.41 Mag Association

Don't think I have ever posted this .41 Special.... It was originally a USFA Shooting Master in .357 Magnum. Had David Clements do his magic with a new barrel and cylinder so it can be put basically back to original if some future owner doesn't appreciate .41s...

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..and with a matching .22/.22 Magnum...

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Only load through it so far is a 250 Keith from a special run of Lee molds...is run with 7.0 grains of Unique but have never checked the velocity yet...

Bob
 
...does your serial number have a "S" prefix? Just wondering because your front sight base appears to be held to the barrel with two pins... S&W only used that method on the Model 57 from 1964 to about 1968+-....

As to the finish...is it satin nickel or hard chrome...with that matte finish it almost looks like hard chrome...
Serial number has an "N" prefix and the front sight base is attached with two pins.
I believe it's been refinished because I didn't think they were originally made with a Matte or Satin finish and I just assumed it's Nickel but I'm not sure. I got the date from the S&W info thread at the top of this forum.
 
I also shoot that 250 grain LBT WFN from CP that the ammo companies use in their 250 HC loads. With 20.0 grains of H110 it runs 1305 from the 4.25" FA and is a real handful... I only got 1080 from a 4" S&W 57 with the Federal CastCore 250 load...

Bob

I never got top velocity out of the Federal 250's that I do with my handloads, even in my Marlin... 1200fps out of the 6" Dan Wesson, and 1500fps out of the Marlin. 19.0grn H110 gives me 1330 and 1660fps, respectively.
 
Gentlemen, I feel qualified to seek membership in the prestigious ". 41 Mag. Association" .

I saw my first .41 Remington Magnum in 1964 at age 10 y/o . I purchased my first revolver, a Ruger Redhawk 20 years later in the summer of 1984 for whitetail hunting in Pennsylvania. She has taken a few deer for me and my friends over the years. I've loaded 210 gr. "LEE" - SWC & Hornadys in RCBS Carbide dies.

My first post here on Highroad.
 
Welcome aboard...so what loads are you using???
I thank everyone for the "likes" and warm welcome.
My target loads were 7.5 grains of "Unique " , as I shot indoors; under hand lubricated Lee 210gr w/weight mix. My full power loads were 23.0 grains of 296 with the Hornadys in various cases.
Both used Remington primers.

I shot Win. ball powder in my .308 & .41
I was fortunate that my next door neighbor owned a tire shop for lead.

Presently I'm eyeing the Charter Arms ,5 shot ,Mag Pug in .41M as a carry piece.
 
It's funny how life is sometimes.

I had been looking for something smaller to replace my 3", Security-Six, .357 as my main CC piece. The Ruger is a great revolver, however; at .33 oz. it can get heavy at times. I do some predator calling at night and felt something useful in/out of the truck was in order. I've encountered all kinds of situations out there in the wee hours where a little reassurance would have been welcome. Everything from some drunk in a ditch , to a woman with a flat tire, to some irrate landowner wanting to know why I was parked out there so late causing his dogs to bark. Anymore you dont know, what appears to be a stranded motorist could be a rape or a drug deal. I didnt want a semi-auto and I really wanted more than a .38 spl.

My g/f's father bought a little 9mm, followed by a .327 Ruger. I was teasing Tiffany that I was going to get a .44 Bulldog to humorously show him what a real CC piece was ! I had actually considered a Charter Arms instead of the Security-Six the day I purchased it. The C/A was priced high and the Ruger rather low. I knew a good deal when I saw it and a .357 just made sense at the time 32 years prior.

Researching Charter Arms Bulldogs I was reminded that they made lightweight, 12 oz. -.38 too and more recently an 18 oz.- .357. Then I saw they were making a new XL frame .41M at 23 oz. . The next morning I went to a local gun shop to see if they happened to have one that I could handle, no such luck; because I probably would have purchased it on the spot. They could order one, however; it was near the end of the Christmas shopping rush and I was hoping to find one right after the holiday I could fondle first.

I looked too, but nobody had any, I found 1 Pink .38, but just not the same. My search got put on the back burner, I looked occasionally; now I see that they have a $25 factory rebate along with a FREE T-shirt & hat until 08/31/19. This has me back on the trail again.

The XL is bigger, but I already have .44 dies and could shoot the Specials in my Magnum rifles if necessary. I have a .357. The .41 is the most potent chambering in the line up, with nobody making one as small. Still I wonder IF its only borderline concealable.
 
I grew up in Fort Wayne... my best friend's dad owned a tire shop downtown... knowing now what I didn't know then (at the age of 8... duh...) I would have skwerreled away all those wheel weights!
Yeah, "they" say hindsight is 20/20 ...
... fortunately I began shooting black powder muzzleloading flintlock rifles in 1968 at age 14, back before the big inline craze. Supplies weren't easy to come by back then like they are now and I had a meager budget on grass cutting money. I remember how hard my first score on pure lead was to come by.

When I started casting pistol bullets from wheel weights I squirreled away all I could, I still have a couple 5 gallon buckets full. Then in 1988 I was lucky enough to score a bucket full of pure lead tubing from a church organ that was being refurbished and modernized.

Gone are the days of easy picking, anymore it's hazardous waste.

I'm set for life on granular Pyrodex and lead, thanks to "pellet" propellants taking over with the inline crowd; I hit a clearance sale on flintlock supplies and bought all the powder they had for $7/pound.
 
Good evening gentlemen. I say that because it's near midnight and I just got off work. Ok, the story:
I started shooting at the age of 4. a single shot break H&R model that I don't remember now. but my father was an avid reloader and had made a deal with someone at Dupont to develop load data for them. This gave him access to powders that the general public didn't have, and my father had two little boys that were more than happy to pull the trigger for him running things over and old mohler skyscreen chrono. By the age of 5 we had moved to pistols, namely Ruger Blackhawks in .357 and .41, with 6 in bbls, and a Super Blackhawk in .44.with a 7 1/2 in. I remember a lot of work with the older Blue Dot. I also remember some really foul smelling stuff dad made using beeswax mixed with a couple scoops of some nasty smelling brown stuff from a 5 gal bucked that was some kind of lubricant for steam engines, but by the numbers we got it must have been a very good lube. In one test we used the Super Blackhawk .44 with some light 200gr GCSWCs and pushed them to 1800ft/sec.and but that resulted in some pretty bad leading.

He also had a closet full of Mouser rifles chambered in everything from 6mm up to a beast we called Bertha. a Siamese model custom chambered in .348 Win Mag blown out to .452 pushing a 512gr HARD cast at a little over 2450 ft/sec. I remember shooting .243, 6.5 Carcano. 6.5x55 Swede. 7x57, 8x57, 30 carbine, a friends Ruger #1 in 45-70 (a LOT of kick for a 7 yr old.) Even got to play with a 1956 vintage Browning FN hi-power. (sweet pistol) Winter days were filled with casting in the basement and lubrisizing a couple thousand bullets and loading them with the latest powder from Dupont. and a couple times during the summer we would load up the back on dads station wagon with a couple hundred lbs of gear, a 3 gallon Coleman thermos of ice coffee, a lunch made of some large turkey club sandwiches, and heading about 90 miles out of Detroit to spend the day running things over the crono. We never went to any indoor ranges in Detroit as my father was known to all the proprietors and was banned from using any of their ranges. He used to alloy his lead with somewhat higher percentages of tin and antimony, and his loads in the Blackhawks were know to put holes in their backstops. Unfortunately my folks split up before I turned 12, but I do have a lit of fond memories of those days.

Fast forward to about 2009 and I decided that I would like to get back into reloading. I found a .Blackhawk in .41 Mag fairly cheap and a friend told me that he would GIVE me some dies and a scale if I did get it. BAM! SOLD. so I played with it for a little while and ended up moving to Colorado Springs to be with my Sister whom I had lost touch with for 22 years. At this point I have about 2000 hard cast 215gr SWCBB a box of CCI 350 primers, 500rds of starline brass (new) and several powders, (Unique, Blue Dot, AA#9, H110, and 2400.) I load 8gr of Unique for plinking at the range, but would like to pick the brains of you fellas about a home defense load, I would like to get some Sierra 170gr JHCs and load for velocity, as 20 foot accuracy shouldn't be a problem.

So there is a little bit of the story, any nuggets of wisdom are highly appreciated.
 
Welcome! By picking the .41 thread as your first post, you have shown your incredible intelligence and probably extraordinary good looks.

I was stationed at Fort Carson in the late '80's... I have a certain fondness for Colorado Springs... and the mountains to the west. I spent most of my weekends up there, shooting, dirt biking, 4-wheeling.. It's a fun place.

To be honest, 8grn Unique under those 170grn JHP's should be plenty... and won't have the ear-shattering, eyeball blinding blast that H110 would have, and I suspect they would still get the job done. My standard plink load is 9grn Unique under any 215grn cast bullet, but I switch to 2400 or IMR4227 for heavier bullets, or loads intended for my Marlin 1894.
 
If you're loading for HD/SD, then you don't want or need full magnum recoil. Not because it will spoil your first shot, but because it will make all subsequent shots slower.

When LEO's carried S&W 57's and 58's, they were almost invariably using ammo with about the same overall power level as that Unique load you're using. Look up the Winchester Silvertip .41 mag load, and consider going for similar ballistics.
 
I've owned several and still have two, an OM Ruger BH 6.5" and an S&W M 57 6". Had them for what seems forever.
 
Sad to say it looks like Ruger is no longer selling the 2 3/4” .41 Redhawk. I think it’s my favorite gun ... and it’s a kick to load for. Tho I suppose it’s value has now jumped (maybe). Still ...
 
Hi Folks... I was doing a Google search trying to find an old S&W ad for a 657 Stocking Dealer special that I have, and found this thread.

I've always been a fan of the .41 Magnum... my 1st one is a M57 with a 8-3/8" barrel that a guy traded me for a Sigma 40F that he really wanted, then came a Ruger Blackhawk, the S&W 657 with a 3" barrel (the stocking dealer special), and a S&W 657-2 Classic Hunter... yes, I like S&W's :D. On my wish list is to add a Marlin 1894 in 41 Mag. but since those are hard to find, I'm saving my pennies for a Henry Big Boy.

In addition to handloading .41 Mag, I also load ".41 Special" using brass I bought from Starline: https://www.starlinebrass.com/41-special

Since the .41 Mag did not evolve from a shorter "Special" cartridge, Starline created a .41 Special case by making it the same length as the .44 Special. Makes it easy to identify your light target and mid-range loads from the full house stuff... plus, it's just fun and unique to have, just like having an "off the beaten path" .41 Mag to stand out from the crowd.

So... do I qualify for the association?

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RH.jpg
 
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Hi Folks... I was doing a Google search trying to find an old S&W ad for a 657 Stocking Dealer special that I have, and found this thread.

I've always been a fan of the .41 Magnum... my 1st one is a M57 with a 8-3/8" barrel that a guy traded me for a Sigma 40F that he really wanted, then came a Ruger Blackhawk, the S&W 657 with a 3" barrel (the stocking dealer special), and a S&W 657-2 Hunter Classic... yes, I like S&W's :D. On my wish list is to add a Marlin 1894 in 41 Mag. but since those are hard to find, I'm saving my pennies for a Henry Big Boy.

In addition to handloading .41 Mag, I also load ".41 Special" using brass I bought from Starline: https://www.starlinebrass.com/41-special

Since the .41 Mag did not evolve from a shorter "Special" cartridge, Starline created a .41 Special case by making it the same length as the .44 Special. Makes it easy to identify your light target and mid-range loads from the full house stuff... plus, it's just fun and unique to have, just like having an "off the beaten path" .41 Mag to stand out from the crowd.

So... do I qualify for the association?

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very nice collection!!! :thumbup:
 
It's funny how life is sometimes.

I had been looking for something smaller to replace my 3", Security-Six, .357 as my main CC piece. The Ruger is a great revolver, however; at .33 oz. it can get heavy at times. I do some predator calling at night and felt something useful in/out of the truck was in order. I've encountered all kinds of situations out there in the wee hours where a little reassurance would have been welcome. Everything from some drunk in a ditch , to a woman with a flat tire, to some irrate landowner wanting to know why I was parked out there so late causing his dogs to bark. Anymore you dont know, what appears to be a stranded motorist could be a rape or a drug deal. I didnt want a semi-auto and I really wanted more than a .38 spl.

My g/f's father bought a little 9mm, followed by a .327 Ruger. I was teasing Tiffany that I was going to get a .44 Bulldog to humorously show him what a real CC piece was ! I had actually considered a Charter Arms instead of the Security-Six the day I purchased it. The C/A was priced high and the Ruger rather low. I knew a good deal when I saw it and a .357 just made sense at the time 32 years prior.

Researching Charter Arms Bulldogs I was reminded that they made lightweight, 12 oz. -.38 too and more recently an 18 oz.- .357. Then I saw they were making a new XL frame .41M at 23 oz. . The next morning I went to a local gun shop to see if they happened to have one that I could handle, no such luck; because I probably would have purchased it on the spot. They could order one, however; it was near the end of the Christmas shopping rush and I was hoping to find one right after the holiday I could fondle first.

I looked too, but nobody had any, I found 1 Pink .38, but just not the same. My search got put on the back burner, I looked occasionally; now I see that they have a $25 factory rebate along with a FREE T-shirt & hat until 08/31/19. This has me back on the trail again.

The XL is bigger, but I already have .44 dies and could shoot the Specials in my Magnum rifles if necessary. I have a .357. The .41 is the most potent chambering in the line up, with nobody making one as small. Still I wonder IF its only borderline concealable.

If a fella does any research on THR .. It will not take long to realize , Im a Charter guy ...
Im looking farly seriously into getting another Bulldog in 44spl or a XL in 41mag ..
I don't think the XL will be much harder to conceal than a Bulldog frame .. Mostly the difference is the diameter of tbe cylinder and thus tbe frame a bit taller to accommodate the cly.
I contacted Underwood.. They said any of their 41mag ammo will function in tbe Charter ... But I think with its lightweight and 2.5 inch barrel a lesser pressure round would be the ticket
 
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