Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 41 Special - will there be any future offerings?

So why not just use .38-40?

I've never heard of .41 Special. Why reinvent the wheel?

Ask that of the folks who came out with the WSMs, or the 375 Ruger, the 7-08, the 260, or for that matter, the 280.

Mostly just the ease of using a straight walled case with better brass - you can use carbide sizing dies so no lube needed.

Performance wise, you're right, same wheel.

Taurus already makes a 5 shot 41 mag medium frame revolver - the 425. It is the cat's ass with 200 grain bullets at about 1000 fps.

Owned one, it would be a handy 'ladies gun' but a lower recoil option, w/a an expanding load....is whats needed.

The cylinder is short for high performance heavy bullet loads, but aides in compact size/wt. and would be perfect for a 'special' loading IMO.

Why the 41 Special?

Peruse any thread about reduced loads and you'll find cautions about the dangers of small charges in large cases - or outright dire warnings.

Then peruse threads about the 41 Special and see how many ask "Why not just load down a 41 Magnum?"

Maybe you can reconcile those two, but I can't. The 41 Special uses its lower case volume efficiently, burns with much better consistency, and achieves lower velocity spreads than loaded-down magnum cases. Besides, owning one is just plain ... well, special.

you can also find the occasional 10mm in a revolver - such as a S&W 610 or a Ruger in the .38-40/10mm combo. I saw a 610 recently; if it had been one of the 5" guns instead of a 6.5" I would have bought it. Course I already have 2 10mm 1911's...

Dad unfortunately sold his old 41 Colt SAA a few years ago. Stiff loads would not have been acceptable in a 1902 model, but it would have been interesting to work with.

I have found Titegroup to work beautifully for reduced loads including those in the 41 and 44 Magnums and the 475 and 500 Linebaugh's.

65BR

You are correct about the short cylinder of the Taurus, but my Taurus SS Ported Mod 415 snubnose belly gun handles the high performance factory load Federal 250gr CastCore in .41Mag, just fine. It's a handful, but a comfort under your pillow in a tent. At 28oz it is also my platform for the .41 Special.

I may be a snob, but I don't even own a .44 or a .357 anymore. The .41's seem to take care of their work.

Tex, had low cash when a 610 5" popped up in Houston at the AstroHall show yrs back, love the look of the little 4" but it's perhaps heavier than needed.

Croldfort- still have a handy 65LS, the 657s too large w/6" - one a CH full lug/unfluted. No doubt, a 41 can do whatever I need a handgun to do for me. If I need bigger, not interested in a 44 magnum, likely just go 45 Colt in a Ruger, but I'd have to have BIG bears on the menu to feel the urge. 255/265/275 I believe are all avail for 41, twist dependent perhaps, and cyl. length as mentioned.

The Ti Taurus was a nice package as well.

I also have a SS Ruger 5 1/2" Bisley in .45LC and a Glock G20 10mm.

Dr Howell suggested to us several years ago that we could duplicate "special" powder capacity in our magnum cases by seating our bullets extra deep in the magnum case.

I took that advice with the 41 magnum in my 7.5 inch SBH bisley hunter. I have seen great results with reduced loads using Universal Clays and 210 gr jacketed hollow point bullets. Specifically the Nosler 210. Also I have used (shown below) the Berry's 210 plated bullet in this application



The reduced COAL loading has shown low variation in muzzle velocity in what has become my favorite plinking load. 6.0 gr of Universal with the CCI 300 primer and the 210 gr Nosler produced 829 fps, 821 fps, and 825 fps for three shots over the Chronograph.

My "special" loads are loaded to a COAL of 1.465 inches in a magnum case. While my magnum loads are 1.625 inches COAL.

It would be very interesting to see a professional write up in a major publication which discussed this technique for building reduced power loads in magnum cases.

Here is one by Mic McPherson that discusses this technique, among others.

http://www.levergun.com/articles/thoughts.htm

There are two equally arguable viewpoints on this:

You can seat bullets deeper and avoid the need for shorter cases.

- OR -

You can shorten cases and avoid the need for seating bullets deeper.

As they say, you pays your money and ...

Rocky, very succinct

When I can afford to have one of those sweet little five shot 41 specials built on a Single Six, I'll be proud to shoot short brass in her.

But I just can not see the point, as long as I am packing a SBH.

Roxky,

The photos of your custom Ruger .41 Special in your Handloader article on Plated Bullets show why there might be something factory: wow, that revolver is a piece of art.

Who did that work? Thanks...jim

David Clements did the work; thanks for the kind words.

He did MUCH more than you think. I got that revolver as a basket of parts. It had been dragged down a mountainside with its holster belt caught on the rear bumper. The rear sight and the grip frame were ground off, there were deep dings and scratches in the cylinder and the trigger guard was mashed in enough to curl the trigger. I got it for $50 - which is what the guy asked.

Back when Clements was almost an "in" secret and he was still in Mississippi, he performed his magic for me. When I got it back, if it weren't for the serial number, I would not have believed it was the same gun. He rebuilt and refitted everything, changed it to .41 Special and even removed the original Ruger stampings on the frame. How, I could not begin to say. He warned me that those original frames were so hard that the bluing would eventually "purple" but I didn't mind that. Still don't.

Added: for those who missed the article:

Rocky,

Thanks for the info on the smith and what he did. It is a beauty....jim

Great thread!

Rocky - it's great to "see" you here, as your original article (along with Mr. Taffin's several mentions) inspired me to add to my ever expanding .41 collection (Special, Magnum, GNR & SuperMag).

I had Mr. Bowen rework a 686 to .41 Special:


The work includes; Mountain Gun barrel, BP cylinder chamfer, Action tune, Shallow V rear & Tritium Big Dot front, Spegel Cocobolo grips & Lobo Gunleather (stocked up with plenty of .41 Spl headstamped brass as well).

For me and my purposes, it's the ideal balance between revolver size/weight and power/projectile. I have a 586 destined for conversion, and the hots for a couple other platforms for conversion.

Here's a happy .41 cartridge family (missing only my .41 GNR & "some day" .410 GNR):


Doing more than my part to keep .41's alive.

Press On, Regardless.

MadBadger

Thanks for the kind words.

Yes, you are certainly doing at least your share, LOL!