41 magnum, why?

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Antihero

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I know this is a loaded question but....if I'm buying a new revolver is there any reason why 41 magnum would be preferable over 44 magnum?

Years ago I wanted a taurus 415 in 41 magnum but ended up with a 44c in 44 mag. I feel I came out ahead because it was the same size, ammo was cheaper, easier to find and 44 special is a thing. I'm not sure anyone does a smaller framed 41 mag anymore, although a 41mag gp100 does sound great.

Opinions?
 
gotboostvr said:
I like the 41mag cartridge alot personally.
A little less recoil, a little bit better sectional density (with certain bullets) and a little flatter shooting than a 44mag.

If you're not chasing Grizzlies and you're a reloader, it's a great cartridge.
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I agree with all the above as a reloader I love it I just really wish smith and Wesson would make the model 69 in it I think a 5 shot L frame would be awesome!
 
horsemen61 said:
I agree with all the above as a reloader I love it I just really wish smith and Wesson would make the model 69 in it I think a 5 shot L frame would be awesome!
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With 7 rounds of 357 in the L frames, I'm fairly confident 6 could be squeezed in.

Give me a 5" half-lug barrel and I'd think that was about as good as it gets for a medium game hunting handgun.
 
Ridgerunner665 said:
Why not?

It's a great round in either a handgun or a lever action.

I've got two...a Ruger Blackhawk and a Henry steel carbine.

Dare to be different, you miss a lot in life by following the crowd all the time.
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I drive a turbo swapped Dodge Rampage in teal with silver stripes. Different isn't something I fear at all.

Useful is something I want in a gun/cartridge
 
Doesn't really shoot enough flatter than 44 to let that be the deciding factor....it is flatter, but within usable hunting ranges it isn't enough to matter.

For deer, hogs, and black bear there isn't a nickles worth of difference between the 41 and 44.

If you're going after critters in excess of 1,000 pounds, then yeah.... bigger is better.
 
I like .41 Magnum because both my .44 Magnum revolvers are set up for 300gr bullets, and sometimes 210-230gr is nice to shoot.

Basically, it's not quite as a large a diameter, shoots a slightly lighter range of bullet weights than .44 mag, and has slightly less recoil. But commercial ammo is less available, with fewer load options, and is often more expensive. So it's really more of a reloader's cartridge.
 
What a 44 does with 300 grains, the 41 does with 265 grains.

What a 44 does with 240 grains, the 41 does with 210 grains.

If you compare them with bullets of similar sectional density they're very dang near identical.

Monolithic bullets do present a different perspective as was touched on in another thread recently... the 44 will always be capable of a bigger meplat... so then the question becomes, does the game you're hunting really need that bigger meplat?

I've only used them with expanding bullets... mostly XTP's, but have recently switched to Swift A-Frames for hunting... the A-Frames shoot to the same point of aim as the XTP's in both my guns... makes range time a little cheaper... and the A-Frames will punch through both shoulders and out the other side of a deer without breaking a sweat, no matter how high the impact velocity, they expand at lower velocity than the XTP's too... usually coming out around .610" or so, regardless of velocity.

I cannot comment on game bigger than East Tennessee black bears...I haven't had the opportunity to hunt anything bigger.
 
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Ridgerunner665 said:
That depends entirely on what you're using it for.

That said.... it'll never be any more useful than 44... they're too close to the same for that, but by that same token the 41 is every bit as useful for medium and the lighter end of large game.
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^^^^That.

If you don't handload, I wouldn't recommend the .41, it's charms aside. I have 4 .41's and no .44's... I love it, but I'll admit it is not as mainstream as the .44, all else being equal.
 
I never have been able to warm up to the .41 Magnum. There certainly is nothing wrong with it - I expect it is about 95% of a .44 Magnum, and that makes it a fine round. I cannot think of any way it is superior to the .44, though. My personal experience is that recoil is almost identical, and that the gain in trajectory is entirely theoretical, offhand with iron sights.

If it is what I had, I would be fine with a .41. I won't go out of my way to get one, though. I just don't see that it fills any kind of niche between the .357 and the .44.
 
I looked seriously at .41 mag before buying a .44 mag. They are both great rounds. For me the better ammo and better component availability of the .44 mag is what sold me on it. Reloading my own ammo I can reload .44 mag as light or heavy as I want.

Either round will kill most anything you put in front of the barrel when you pull the trigger.
 
It's a really tough sell given hot .357s and moderate .44s.
So.... Why?
Because:
Skeeter Skelton
Bill Jordan
Elmer Keith
and
Model 57s!

Also, it's at least *1* better than a .40 or 10mm short.:neener:

Get one because they hunt so well.
Get one because Dirty Harry is so passé.
Get one because you're secure in your manhood.

Just git 1!

I'll always have a soft spot for it because it is what I learned to both re-load and hand-gun hunt with but to be honest, I haven't one at the moment but maybe one of those new S&W *Classics* will find its way to me one day.

Todd.
 
Antihero said:
I drive a turbo swapped Dodge Rampage in teal with silver stripes. Different isn't something I fear at all.

Useful is something I want in a gun/cartridge
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Almost bought a *Shelby Rampage* up around San Jose when I was at language school in the Army. With a lockable tonneau - it'd be great fun. A gun connection would be that I was thinking about it most significantly as I was going for a job moonlighting at the Laguna Seca public range at the time and my Buick GS is a monster gas hog.

Todd.
81feef295cecd2cb59aa37d6a8adf20f.jpg
 
ApacheCoTodd said:
Almost bought a *Shelby Rampage* up around San Jose when I was at language school in the Army. With a lockable tonneau - it'd be great fun. A gun connection would be that I was thinking about it most significantly as I was going for a job moonlighting at the Laguna Seca public range at the time and my Buick GS is a monster gas hog.

Todd.
View attachment 876857
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Funnily enough the one I posted has the front end of a Shelby charger on it and the previous owner had Shelby decals on it
 
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