Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Thinking about a 41 magnum

ID Shooter...

"I also would like to see it in a 4 5/8 inch. I suppose a guy could have the barrel shortened while it was in the shop getting the trigger done."

Look at my Flat Top above your post...it is a 4 5/8".... Williams Shooters Supply contracted for 119 4 5/8" guns and 181 6.5" barrel gun... They are getting very hard to find...

bubba....Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa...let us know what your daughter picks out...and welcome to The Cult of the .41.....

Bob

I have that same gun - the Taurus Tracker. I put a set of Hogue grips on it 'cause I did not like the original ribber grips. Nice package.

Bob,

Yes, I have seen your posts of your flat top 41 before. It is a beautiful piece.

Quick question: Is the grip frame alloy or steel on the flat top?

Steel.....

Bob

Hey .41 Tracker guys, do you have any problems with your Tracker cylinder being to short for any of the .41mag heavy loads? I have a Taurus SS Mod 415 ported snubnose that I bought for pocket carry in the mountains. The cylinder is too short for the heavy load ammo that I use in my Ruger. It does take the 250gr Federal CastCore, with no problem.

I highly recommend a .41 caliber! A friend of mine used to carry on in his younger years as a boarder partrolman.

Nowdays with all this new tech on the market the revolver has been back seated somewhat for the high capacity mags in the semi-auto and it does make a difference on the street where car jackings are now made by groups of 3 or 4 people etc. This is where the semi-rules for firepower.

I can shoot 255 grain bullets ( http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/default.aspx?productNumber=215550 ) from mine without problems. It is a hand full with full power loads.

Good choice. You won't be sorry. Of course, once you have your .41 Mag. handgun, you'll not be truly satisfied until you have a Marlin 1894S .41 Mag., to match it.

I love my combo S&W 57 and Marlin .41 Mag. Great carry out in the boonies.

L.W.

I had a Ruger SA 41 Mag and liked it a lot. When my son moved to Alaska, I let him take it. I had some handloads with 260 gr bullets that are awesome bear medicine.

Yes it can be a problem with heavy cast bullets. A "real" Keith 220-230 grain bullet crimped in the standard crimping groove is too long for the cylinder and has to be crimped over the shoulder. Also "long nose" LBT bullets will not fit either.

Cast Performance Bullet Company and now LeadHead Bullet Company makes the 250 grain LBT bullet for Federals CastCore load. Kelly Brost of CPBC told me he tried to get Federal to use his favorite .41 bullet, the 255, but said they were concerned that the crimp to nose length was too long for some cylinders so instead chose the 250 that has much more shank in the case than the 255 does. Also because the bullet nose was right at the end of the cylinder, in the light guns with heavy recoil the bullet could jump the crimp and the nose then tie up the cylinder rotation.

I have three of the Trackers..a stainless 4", a titanium 4" and a titanium 6"...all are great shooters. I also have a couple hundred .41 Special cases just for shooting the LeadHead 230 Keith with 7.0 grains of Unique in the Trackers. It runs just about 1000 fps the same as 8.0 grains of Unique runs in a .41 Magnum cast. If I want a heavy cast I use the 250.



6" titanium...left target at 15 yards slow DA the right target fast DA....




The same situation exists with the Freedom Arms 97...their cylinder is also shorter than the FA 83, Ruger or S&W guns...






Bob

Bob,

Thanks for the answer above.

The last photo inspired me to browse the FA web site for a while.

I sure do like the looks of the round butt model 97.

Maybe after the mortgage is paid off.

Hello Bubbajay


Better to Slow down a Notch there Partner... if you are going to hand a .41 Magnum down to your daughter I would suggest you locate the One that Hit the scene First in 1964 Being the S&W Model 57. They are built on the-N-frame and will take repeated Magnum Punishment. I have dropped several Deer with mine and it is a Pure Tack driver on Target. They are a Little hard to Locate but once you get one you will Not Regret it. Here is mine a Nickel 4" example which are very hard to locate with the shorter 4" Barrel and in Nickel finish, but don't give up, they are out there and will Only Appreciate in Value over time...Why Not give her the Best to hand down to her Daughter after you are long gone ? Regards, Thegeneral

Nothin' better'n a round butt, I always say...

I like the .41. I haven't owned one in quite a while. It seemed pretty stupidly simple to load for, throw 21 to 21.5 grains of Win 296 under a 210 grain Hornady XTP in WW brass and light it with Federal 155 primers. In my 2 guns that made holes in paper real close together.

I have fairly small hands, so one thing I do with Blackhawks is "upgrade" them with a Super Blackhawk hammer while I've got 'em apart cleaning up the trigger. The lower hammer spur is easier for me to reach.

Probably the best looking single action I've ever seen is the 5.5" barreled version of the super blackhawk. For my eye, it just works. Balances nicely.

I'd be careful about the 4-5/8" versions of the Blackhawk in .45 Colt. I bought one a while back and found the front sight too short to be able to zero the gun with any bullet, ran out of adjustment. Thought maybe mine had been assembled with the wrong front sight but when I went back to the store, they had 3-4 others just like it all with the same sight height. The 5.5" barreled guns had a lot taller sight. I considered sending mine back to Ruger and have them put the sight off the 5.5" gun on it but decided "[bleep] it" was a better answer and consigned mine.

As far as choosing one for deer ... it doesn't matter, they all work. Load a medium weight JHP fast enough to expand, or a medium SWC from about 1000 fps up, deer will die. Focus on finding accuracy, don't worry about max velocity. All three are way more than adequate.

Tom

Missing the point entirely!

Does she have a sister?

When your wife say she wants to buy you a gun JUST SAY YES

Wives have a habit of changing their minds.

8mmwapiti

That Mod 97 round butt is too sweet. I have alwaye thought that happiness would be a SS Ruger GP100 4", with a Bisley hammer and Birds Head grips in the .41mag.

CF...I have this right...a GP100 double action with Bisley hammer and a Birdshead grip....that would be interesting.

Bowen and I think Clements Custom Guns do .41 Special conversions of GP100s...

The "little" FA97 is very small...far smaller than a Blackhawk. I originally was going to shoot just .41 Specials in it but have found for some reason that Magnum brass is more accurate in the gun. In the 35+ years of reloading .41 Magnum I have never had an inaccurate load... 7.0 grains of Unique with a Leadhead 230 Keith in a .41 Special case was my first one... But yet it shot fine in that 4" Taurus Ti Tracker...

If anyone is interested I know where there is a 5.5" FA97 for sale for $1350.00. It is a clone to the 83 above....right down to the black Micarta grips and Mag-Na-Port barrel. It belongs to a friend of a friend who is selling of his collection. This gun is about $2200.00 and has a very low round count. I have fired it and it is excellent. My friend bought the same gun from him but in .32-20/.32 H&R Magnum and has sent the gun back to FA to have a .327 Federal cylinder put on.

Bob

The old Colt Lightning and Thunderer were double action. I had always thought that the Bisley hammer and Birds Head grips would make a nice .41 carry gun in a double action. Mahap even a 3" barrel.

My 4 5/8" Blackhawk .41mag has a Bisley hammer.

Bob,

How does the weight of the '97 compare to the NM Blackhawk.

M97 4.25" 41Mag = 2.33 lbs

Blackhawk 4.62" 41 Mag = 2.35 lbs

The FA IS smaller, but all steel.

Pete