I’ve been re reading a lot of John Taffin and his perfect packin’ pistol thoughts. It is has led Me to the 41 magnum. I know Taffin favors the 45 colt or 44 special. I’ve got those but they just don’t do it for me. I’ve got 357 and 44 mags too. Too weak and too much respectively. I see Ruger has a few new 41 magnum blackhawks out now. Also discovered Henry makes a lever gun in 41 mag.

I’ve never fired a single round of 41 magnum. Seems like a good compromise. They will
Be woods guns for milling about and maybe shooting a deer or 2. What’s your thoughts on the round and the guns that you carry in that caliber?

I traded for a S&W 657 here many years ago.

I deer hunted with it a few years, took it out of the safe to shoot occasionally, then sold it in 2017.

This is the first deer I took with it.

The .41 in a Blackhawk is a great round. I would however put it in the same category as the .44 and not really a compromise between the .44 and .357. On the Blackhawk it did require me to change out the factory stocks for a set of Pacmeyers.

Have a Model 57 Smith in 41 - love it!

I think the 41 mag is great, as posted, very close to the 44 mag in ballistics.

My first question would be, do you reload your own ammo? If so, no problem diving in.

If it’s mostly the Alabama woods, the 357 would be plenty. If wanting a little more, and only factory ammo the option, I’d lean 44 mag. With the 44 mag you can shoot 44 Special, similar to the 357/38 spcl relationship.

It may take more effort to find the 44 mag ‘trail gun’, if desiring modest weight. I have 2 handguns & one lever in 41 mag. No problem finding components for reloading.

.41 magnum is a great cartridge for a Desert Eagle if you have a steady supply of ammo.

I just keep running out of ammo.

I have never owned a .41, but have a couple of shooting mentors who are really into them. The law enforcement history with the cartridge is pretty interesting, and it made a lot of sense in that application at the time.

The catch-22 these days is that it only makes sense to own one if you reload, and it also makes no sense at all if you reload.

You can't find factory ammo for it, and when you do, it's expensive. The guns are also rare and expensive. So you have to handload for it.

But as a handloader I can mimic the ballistics with a .44, so what's the point of investing in a $1000+ revolver, dies, and components, when I can do the same thing with a .44 that I already own and load for?

I kind of feel the same way about .44 Special. Unless you stumble up on one of the rare and expensive air weight guns chambered in that cartridge, most of them are built on the same platform as their .44 Mag counterparts, so really what's the benefit in a modern defensive revolver (not talking about older collectibles...that's an entirely different thing altogether)?

A buddy has a S&W model 58. It's something different, but as has been noted. Expensive. Sure was fun to try.

I've got a S&W 58, Blackhawk, and a Henry. While I haven't reloaded in a while- I do recall starting out with AA9 and then sticking with Trailboss and LSWC pills. I never ran any of them across a chrono or even tried to get up to max loads, I think the .41 is a dandy round. I haven't dispatched any critters with it, but even with the Trailboss loads I wouldn't doubt it's capabilities if the need arose.

I got my first M-57 40 or so years ago. I am a reloader and load it lightly so it is pleasant to shoot. I had 4 at one time, but am down to just my original 6 inch and now a 4.

The revolvers are big and heavy, but accurate and capable of a great deal of power if needed.

Picked up a nice used NM Blackhawk a few years ago. Not because I wanted one, but the price was too good to be true. I played with it for a bit, putting Hogue grips on it for my girly hands. I now carry it on the side during deer season, hoping to take one with it. Actually, looking for some type of rifle to go with it. I do have a 44 and 357's, along with matching lever rifles.

quote:

Originally posted by sourdough44:
I think the 41 mag is great, as posted, very close to the 44 mag in ballistics.

A bear shot with a 41 mag will go down insisting it was a 44 mag.

Never had one but always want a 57 and 58 just to have them. Maybe eventually. Good luck with your decisions.

Summer of '65 I bought a new 4" model 57, and years later had a couple more. I liked it a lot, loaded for it for a long time, etc. I liked the fact that it had a tiny bit more steel surrounding each chamber than the.44, and recoil was just a bit less. Don't have any .41 Magnums or loading gear for it anymore, but certainly nothing wrong with the cartridge. In the June '64 Guns and Ammo, there is a rather extensive article on the, then new, .41 Magnum by Elmer Keith..

Didn't they use the .41 in the first Dirty Harry movie because the .44 was so new and rare as hen's teeth?

quote:

Originally posted by Biker_dude:

quote:

Originally posted by sourdough44:
I think the 41 mag is great, as posted, very close to the 44 mag in ballistics.

A bear shot with a 41 mag will go down insisting it was a 44 mag.

Hahaha indeed

I’ve shot the S&W Mountain Gun - the 4” Model 57. If memory serves that is the adjustable sight model right? Its a great cartridge but near impossible to find now. The 4” had a bit of bark and blast to it, but it was not unmanageable. My buddy that I shoot with every week has 2 of them.

NO!!!!!!!!!!

quote:

Originally posted by LDB:
Didn't they use the .41 in the first Dirty Harry movie because the .44 was so new and rare as hen's teeth?

Did Dirty Harry Use 41 Magnum? The question online was answered as follows:

Yes, the Dirty Harry movie did use a 41 Magnum. According to discussions on the Internet Movie Firearms Database, the gun used in the film was a Smith & Wesson Model 57 chambered for the .41 Magnum cartridge, not the .44 Magnum as the character claims. This was due to the difficulty in obtaining a Smith & Wesson Model 29 chambered for the .44 Magnum at the time of filming.

Regarding Dirty Harry’s revolver being a .41 magnum, you can read “.44 Magnum” in closeups of the barrel, so I don’t know where or why they’d bother with a Model 57.