag Cowboy. My dad got me hooked on that caliber and reloading for it. Carrying on the tradition. Non Bisley Blackhawk Flattop .41 mag.
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Despite the .41's recent revival of sorts gun makers other than Freedom arms,Magnum Research and Ruger are not thinking it's worthwhike to tool up for even a limited run of .41 mag even though they have .357's, 44 and .45 Colt in their line.

I would buy a brace of stainless Cimarron .41's maybe even a pair in blue.
 
If Lipsey's were to do a 41 special run it most likely would be on the medium frame flattop, ie,,, like the 44 Special.

Now that one can get a medium frame in 41 magnum, you can shoot 41 specials in it.
I highly doubt you will see Lipsey's or Ruger doing a 41 special offering.

My OM Harton Custom was built using NM 357 cylinders, one in each magnum/special, really just for the ease of chamber cleaning.
I shoot mostly 41 special in my OM 4.6" anymore, and probably always will, not really worried about the "Carbon Ring".

If one really wants a 41 special chambered cylinder for their medium frame 41 magnum flattop, find a 357 cylinder and send it off to get it rehambered to 41 special ~$180 including shipping.
 
I like me some 41M love,,, it all started with this one.
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Then added a AccuSport.
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A Harton Custom 41M/ 4Spl.
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Currently working on a 41 special shorty flattop.
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Recently stumbled into one of the new flattops, pictured with AccuSport for comparison.
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Some weird NON- Ruger stuff…
S&W 657 3"
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A couple from Israel,,, 41 Desert Eagle & Jericho 941AE.
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Yeah you obviously need a 41ae collection as well 😂 🤣 😂 🤣. I even have a few boxes of the ammo. Thank God Tanfoglio made slides and barrels interchangable and I scored slides in 40&9mm from another IPSC shooter at the time.
 
Not really since what they call the 44 is actually a 42, a lame 10mm

There. I said it. :ROFLMAO:
 
I would really like to see a mainstream ammo maker turn out some factory 41 caliber ammo that is really suitable for personal home self defense, not wild animal/bear or hunting loads and usable in a 41 magnum handgun. Perhaps use the 41 special brass by Starline. Put it in the same power category as 45 colt, 44 special or 45 acp Winchester silvertips.
 
I would really like to see a mainstream ammo maker turn out some factory 41 caliber ammo that is really suitable for personal home self defense, not wild animal/bear or hunting loads and usable in a 41 magnum handgun. Perhaps use the 41 special brass by Starline. Put it in the same power category as 45 colt, 44 special or 45 acp Winchester silvertips.

I get it!!! Well said.
I do handload, so not a problem here, and I really do enjoy 41 special @~ 950 fps, very enjoyable.

One can buy a beginner LEE kit, and load for 30-50% of what ammo costs, thus making shooting affordable.

Now day's 41, 44, or 45 is a $1-2 per round. This blows my mind.
 
In addition to the .41 Special, we have another new entry into the .41 caliber market. For use in locations requiring a "straight walled" round for hunting (such as the 350 Legend, 450 Bushmaster etc.) we now have the ".41 Great Lakes". This round uses a cut down 30-06 case trimmed to 1.700" and with the taper removed to use a .41 bullet. I'm not sure if it will see use in a revolver, but seems like a fun candidate for a Thompson Contender. I have read about a custom Savage 99 made up for this cartridge, based upon a .308 Win. gun, rebarreled. We'll see if it catches on.
 
"I would really like to see a mainstream ammo maker turn out some factory 41 caliber ammo that is really suitable for personal home self defense,"

I did a little research into the .41 Spl ammo/guns while at SHOT last week.

So far,, there is NO SAMMI specs for .41 Spl. As such,, without such specifications & testing,, no gun maker will put themselves in a liability position by making a gun without a base for the pressures & such.
So,, until an ammo maker AND a gun maker feel it could be a PROFIT MAKER,, and spend the big bucks to have it tested,, and get the SAMMI certification,, don't hold your breath.
Remember,, they have to sell enough to make a fair profit,, or they won't do it.
 

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