HOW GOOD IS THE 41 MAG

[yankee7809]

I'm not a hunter but to this day I've not forgotten how good a friend's .41 Magnum Blackhawk made me look one day at the range. No small feat for a first time try with a gun and round that were both new to me at that point (early seventies). That is a very competent and accurate round.

 

[dougader]

I have had spotty performance with older PMC ammo. Accuracy was fine, but some old 270 Weatherby Mag ammo blew up on the hide of an antelope in Wyoming and had to be taken down with a follow-up from a 30-06 loaded with Remington corelokt ammo.

Some 357 mag ammo I had would completely come apart in water jugs; even the lightweight Sierra 125 jhc loads I had help together better than the PMC ammo.

I may be completely off base, but my guess is the ammo, although accurate, just wasn't up to the hunting task presented.

 

[choirboy]

I can't really help answer sixshot's question since the only time I've used my OM .41 was to finish off two spine shot deer. However, over the years I've seen some pretty good hunters walk right by the deer they had shot thinking it ran this way or that. You really have to pay attention to the blood trail and that can be work some times. If there isn't one, you really need to find where that deer was standing and use your head for something besides a hatrack. My guess is, the person who lost the 3 deer probably killed them and with a little work could have found all of them. JMHO CB

 

[BIgMuddy]

Dick

I have been using the 41 mag since 1982. I am sorry, but I can't give a real world failure report. :wink:

I can on a 44. The first deer I ever killed with a handgun.... I had that Redhawk shooting great off of a bench, even practiced a lot. (maybe even 200 rounds :roll: ) I wanted to be a handgun hunter by golly, so off I went. I shot a small buck early on opening day, and knew right away that it was a gut shot. Firing 3 more times as the deer ran, I hit it in the front leg with two of those shots, thankfully. The leg wounds were the only thing bleeding. After 4 hours of literally crawling on hands and knees, picking up leaves and looking at specks of blood, I found the dead deer. The entire time I was tracking this deer, I was cussing myself and swearing I would never again hunt with a handgun. I never doubted the bullet. I knew where the failure was.

I did not hunt with a handgun for several years. Now I do exclusively. The difference now, is I know that shooting off a bench is not practicing, and 200 rounds is just warming up. Now I shoot thousands of rounds a year from my hunting handguns, and when I go to the woods each fall I am confident with them. Just a couple weeks ago I got the first one with my 44 special.

The description of the first deer sounds like classic gut shot, and not waiting long enough. I have heard these same type stories for years. I always have to ask, if the deer was not recovered, how in the world does one know it was a good shot? I am also an avid bowhunter, and cannot count the deer I have tracked for others that were "perfect" hits and of course were not. Some of those, when lost, were blamed on the broad heads....

The comment made earlier I have to give a big +1 to. If I had hit and lost deer number one, I would have been too busy tracking to even shoot at deer number 2 or number 3. Then to blame that on the caliber?? Everyone here knows better.

 

[THE .41 MAN]

is like any other handgun. It's only as good as you make it with an accurate shot. I can't see that the handgun or ammunition being at fault. I use PMC 210gr.JHP ammo for small and medium game at times when I don't feel like loading.

For me this cartridge has taken vermin, varmints, deer(domestic and exotic), black bear, boar, and exotics. In Africa, it's taken impala, bushbuck, duiker, red hartbeeste, wildebeeste, oryx, blesbok, springbok, warthog, and kudu.

It also kept a nasty old range cow from setting her hooks in me. Had to butcher three times that year.

I've been using the .41Magnum since the '60s and it's never failed when I do my part. I've had as high as 47 in my collection at one time. I've got .41Magnums in the DE, American Derringer. S&Ws, Rugers, Taurus, and all the different Marlin levers. I've also got a few .41 caliber customs.

Getting down to brass tacks, I wouln't blame the cartridge. I probably wouldn't blame the bullet either. The .41Magnum kills all out of proportion to it's size. Rant mode off, y'all.

 

[Frank V]

How good is the .41 Mag? VERY good, it's a great cartridge usually very accurate that doesn't get the respect it deserves. :wink:
Frank

 

[41]

I always liked the 41 mag and most of my handguns are in that caliber. One of my favorite bullets is the JD Jones design which is a bore ride bullet. These heavy bullets are accurate and provide good penetration. I have never recovered a bullet since they went through the heart/lung area on the deer.

Here is an article describing the JD Jones bullets if you are not familiar with them. I am sure Mountain Molds could make molds to his design since the molds are no longer made.

http://www.lasc.us/FryxellBulletsOfSSK.htm

Shot placement is the key. I remember the old days and some of the old timers talking about poachers killing deer with a heart shot using a 22LR.

I like the 41 so much that my middle name is 41. :roll:

 

[Redhawk4]

I grew up with the expression "a bad craftsmen blames his tools".

It seems to fit the situation perfectly, I've never owned or fired a 41 mag, but it's obvious from viewing the ballistics and it's closeness to the 44 mag, that if you can't kill a deer cleanly with one, you have no business shooting at any deer, with any gun in any caliber, let alone 3. The fact that numerous other people have not had the same problem, should lead you to think that you are the problem, not the particular caliber. I also think that if you shoot at something and it runs away, never to be found, it's rather difficult to claim, definitively, that it was a good hit. I don't think on small white tail that the choice of ammo would be too critical, within reason.

In this case I would suggest finding another hobby to be a better solution for him and the poor deer, than changing calibers as he's too busy blaming the caliber to conclude that additional practice is necessary.

 

[Rodfac]

It's a good/great caliber. My first was a S&W 57 with 6" barrel that easily kept it's loads in sub-2" gps at 25 yds. Lot's of penetration....I ran out of water filled milk jugs before I ever recovered a bullet.

My latest is a NM Ruger Blackhawk which arrived yesterday...how's $390 sound...and essentially "as new" in the supplied box with all the paperwork? Does anyone know when it left the Ruger factory?
Ser. # 46-8824x

I managed to get 30 rounds down range before headquarters called me for a dinner out. Valley's 215 gr BBSWC, hard cast, over 5.7 gr of 231 went into 1.5" at 25, using my usual seated with a back rest position. Offhand from the 50 ft line, two cylinder's full cut a ragged 2" gp....gonna be a keeper. It's got a decent trigger with on leg of the return spring lifted off its peg. Here's some morning eye candy. Regards, Rodfac