Jim NE
Good to hear your Dad is doing okay.
Let us know how the .41Magnum Pug does whenever you get a chance to try it out at the range.
Okay, I finally got to shoot my .41 Magnum Charter Arms Mag Pug several days ago. Here's the range report:
I did just a minimal cleaning of the gun prior to shooting, which was basically just wiping off the excess oil from the factory. I shot some HMS lead round nose (I think) cowboy loads, which were noticeably less expensive than most other factory ammo (but still not cheap.) Then I shot some Federal Power Shok. These were a jacketed hollowpoint, and the bullets weighed 210 gr., I believe.
I didn't put a lot of ammo through the gun in this initial outing, but enough ammo to feel fairly confident in the gun's build and pleased with it's performance so far. The HMS cowboy loads weren't much of a recoil monster in this light weight (23.5 oz.) gun. That was a pleasant surprise. Pretty manageable for anyone but maybe a novice shooter. Kind of like +P .38 out of a K or steel J frame snubbie with rubber grips. I was probably getting tea cup saucer sized groups
when I was concentrating (which isn't all the time with a new gun.) That was at about 7 or 8 yards, so plenty accurate for self defense, and point of impact was fairly close to point of aim...just a tad high and to the right, maybe. I don't assess the upper end of accuracy usually on my first time out with a new gun, but it was plain to see that this gun is
not inaccurate.
The Federal Power Shok, however, were down towards the other end of the spectrum when it comes to shooting comfort. They were
intense. I can't imagine handgun shooters of any experience level finding them pleasant to shoot in this gun. I could tolerate putting five rounds of this stuff through the Mag Pug, and that was it for me. The scary thing is that the Power Shok ammo isn't really even at the top end of the power spectrum for factory ammo. The good news, however, is that even these powerful loads were still manageable enough to get on target at this distance. I was pleased with that, considering this is a brand new lightweight gun in a powerful caliber I'd never fired before.
I'm not sure I'd try anything much more powerful than the Power Shok in this gun, at this point (though it could probably take it structurally.) It would be a flinch inducing level of recoil. I'm looking forward, however, to shooting some Winchester Super X ammo that I bought; it's 175 grain and has muzzle energies a little lower than the Federal stuff. This could maybe be the "sweet spot" ammo for this type of gun. I'll let you know.
Oh, and someone asked about the short ejector rod. It is a little short, but I had no extraction problems. The spent casings came out clean enough, and with a vigorous push, the shorter rod shouldn't be a problem. I will say, however, that the ejector rod doesn't have as sturdy a feel as the rest of the gun does. And it's travel isn't real smooth - it has sort of a slightly gritty feel to it. Different than a S&W or Ruger. That's the only negative I've found with the gun so far.
The gun has a tight lockup for the cylinder, and everything seemed just as solid after the shooting session. Here are some pics of the gun that I took before the shooting session: