HOW GOOD IS THE 41 MAG

[2 dogs]

Thats quite a Buck! Well done! That must be your Dad. Good on you!

 

[contender]

Short barrel makes sense about the loss of deer around here. If this person lost 3 deer, AND was hunting in the thickets we have in the mountains,, or the swamps down east,, or even the briar thickets everywhere in the state,, tracking can be problem. Still, he shouldn't have lost 3 deer.
But I disagree with the poster about a handgun not being able to drop them in their tracks. I've personally shot 89 whitetails with a handgun,, and 88 of them dropped in their tracks. It's about bullet placement and using the proper bullet.
Plus, check out the stories in the Gallery about the elk hunting we just did. Uh,, 3 elk dropped with one shot pretty much in their tracks,, AND a 41 mag was used by sixshot for one of those elk.

 

[Jeff Hoover]

Chuckbuster, been meaning to tell you, that is a great picture ! . What a story in that photo. Great buck, great gun, with a great Dad, who obviously taught you well. One of my favorite pics I've seen on the forum !

 

[Aggie01]

Since this thread is leaning towards pictures now, I'll contribute one.

Got this little fella in last Friday, I think I'll finally get to shoot it today.
.357 anny flattop converted to .41 mag/special (2 cylinders) by Jack Huntington.
You can put a .41 in a midframe.

 

[Zeus]

I personally like the 41 magnum. I've only shot a few deer with it over the years but its performed flawlessly. The most memorable one was a small doe at about 90 yards feeding along a treeline. I was using a Winchester Platinum Tip 240 slug and they clocked at 1290 from the 7.5" ruger hunter. The shot was very slightly quartered away. I dropped the slug tight behind the right shoulder trying to exit the offside shoulder. When the bullet impacted, it sounded like a baseball bat hitting a tree. She bolted into the treeline but fell over in about 3 steps. It took about 20 minutes for me to find the bullet when I cleaned the deer. It had not exited but COMPLETELY destroyed every bone or joint in the offside shoulder. The recovered bullet weighed 238.7 grains after cleaning and had expanded to .72". The other two were killed with 265 grain LFNGC slugs and were never recovered. Those two only traveled about 15 yards at most. Both of those shots were under 50 yards. I'm like sixshot though, if pushed in the corner, I would pick the 44 as my favorite only because I've used it more and that is the one that I started with in college. I've never been able to tell the difference in the two in the field. To be honest, I see several mentions of it being flatter shooting but I can't tell it with my shooting I rarely run them a lot less than max anyway so I don't really see the advantages. I know that they will both flatten any animal I've ever tried to shoot with them as long as I do my part. The failure is usually in the operator, not the tool. Match the bullet to the game hunted and get after it. Just take your time, and remember that it only takes a split second to screw up hours and hours of hunting. You don't get redos on that first shot!!

 

[c.r.]

I think the 41 is only going to be as good as the shooter using it. If the sixgunner can can accurately place a 44 caliber bullet, he'll also be able to accurately place the .41 caliber bullet. For most game, this caliber will be all that is necessary. Same goes for any other cartridge that begins with a four or even a five. Dick and many other hunters prove this year after year after year.

Just some thoughts
Many people suggest the .41 fills the gap between the .357mag and the .44 mag. I'm not really sure there is a gap between the two. The range of bullet weights for the .41 is somewhat narrow. What in that range of bullet weights can't be covered if you already own a .357 or .44 mag?

There is also the discussion that the recoil is so much more pleasant than a .44 mag. Again, what 180 - 250 grain 44 mag bullet is going to generate unpleasant recoil..........and for the reloader, there is unlimited flexibility.

From the factory, .41 mags come on the same sized platform as the .44mag. There is no weight savings with the .41 over a .44 mag other than FA's mdl 97.

Even Skeeter suggested that for hunting, there really isn't a need for the .41 mag if you already have a .357 and a .44.. Skeeter points out the .41 was designed for law enforcement. See Skeeter's article, "A Rack of Rugers" and i'm sure of at least one more articl, but the title escapes me.

However, I think we'll find out that quite a few of our hunting cartridges were originally designed for something other than hunting animals.......i.e. the .380 and 30-06.

In my opinion, the .41 is a better .357 than it is a .44 for no other reason than the ability to shoot heavy weight bullets........if that's what you like.

Finally, just like there are folks who hold the .44 special in esteem, so will folks place the .41 above others. And there is nothing wrong with that.

If it wasn't for "choices", we'd all be shooting 30-06's and well maybe a .41 mag :wink:

~c.r.

 

[Bucks Owin]

One could make the same observation in reverse I suppose. What caliber is right in the middle between .357 and .452? The "44" doesn't really fly under it's true caliber, so why have a ."429" magnum? A .45 "magnum" (Ruger BH & RH) can handle a wider range of bullets than the .44 mag does and exceed it's energy with any of them if one handloads. (And lets have no nonsense about the .45's "weak case") They share the same platform so why carry a "43" bore when you can have a true .452"? IMO, the .410" magnum can do most anything that an extra .019" can and the .45 can do a little more....Devil's advocate, Dennis :wink:

 

[sixshot]

Lots of good discussion here & we've covered the 4 cornerstones of sixgunning, the 357, 41, 44 & 45 but no one has really given any real world drawbacks to the original question about the 41 maggie.
Not looking for someone to step forward & badmouth it so some of us can go after him, thats not my intent. I just wanted to hear from the "no need" crowd if they have a real life, in the field reason for poo pooing the 41 maggie.
One thing I will add, some of the early criticisms of the 41 was the fact that there weren't any good bullets above 210 grs & I think that might have been valid. Nowdays with the 230-250 gr slugs at 1300-1500 fps, if thats what you want/need, that argument is most likely put to rest.

Dick

 

[Lee Martin]

Short 41 single-actions are one of my favorite configurations. I built this one last year and it's already over 2000 rounds:

I know 44s and 45s can out-muscle the 41, but there's just something about the middle-bores.....

 

[Double Maduro]

Sixshot,

Maybe the reason no one is bad mouthing the .41 is there is nothing wrong with it.

If your friend failed to harvest any of the 3 deer he shot, it isn't the cartridges fault.

DM

 

[Zeus]

Sixshot,

Maybe the reason no one is bad mouthing the .41 is there is nothing wrong with it.

If your friend failed to harvest any of the 3 deer he shot, it isn't the cartridges fault.

DM

it was no friend of sixshot's that lost the deer, it was a poster on another forum. I think your statement was the exact intent of sixshot. We've all heard bad mouthing about the cartridge in the past but its not the shortcoming in the problem areas, the operator is.....

 

[Double Maduro]

Sixshot,

Maybe the reason no one is bad mouthing the .41 is there is nothing wrong with it.

If your friend failed to harvest any of the 3 deer he shot, it isn't the cartridges fault.

DM

it was no friend of sixshot's that lost the deer, it was a poster on another forum. I think your statement was the exact intent of sixshot. We've all heard bad mouthing about the cartridge in the past but its not the shortcoming in the problem areas, the operator is.....

Sorry if I misunderstood.

DM

 

[Chuckbuster]

Jeff Hoover & 2dogs
Thanx for the nice comments. That is Dad, 80 years old now but still getting out there when we can. He did teach me well and continues to occasionally.

A little more of the story is that the buck came out of his woods that has been "in the family" now since the late 1800's.

Later
Kevin

 

[Sugar River]

Dick,
I've Googled my fingers to the bone, but can't find any evidence of PMC making a 41 load. Maybe it's an old discontinued item. Either way, I'd sure like to know more about the bullet involved.

As for me, I have 11 41 mags and counting. Guess you know where I stand.

Pete

 

[sixshot]

Sugar River, when I read the post he had written PCM, I figured it had been misspelled & I put PMC, perhaps he had written it correctly.
The 41, 44 or 45 are no better than the person shooting them, with good loads all 3 are capeable of game up to the size of elk, thats been proven many times, Beyond elk the heavy weight slugs come into play, they are popular for a reason. There are no magical revolver cartridges or loads in spite of what some would have us believe. The wonderful 250 gr slugs in all 3 will handle most anything, for the big bears & the heavy african stuff the 300 gr slugs & beyond are just added insurance.
Its the keyboard experts, the one's who shot a 41 a few times & then give their "experience" while praising the 44 & 45 that really do injustice to a very wonderful cartridge. First hand knowledge in the game fields carrys a lot more weight with most of us than opinions or second hand results.

Dick

 

[bisleyfan41]

It does exist. I have a partial box left. It is the most accurate factory 41 ammo I've found. I got it when I wandered into a gunshop in PA that I only get to once every year or two. I asked what he had in the way of 41s. He had just taken in trade a mint S&W 58 that was absolutely beautiful in every regard, and was priced accordingly. He offered me this ammo that came with it for $30 so I took it.

PMCs item # is 41A. It's a 210 gr JHP similar in construction to most other JHPs. There's quite a bit of exposed lead at the nose; kind of like Remington's 210 JSP with a hollowpoint. 50 rounds to the box. It must be discontinued as I've searched far and wide looking for more since it seems to shoot so well. That being said, I believe it would work just fine on game and would hunt with it without hesitation. If anybody runs across some, you know where to find me

 

[contender]

I think sixshot just hit the nail on the head. Too many "experts" out there,, who really haven't learned the truth! (Or don't want to admit their own limitations.)

 

[Fowler]

It strikes me listening to Sixshot telling that what MAY have happened is a total bullet failure. Now I am just theorizing but could the 210gr hollowpoint PMC load have been developed as a self defense for humans and as such designed to only penetrate a very minimal distance into flesh. Perhaps the bullet came apart and succeeded in only wounding those deer, probably for a slow agonizing death.

I have no experience with the 41 mags but there is one on the way to fix that little issue...

For the record it sounds like this bozo needs to quit hunting and take up golf or watching football game on TV, something where he will not cripple animals....

 

[Sugar River]

It does exist. I have a partial box left. It is the most accurate factory 41 ammo I've found. I got it when I wandered into a gunshop in PA that I only get to once every year or two. I asked what he had in the way of 41s. He had just taken in trade a mint S&W 58 that was absolutely beautiful in every regard, and was priced accordingly. He offered me this ammo that came with it for $30 so I took it.

PMCs item # is 41A. It's a 210 gr JHP similar in construction to most other JHPs. There's quite a bit of exposed lead at the nose; kind of like Remington's 210 JSP with a hollowpoint. 50 rounds to the box. It must be discontinued as I've searched far and wide looking for more since it seems to shoot so well. That being said, I believe it would work just fine on game and would hunt with it without hesitation. If anybody runs across some, you know where to find me

Thanks for clearing that up. Any chance you could post a pic of the bullet?

Pete

 

[two bit okie]

about the only thing that the 41 mag cannot do that the 44 mag and ruger lnly loaded 45s cannot do is throw heavy bullets in 300 gr plus range.

That and the price of ammo if you can find it.