.41 Magnum for Deer

[Shawnee]

In one respect I'm just as bad as the 30/06 trigger jerks - I hunt deer with a .44 magnum Super Blackhawk mostly just because I've done it for 187 years and its' easily my favorite deer gun.

Except for any minor difficulties finding components and/or ammo, I think the .41 magnum is a "sleeper" as a deer gun that many lads would really like if they messed with it a bit. I know many people have long felt: "Why the .41 when there is the .44?" and I guess that has some validity.

But a handgunner I knew in Florida has two .41 Blackhawks (with some very good trigger work) and they both are very accurate with some pretty healthy handloads he has for them. He has shot 3 or 4 deer and quite a few hogs (all under 350lbs.) with excellent results. Seems to me a .41 magnum Blackhawk with a 5.5" barrel would make a dandy deerswatter.

Any of you lads out there using a .41 for deer ? What's the skivvy on deer loads for it ?

 

[jwr747]

I will assume the 187 year old Super Blackhawk is one of the "early" models.never tried the 41 for deer ( whitetail) but would guess any of the higher mid to upper limit loads would work. jwr

 

[19-3Ben]

I hunt deer with a .44 magnum Super Blackhawk mostly just because I've done it for 187 years

I am but young grasshopper to you of many years of experience sensei.

 

[Shawnee]

LOLOLOL !


Well.... there may be some truth to the adage that 187 years' experience is nothing much more than 1 year's experience repeated 187 times.

 

[john1911]

I've taken deer with both the .41 mag and .44 mag. I don't think the deer have been able to tell the difference.

I tend to shoot the .41 a bit better than the .41. That can be attributed to the guns (.41 Blackhawk vs. .44 Redhawk).

Personally, I can't tell a lot of difference between the two calibers for deer. The only real positive for the .44 is ammo availability. Most any store that carries ammo will have some .44 mag in stock. My local gun stores will have 2-3 boxes of .41 mag on hand (at about 2x the price of .44).

My .41 mag deer load is a Speer 220 grain JSP over 19.5 grains of H110 lit by a CCI 350 primer. I've found this load to be very accurate out of my Blackhawk.

 

[dakotasin]

i run 41's for deer hunting. i was thinking of using one for elk this year, but careful consideration of the ballistics leads me to believe there isn't enough room for error.

i zero my 41's for 75 yards, and get about 4-ish inch groups at 100 yards w/ factory sights.

the blackhawk in 41 is a perfectly acceptable deer whacker, but the factory sights are a touch coarse for precision shooting at 100 yards - meaning the sights are the limiting factor and i wouldn't shoot a deer w/ one much beyond 100 yards.

i load mine w/ 210 hornadys and a stiff charge of h-110. it is a wrist-wrecker, producing significantly more felt recoil than my 480 ruger. still is a tremendous amount of fun, though.

 

[Guillermo]

41 magnum is a great round. Having said that, I do not recommend it unless you reload. This is because there is limited factory ammo available.

The Ruger is a good gun and will serve you well.

If you reload this would be a good field gun for you.

Happy hunting

Guillermo

 

[Charles S]

Any of you lads out there using a .41 for deer ? What's the skivvy on deer loads for it ?

I love the 41 Rem Mag for deer. There is not a deer that walks in north America that cannot be killed cleanly with a 41 mag.

I personally am quite happy with the standard 210 grain bullet loaded over 2400 powder. However, I am sure any factory load will work just fine.

 

[mgregg85]

People use .357 and 10mm for deer, the .41 is more powerful than either and better at longer range shots than the .44 magnum.

I'll be taking my gp-100 with me during rifle season, just in case I can find a nice, close shot.

 

[Jst1mr]

Shocked, just shocked!!!!

In one respect I'm just as bad as the 30/06 trigger jerks - I hunt deer with a .44 magnum Super Blackhawk mostly just because I've done it for 187 years and its' easily my favorite deer gun

Why, oh why, would anyone put up with that excessive muzzle flash and recoil, which of course renders the shooter incapable of any degree of accuracy, when a well-placed .380 auto round will do the job just as well?

Now, you know you deserved that , and had to expect it!

 

[Majic]

I hunted with a .357 untill I got a Ruger Bisley in .41 many years ago. I now have quite a few .41s and it's the first thing I think of when big bores are discussed. I have dropped whitetails with a cast 260 FP and a healthy dose of H-110. My eyes aren't what they used to be and I have been thinking about putting optics on my 8 inch DW. That should allow me to drop a deer at 100 yards or so. The .44s are great but if you handload and cast then a whole new world opens up for the .41 magnum and it stays right on the heels of the .44s.

 

[Pumpkinheaver]

I have a couple of .41 mags. My favorite deer load is 21grs H-110 under a 210XTP. It does the job. I have substituted the 210 sierra and it worked fine.

 

[W.E.G.]

.410 vs. .429?

I'm sure the deer can't tell.

 

[22-rimfire]

I believe it is mostly preference. I shoot 41's better and that makes me choose 41's over 44's. I stopped shooting 44's. That could change when I find a Colt Anaconda for the right price. But I still prefer the 41 for just about everything regardless of the usual ammo price considerations. I just buy online and keep a supply on hand. No big thing unless you just blast 100's of rounds a month. In that case, reload. I have five 41's at the moment and zero 44's.

I have moved to shooting the 480 Ruger in a SRH for deer. But not because the 41 is not enough. I just wanted to try to master something larger that has more punch and might allow me to have more confidence at longer ranges. It kicks though; a lot more than either the 41 or 44. I pretty much take my handgun shots same as with a rifle and make no concessions for impact angle and so forth. I try for shoulder shots and hopefully break at least one shoulder and take out the heart lung area. It is one of the reasons I do not choose a 357 mag regardless. If I carry both a rifle and revolver deer hunting, a 4" 41 mag gets the nod as the holster gun.

 

[Ben Shepherd]

In pure balistics, the 41 flies flatter. The two most acurate handguns I have(outside contender barrels) are a couple of 41 redhawks. There are even those that say with a similar weight slug at similar velocity, the 41 will out penetrate a 44 due to the slightly smaller frontal area.

As far as performance on big game? I hope to find out personally here in a couple of weeks, using some of those cast preformance slugs in front of a stiff charge of 296.