Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns 41 mag handloads

plain base or GC?

Blammer, its a plain base mould, I almost never use anything with a GC, very rarely do you need one. If I get any leading, which is seldom then I just add a little linotype to the WW alloy & carry on. Another thing I do at times is use a softnose cast & they work great, my own moose went maybe 20 yds after being whacked with my Ruger 480 using 370 softnose cast.
Here's my buddy Steve with his one shot kill at 63 yds using his 41 magnum, first animal with a sixgun! Penetration was about 3 feet using the softnose cast.

Here's one of 6 hogs I took in Texas last winter, this one with my OM Ruger 41 magnum & the great 230 gr Keith slug.

I also took 2 hogs with the knife. Don't know what caliber my knife was!


Dick

NICE!

I've heard about the 'soft nosed' cast bullets and how to make them. Haven't seen a need for it yet, but yours seem to work splendidly!

What lube do you use?

I have a 41 mag that I'm working on a 250gr WFN profile with 2 lube grooves and plain base for my 41 contender.

I use 'speed green' lube along with some others.

Those are great testimonials for the .41 Magnum, especially that moose. You read so much about the .44 and .45 you'd think anything less would bounce off. A big slug is certainly good to have but this shows (for the umpteen thousandth time )that placement is still the most important factor in killing power. Good shooting for you and your friend.

Would you care to elucidate on the hand to hand combat with that bottom hog?

Blammer, the softnose cast are great, you can "cast in" the amount of expansion you desire, its pretty much fool proof. I don't use them a great deal but have had great success when they are in the cylinder. can't really compare a 41 revolver to a 14" contender but you should have good luck with your 250 gr WFN. They usually require a fair amount of velocity compared to the Keith SWC's but you can easily push them quite fast.
I did the TC thing for many years, had 41 barrels, mostly by Bullberry, Fred and I (owner of Bullberry) did Africa with handguns several years ago, he's a great guy, lots of fun. The single shots pretty much lost their fizz for me, revolvers put the fun back in the game, up close & personal & on the ground, spot & stalk. For me at least baiting a big game animal isn't fair chase, thats killing, not hunting, just my opinion.
I normally use LBT lube, you can't outrun it, that is, you won't run out of lube. I also use Ballasticast lube in my competition revolvers, they are run through a star machine, the LBT soft goes through the other 2 RCBS machines.
Here's my spring bear (may 08) taken by spot & stalk with my 10" Ruger 44 magnum, 250 gr. Keith & iron sights. I think it was 88 yds, not sure, can't find my notes. 6' 9" cinammon phase black bear.


Dick

Dick

Idaho 1945, Nice shooting!! Love the 41 mag. What holster is that in the photo?

Jim, those Texas boys are kind of tough hombre's, they wouldn't let me shoot a hog until I "earned" it, had to take the first one with the knife. I ended up taking 2 with the knife & the others with a sixgun.
They turn the dogs loose & when the fights going real good you just wade into the pile, dust, poop, fur, growling & squealing & try to find an opening. Pretty intense! The complete story is over on the Ruger forum, back in feb-march, I go by sixshot over there. Look in the gallery section.

Catsranger, my hosters (shoulder rigs) are made by Mike Barranti, look under Barranti Leather. These are the best holsters out there, bar none. Its called the Northwest Hunter Rig, mine is serial #1. You can get a better view on the Ruger forum, look in the gallery for sixshot.

Dick

I have a Smith 57 and I think it is a early model as it is marked Model 57 with no dash number. Any way, it's a 6" version and so far I can't get 1200fps with a 210 grain bullet without the hull being difficult to remove from the cylinder. I have tried several powders and about 1175 is tops without the hulls sticking. I find this interesting as the Remington 210 goes just over 1200 with no hull problems.
Certainly that small amount of velocity difference is no big deal, just interesting.

JWC...what are you using for powder. With 210 grain jacketed bullet and 22-24 grains of H110 or WW296 (same powder different can), a Magnum primer and a heavy roll crimp (try a Lee Factory Crimp Die) my 657 and 57 with 6" barrels get in the low to mid 1300s. If you are using any other powder than H110 and try and push the loads in a S&W you will get case stick...but I have never had that problem with H110 with top end loads.

Bob