Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Bucket list revolver arrived

Mart: I am happy for you - beautiful pistol and in a most useful configuration.
Great pictures by the way.
Enjoy.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Nice bullets....

That MP Hammerhead is about the only bullet one would need in a .41... I almost bought a mold but already have 10+ molds and just could not justify another...

I do have the 265 grain mold and it gets shot in the heavier SAs...230 is as heavy as I'm going in DA .41s anymore...

Unique and 2400 about covers all the bases for your guns... I also use H110 but only in high velocity top end loads for jacketed bullets and heavy cast...

Bob

This gun in 41 or 45 Colt would be my "next" grail gun in a revolver. Be Well, Rustyzipper.

Very nice

Mart,

I'm curious as to why you didn't replace the .41 you traded with another 57 or 657. Don't get me wrong, I'm a fool for S&W Mountain Guns. What about the Mountain Gun was preferable?

RS

Rip,

After I traded off my 57, I regretted it greatly,but shortly after the trade things got tight for several years. During that time I came to appreciate the Mountain Guns. Several friends had them in 44 and 45 and I enjoyed them every time I got to handle or shoot one. I didn't get really serious about trying to find one until about two years ago. It seemed like every time I found one, I either just missed it or got out bid at the last minute. I almost broke weak a few times on a four inch standard 57.

It's not a lot of weight but I like the lighter weight of the Mountain gun over the regular four inch N frame and I prefer the lines of them over the standard. And there is some value to me in having a slightly harder to find and less common model. And of course I am very fond of the 41 magnum and have been for many years. For a lot of years the 41 magnum was the only centerfire revolver I owned or carried. It gives up very little to its slightly larger brother, the 43 magnum.

Mart

Somehow, Life smiled upon me, I have both a .44 & .45 Mountain Gun...….

Mart,

Thanks for your thoughts. I've always been interested in a 57 but I think my somewhat arthritic thumbs would not like the recoil. I have no problem with my .45 Colt Mountain Guns or L and N-frame .357s. I've got a line on a ANIB nickel 57 but haven't done the deal because I've never shot a .41 so don't have a feel for the recoil increase over those lighter recoiling rounds.

RS

Me, too.

Two .45 Colts.

I haven't shot factory ammo in a 41 magnum in close to 25 years, so I cannot speak to their recoil in a Mountain Gun so chambered. You can certainly load some boulders and dynamite loads for it but honestly, a 41 magnum with a 250-280 grain bullet at 800-1000 will do a lot of heavy lifting. In my old 57, I shot a lot of heavy loads in it and never felt the recoil was bad at all. I might think differently today since I too have a little arthritis going on in my hands and wrists. I think I'll aim for a 265 grain, cast fairly hard, at 1000 fps for this one. I'd be comfortable with that load even in here in Alaska.

Back then, in the mid 90's, I tested every heavy cast bullet I could find. I was trying them all to get a feel for which heavy bullet I liked best so I could get a mold built. I found nine bullets from 250 grains to 295 grains and tested them with H110, 2400 and H4227 in two 41 magnums; an S&W 57 four inch and a Ruger Blackhawk 6.5 inch. Every bullet shot well with the exception of the BRP 260 grain SWC. I don't think BRP is still around. Their bullets were beautiful but didn't shoot well in either gun. That behemoth Penn 295 grain was one of the most accurate bullets of all in both revolvers.

At the time there was a prevailing notion that 41 magnums didn't shoot heavy cast bullets well. I imagine some pundit tried a 41 magnum once with one heavy bullet load and because it didn't shoot well, pronounced to the whole world that 41 magnums didn't like heavy bullets. I was just getting serious about casting and revolver shooting at the time and had a hard time believing the 41 wouldn't shoot heavy bullets. So the test served two purposes. To find a bullet I preferred and to prove. to myself the 41 would shoot heavy bullets. The 357 Magnum, 44 Magnum and 45 Colt had all been handling heavy bullet loads with great accuracy. It just didn't make sense that the 41 would not.

After all was said and done, I ended up ordering my first LBT mold for a 280 grain WLNGC bullet. I shot a lot of those bullets through the Smith and the Ruger and carried that bullet in the Blackhawk all over Alaska for the first few years we were here. Then I got carried away buying revolvers and while I have many options now, the 41 magnum in a 4 inch S&W and a 5.5 inch Bisley still are high on my list as best all around field handgun.

If you get that nickel 57 let me know and I'll cast up some bullets from the two new MP molds for you to try. I need to do a casting session with them anyway. My stocks are low on 41 bullets.

Mart,

Good stuff! Thanks again for your well-considered insights.

Best, RS

...in case anyone is looking for an early Christmas present for themselves...

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/847648835

That’s a really good buy. It always happens that way. I buy something and the next week I find it for less money. Oh well. If anyone wants a 41 Mountain Gun you won’t find a better buy than that one.

...auction isn't over yet...still two days to go...

..yes, that 295 Penn bullet designed by J.D. Jones of SSK was very very accurate...





It was originally designed for the .411 JDJ that is a .444 Marlin necked down to .41 and shot in a Contender. I have a .41/.445 SuperMag and it will run that bullet at 2K fps...

Bob

Where can one find a lanyard ring as you described?

From smith and wesson or hogue, I can’t recall which. They’re made for the the x frame guns. I’ve used them on a .45 colt mountain gun and also a model 69. You have to fit the 69 grips for the lanyard ring but it’s and easy job.

You're a bad man, Bob. Trying to enable another to the dark side I see....LOL

He is... contagious.

I got out to the range today with the Mountain Gun. I took several different loads. Most of them the 410549 SWC bullet, with different powders; Bullseye, Unique, HS6 and 2400 as well as some old 255 WLNGC I loaded 20+ years ago with straight linotype bullets over H110. Some of the 410459's were cast with an Arsenal mold, some with a Lyman 410459. The Arsenal bullets were with range scrap and 2% tin. The Lyman were WW lead.

I pin gauged the barrel and cylinder yesterday. Slugging the bore gives me a slug with 5 lands and grooves so it's a bit of a challenge to get a precise measurement but rolling the slug so the edge of one land is leaving the micrometer jaws as the opposing one is entering gives me a .411-.412 groove diameter. Not the best way to measure a five land slug but poor people got poor ways.

What surprised me was the cylinder mouths all pinned out at .409. That disappointed me a little but I thought I'd shoot it first before sending it off to be honed out to .412. Pin gauging the barrel showed me some thread choking. Looks like a fire lapping is in order. After I get the throats opened.

Despite the critical dimensions being less than favorable for cast bullet shooting, it shot surprisingly well. All these were shot with a Ransom Rest. I am not a good enough handgun shooter to evaluate a handgun when it comes to shooting a lot of groups. The lower right target I shot freehand with a few of each load, single action, to see what the recoil was like for each in the Mountain Gun. The middle left target was my embarrassing double action performance. Of course the Bullseye and Unique loads were pussycats. The HS 6 load was easy shooting with a touch more snap than the Bullseye and Unique and I was pleased with the way it grouped. I thought the 2400 loads would be a little sharper than they were. They had some snap but still very shootable. The real surprise was the heavy 255/H110 load. I imagined it would be pretty uncomfortable in the light Mountain Gun. But, while it bucked with some definite authority, I thought it far more tolerable than my heavy 45 Colt loads in my 4" Redhawk.

I have a hunch that if I get the throats opened up, it will probably turn into a one ragged hole, gun.

Here's a few pictures.