.41 Magnum questions...

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RedRock

Bearcat
Joined
Sep 25, 2016
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Hello...

A very close family member recently passed and I have inherited his .41 Blackhawk. This was one of his favorites and now I get to take care of it. I have the original box as pictured. According to the a page I found at the Ruger website, the serial number on this Blackhawk dates to 1974 which is the first year of manufacture, yes?

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A few years ago before dad passed he gave me his Dan Wesson .357 Pistol Pack. I have fired that .357 a number of times and it packs a punch. How does this Blackhawk compare? I know, go to the range and find out. But I have never fired anything larger than a .357 magnum - just wanted to get an idea. I also realize it depends on what ammo. What would be a suitable round to use on this .41 magnum? Any suggestions?

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The grips on the Blackhawk seem to have seen better days. I might save these and perhaps get a new set. There are some very nice ones on the Altamont website - is anyone familiar with them? Or, is there a better suggestion?

I need to spend some time and clean it up a bit. Thanks for taking the time to read about this.


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Nice gun and will be fun to shoot, and better yet if you know anyone that reloads, and drum up some .41 "specials" now THAT is fun .......the .41 mag is a flatter shooting round than the .44 mag., our guys always preferred the .41, and works just as well for whitetails. yes the cracked and poorly repaired grips need to go, and best to just pick up some original "new model" XR-3 red grips, just a note, those grips have the early new model transition "squashed chicken " medallion and the blued hardware, simply swap them out with any new model grips you can pick up, really 'wrong' ones for YOUR gun , but off an old model 1972 maybe....clean up the sides of the hammer, and keep it oiled,,,again ,NICE gun, nice box ,great package.. (y) (y)
the DWA pistol pac is also a great one, had a few of them over the years but only kept the one 15-2VH 6 we built at Monson back in the 1970s.......:cool:;)
 
Back in the day gun writers called the .41 mag a "tweener" caliber... between a .357 magnum and a .44 magnum.
 
Thanks guys. The grips got to go for sure. Thanks for the info.

Ammo: Factory ammo is expensive. Hornady and Underwood are good. 190 or 210 gr. JHP's. There are others but those are the 2 I use in both the NMBH and my deer gun. I used these rounds in past years for white tail with my Henry, out to a little over 100yds. 1 shot, 1 kill every time.

Grips: If you have larger than avg hands I'd suggest Hogue grips. I put a pair on my gun back when I bought in '99.

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A few years ago before dad passed he gave me his Dan Wesson .357 Pistol Pack. I have fired that .357 a number of times and it packs a punch. How does this Blackhawk compare? I know, go to the range and find out. But I have never fired anything larger than a .357 magnum - just wanted to get an idea. I also realize it depends on what ammo. What would be a suitable round to use on this .41 magnum? Any suggestions

I am going to address just this one piece.
I have shot big bore handguns for years. Recently I had the opportunity to shoot a S&W 500. I had the same question as you do. I had heard all about how big and bad the 500 was, but I had to try it.

After steeling myself up for a good wallop, I touched off the first round. It was big nothing burger. If the 500 was all that, I didn't feel it. Yes, it rocked me back a little, but I honestly didn't think it was much more than a 44 mag. So, if you are comfortable shooting the .357 take the .41 out and let 'er rip. Prepare yourself for a stiff .357 round and you will be just fine.
 
Welcome to the Forum!

Congrats on becoming the current caretaker of a fine calibered handgun. Yes,, the .41 has a little more kick & such than the .357 mag,, but not as bad as you may expect. And as you mentioned, it also depends upon the ammo too.

Your gun, without us seeing the serial number,, we can't specifically say when it was made.
BUT,, the first year of the New Model .41 mags was in 1973,, with a serial number range of 41-00001 to 41-01844. 1974 the serial number range was 41-01845 to 41-04913.
You mentioned that this gun was a favorite of a close family member,, and those of us who enjoy the .41 mag have a saying; "Those who understand them, don't need any explaining. And a .41 mag is a serious handgunners great all around handgun." It sounds as if your family member understood the .41 mag quite well.
I have a .41 mag blackhawk, and I also have a .357 Dan Wesson. Due to grip design,, they will feel differently when fired. The DW is a double action, and the Blackhawk is a single-action. the design causes a different way recoil is felt. Don't try & "fight" the recoil by trying to keep the gun down. The shape is such,, it'll want to roll upwards. Allow it. Firm grip,,, but not a death grip. But trust me when I say, you can easily handle it, AND you'll likely have a good smile when you shoot it.

As noted by rugerguy,, you can & should replace the grips. Re-read what he posted. blued hardware & the flattened eagle medallion. BUT,,,,,,,, a tip. To prevent any future damage to the grips from overtightening of the screw,, get a 1/2" long, small diameter plastic spacer from a hardware store. Put the one grip panel on that has the screw head hardware. Slip the spacer over the screw, then add the second panel. The spacer will prevent overtightening. AND,, if you find the spacer doesn't allow the grips to be tight,, remove it,, and gently sand about .005 off one end. That'll tighten up quite well, and take care of things.
 
I hope you enjoy the Blackhawk. I am fond of the .41. I shot a S&W Model 57 when it was the standard of the SFPD Patrol Bureau officers in the early '70s. It was an interesting experience. Manageable enough but slow to follow up with a second shot. The longer barrel single action seems more suitable to me. You might upgrade the grip after shotting it a few times. Hang on to that one. BTW, I stayed with a K-38 for the rest of my time. The Model 57 was just too heavy for walking a beat.
 
I hope you enjoy the Blackhawk. I am fond of the .41. I shot a S&W Model 57 when it was the standard of the SFPD Patrol Bureau officers in the early '70s. It was an interesting experience. Manageable enough but slow to follow up with a second shot. The longer barrel single action seems more suitable to me. You might upgrade the grip after shotting it a few times. Hang on to that one. BTW, I stayed with a K-38 for the rest of my time. The Model 57 was just too heavy for walking a beat.
So you're one of the guys that perps feared getting whacked upside the head with real steel? :)

Anyway, if anyone plans on shooting it much, the .41 like the .38 super, .357 Sig, 9x25, 10mm and others are reloader's cartridges, or they need deep pockets to feed it harder to find factory ammo.
 
The .41 is one of my favorite revolver cartridges as it recoils far less than the .44 mag and is for all practical purposes every bit as deadly when hunting wild game.

You might seriously consider handloading as you can "load down" both the .357 and .41 mag cartridges. I use cheap homemade cast bullets or they can be bought cheaper than expensive jacketed bullets.

Use a slow burning powder like Alliant 2400 or IMR 4227 in either caliber to reduce leading and in many cases you will get almost no leading which is easily cleaned out with a few strokes using a bronze brush and Hoppe's No. 9 solvent the traditional gun cleaning solvent.

Buy the Lyman loading manual its still the best one out there and use starting loads for way less recoil and superb accuracy. If you want to further reduce recoil using a lighter weight bullet helps tremendously.

By the way a hard cast bullet will shoot right through even big game and is just as deadly and far less expensive than jacketed expanding bullets which often do not expand making them pretty much a waste of money anyway.

Disregard the nonsense that know nothing gun writers have written about using cast bullets. Oversize bullets are accurate and they lead way less. Go at least 1 thousandth oversize and 2 or 3 thousandths is even better providing the ammo goes into the chamber. It will depend how tight your chamber is.

Even starting loads in a hard cast bullet will kill wild game including deer. Less recoil not only means less wear and tear on you (especially if you are old) but less recoil means your gun will shoot loose far less sooner than using full power blaster ammo. Let the young play macho man, the old Foxes know better.

For those long winter months with nothing much to do handloading will take up the time and bullet casting will too. Not to mention the satisfaction of making your own ammo that often is far more accurate and has far less recoil than factory blaster ammo that has a 20 foot muzzle flash and burns down fences, trees, bushes, your old ladies laundry hanging out to dry and blows Tiger Tanks off of of their treds.

I forgot to mention that a box of hanloads with cast bullets is still way cheaper to shoot than expensive factory ammo.
 
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So you're one of the guys that perps feared getting whacked upside the head with real steel? :)

Anyway, if anyone plans on shooting it much, the .41 like the .38 super, .357 Sig, 9x25, 10mm and others are reloader's cartridges, or they need deep pockets to feed it harder to find factory ammo.
You are not too far from the heart of the matter. Back in the early 1970s, I cannot recall the exact year, Officer Joe Broderick was walking a patrol in the Mission District of San Francisco with another officer. He had his Model 57 taken from him when he drew in a close encounter. He was shot dead with it. I knew him slightly. The point being the gun was too unwieldy to handle for many not used to this N Frame six inch steel revolver.

Now, in a hunting piece like the Blackhawk above, far more suitable.

Yes, that ammo is a bit pricey along with the others you listed. One of the reasons I did not go with the .357 Sig in a 1911 frame. That is a pistol I admire.
 
You are not too far from the heart of the matter. Back in the early 1970s, I cannot recall the exact year, Officer Joe Broderick was walking a patrol in the Mission District of San Francisco with another officer. He had his Model 57 taken from him when he drew in a close encounter.

I believe SFPD used the model 58 .41 magnum.
 
I have fired that .357 a number of times and it packs a punch. How does this Blackhawk compare? I know, go to the range and find out. But I have never fired anything larger than a .357 magnum - just wanted to get an idea. I also realize it depends on what ammo. What would be a suitable round to use on this .41 magnum? Any suggestions?
Even hottest 357 Magnum in Blackhawk has very tolerable recoil. Keep in mind that Blackhawk is designed to handle 44 magnum, so going down in the same revolver to 357 Magnum, muzzle energy on later one is about 40-50% less, with recoil to reflect that.

As for 41 Magnum, many folks found that recoil of 44 Magnum is more that they want to take. However, 41 Magnum in the same revolver is OK. Of course, 250 grains bullet at full power in 41 will kick the same as 250 grains at the same velocity from 44. Also, grip selection could make a considerable difference. If you find that 41 Magnum has still more recoil than you want to take, look for grips similar to those GunnyGene showed in post #3.

Another very effective approach would be to get Bisley version. According to several sources, about 80% of shooters prefer on heavy recoiling revolvers Bisley version over standard Blackhawk and Super Blackhawk. As a matter of fact, some custom gunsmiths refuse to build heavy recoiling .475 and .500 revolvers on any other than Bisley.

Also, if you want to shoot a lot, you need to reload. When on the range, you do not need full power loads. In that case, you can reduce loads. For example, if in 41 Magnum full power is 210 grain bullet at 1400 fps, reducing velocity to 1200 fps will reduce recoil for almost 27%, 1100 fps for 38%, 1000 fps for 49%.

Good shooting, and enjoy your 41 Magnum revolver. FYI, I had revolvers from 22LR to 45 Colt, and I like 41 Magnum more than any other caliber.
 
Even hottest 357 Magnum in Blackhawk has very tolerable recoil. Keep in mind that Blackhawk is designed to handle 44 magnum, so going down in the same revolver to 357 Magnum, muzzle energy on later one is about 40-50% less, with recoil to reflect that.

As for 41 Magnum, many folks found that recoil of 44 Magnum is more that they want to take. However, 41 Magnum in the same revolver is OK. Of course, 250 grains bullet at full power in 41 will kick the same as 250 grains at the same velocity from 44.
Hornady and Underwood .41mag 210gr xtp is approx 1550 mv out of a 6.5" Blackhawk. 1738+/- out of my Henry carbine (16.25") ; my chrono. So yeah, you will feel it. But for $1.50 a shot I better dang well feel it. Please sir, may I have another? :cool: :)
 
I had s/n 41-000027 6-1/2" .41 mag which was made in 1973 per the Ruger letter. That should give a reference as to when yours was made. It was a great shooting revolver and was at my side in bear country for many years.
 
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planetcat,, I think your serial number had a "0" key hangup! About 5 too many "0's" :D

RedRock,, you can see that there's a lot of really good info here. Handloading is the best way to get the most out of the .41 magnum, AND be able to shoot more often for less money. I will say that the powders listed,, 2400 & 4227 are excellent,, but 2400 will be quite hard to find. IMR4227 is much easier,, AND it works very well.

Many have discussed the S&W DA model 57 in .41 magnum. That doesn't relate to your Blackhawk. But as a fan of the .41 mag myself,, I can say that in my years of shooting one,, they ALL perform quite well downrange.
 
Sorry about your family member and congrats on your inheritance to hold a piece that'll keep you in 'touch' with your loved one.
About 7 years ago I got a set of Altamont grips for my then new Colt 1911 to preserve the factory grips. They fit perfectly and look great.
I will buy Altamont without hesitation in the future. Enjoy the .41
 
I am a big fan of the .41 mag. Got my first one, a 1970 OM , used in '75. Was always on my side when I went into the woods. Seems as though it's attributes have been covered by other posters. I would definitely take Gunny's suggestion on the Hogue grips, will save you from the Blackhawk knuckle, especially if you have big hands. As others suggested, reloading is a must if you are a serious shooter, and I suggest finding some .41 Special brass to load it down. Well, bite the bullet, buy your first box, and enjoy! I know I do.
 

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