.41rem magnum reloading questions?

D

dogcaller

New member
I have a 657-3 S&W with a 6 inch barrel,that I am starting to shoot more,and intend to start reloading for. I will be using a RCBS rockchucker press with RCBS dies.I have reloaded for rifle for about 10 years,but pistol is new to me, and wondered if anyone reloads for the .41 mag,and could give me some insight on loading for it, and for pistol in general.I doubt if I will ever hunt with it,but I need to learn to shoot it better than I do now.I use mainly hodgdon powder, so if anyone can recomend one of their powders,I would appreciate it.Would the rem.210gr.JHP be a good bullet to use?Thanks for the help. dogcaller,
 
The 41 is enough like the 44 to share many attributes.

I'm sure a Rem 210 HP would be a good slug but if your wanting to practice and shoot more, you can do so with the cheaper lead slugs (Oregon Trails Laser Cast) or copper coated lead bullets. Frankly I like Berry's brand of copper coated bullets for practice and plinking. They work well even without a cannalure(crimp ring) with lighter loads.

Like the 44, powders like H-110 are the best for full throttle hunting loads, but a slightly faster powder like HS-6, will provide you a good practice round without out all the magnum blast.

Be sure to apply a good crimp to each round. Not enough to buckle the case but enough to hold the bullet firm against the recoil. It also helps ignition of the powder to have a good crimp.
 
I use Hornady 210 grain XTP bullets and H-110 for the .41 . I've had real good luck with H-110 in several magnum revolver rounds and in 22 Hornet .
 
For the 41 Mag to do it all you should have 2 powder types. The 1st a faster preferably clean powder for lighter target loads & mid level loads. I use Hodgdon Universal for this pourpose. The 2nd type of powder would only be needed if you wanted to push heavier bullets at a good speed, for hunting & such. This would be a slower handgun powder. The biggies in this dept. are Hodgdon 110(Win 296). There are others but those are my favorites in the Hodgdon line. If heavy bullets for hunting were not planned you could skip the slower powder. You would want a firm crimp & a magnum primer with 110/296 powder. I also use the 'Berry's plated' bullets for general shooting. With a lighter charge of Universal they are a pleasure to shoot in my 44 mag. The site beartoothbullets.com has good info on the heavier cast bullets. It is easy to set up loads for your 41 mag that go the spectrum from light target to max full house loads.
 
I use Hodgdon's "Long shot" and "Lil'gun" powder for the 41 mag. I use the "long shot" powder for high velocity in the 1000 fps to 1200 fps range for very little powder used and milder in recoil.

May I suggest you contact "Lead head bullets" at 620-549-6475 ( Kansas) for some of his Keith hard cast lead bullets
for practise. His bullets are very hard cast and have the necessary crimp grove to prevent bullet jump.

Use this bullets with "Unique powder" for plinking in the
850 fps to 1050 velocity range.

The 41 Mag should be more popular than it is, very mild recoil for the power coming out of the barrel. Very few deer would know the difference.
 
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Be sure to buy your die set with a CARBIDE sizer. It
costs more but it's well worth it not to lube your
brass. Don't over-bell your cases. Use a bullet as
a gauge. You want it to just start into the case 1/16"
or so. This gives the case a good grip on the bullet
which is about as important as the crimp. If you
get a case that is hard to extract from a chamber
the load is probably too hot. Use a published loading
manual and start low, then work up. I love the .41.
 
The .41 is a great cartridge. I have an old Ruger Blackhawk that I've toted over half the Ozarks, and, it shows it. I don't know how many rounds I've shot through it, mostly hard cast LBT type 220 grainers around 1,050 fps. On occasion I've loaded enough H110 to boost velocities to 1,250 fps with either these same bullets or a good jacketed hollowpoint from one of the major makers. The .41 is a very capable cartridge, accurate, powerful enough for 90% of handgunning task, and enjoyable to shoot.
 
I mostly shoot 11grs of HS-6 and a 215gr swc @ 1100 book velocity. I usually use 2400 instead of H110, because to me it seems to have less bark, but with the same bite.

I've used the Berry plated bullets in .357 mag and 45acp with good results also.
 
As was said the 41 is enough like the 44 to be nearly identical in loading procedures. If you have experiance with Rifle handloading then handguns are not much differant, one extra step is all. H-110 is imho the best full throttle powder for the large magnum revolvers along with WW 296 but they are almost the same. Unless you want to shoot full throttle all the time I would suggest you look into cast lead bullets and Unique powder. Just my 2cents. Work up loads for the full throttle jacketed hollow points and lighter loads for the cast for practice or plinking. Many will say work up ONE load and just Load that, that way you always know what to expect. I do not agree with that theory, sight picture and breath and trigger is all easier to achieve with a light load, at least one not as punishing as the full house loads. I ahve not owned a 41 in several decades I owned one and shot it a lot in the 1970's but went back to the 44 Mag. and I have not owned a S&W since Ruger came out with the Redhawk and Super Redhawk. I found S&W's had a tendancy to get loose with a lot of use while the Rugers do not. But that is just my opinion, Ruger and S&W have both sold out to the gun grabbers at one time or another.
Back to topic ..... You can also work up light loads with the 210 Grn JHP and use just that one bullet type and WT. Just a bit more expencive than cast.
I think it is to bad the 41 has been so badly eclipsed by the 44 Mag and the other "big bores" but in my opinion the 41 and 44 will do any thing you may want a large bore revolver to do. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
Many thanks to one and all for the response.I have owned this gun for about 12 yrs.,just have'nt shot it much.I guess it is time to get serious about it.Once again thanks for the info, it is very beneficial.
 
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