41 Mag reloading

fiver

Well-Known Member
you could always bang your head against the wall and try chasing down a D.W. in 41 mag., they are 2 stroke revolvers.
mine only get shot in single action mode but you can just pull the trigger if you want.
 

358156 hp

At large, whereabouts unknown.
I spent a lot of time and money developing my DA shooting. I usually joke with people when they watch me shoot about them needing to get a few hundred lbs of wheelweights, and an 8 lb keg of Bullseye. Cast, load, shoot, cast load, shoot, until it's all gone. Then buy more supplies and repeat as necessary until you're as good as you want to be.

The real downer is that one of my prescription meds makes my hands shake after a few minutes of even moderate exertion. All that work for nothing...
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
I have been in the habit of cocking the hammer with my left thumb and shooting with my right hand for so long I don't think I can operate a handgun any other way.
it has cost a chunk or two out of my thumb when shooting a pistol instead of a revolver just because the habit is so ingrained.
 

JSH

Active Member
I entered the 41 mag circle several years back. First one was a 657, then I got a Bisley hunter.
I fell into this after chasing my tail looking for a 375 super mag. I was advised to just go to the 41 mag and be happy. This came from folks that had been there done that.

I have acquired a couple of 357 maximum Blackhawks and hopefully a third will be on its way this year some time. I have plans for a five shot 375. Time will tell.

The only issue I have had with the 41 mag was dies. RCBS, Redding and Lee were tried. I won't run through the issues, but I found and older steel set of RCBS dated in the early 70's. Problem solved.
Jeff
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
the 375 is something to behold.
the maximum turns into a super big pussycat after shooting the 375.
it takes all day to make 50 rounds from scratch but it's worth the effort.
in a lever gun it turns into a non recoiling fairly quiet easy to manage round.
 

JonB

Halcyon member
Elric (and others),
Thanks for the heads up and the advice.
I guess I'll try 2400.

I had to wonder why Alliant gives the warning on BD with 41 mag?
Felix offered some insight.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/sho...g-from-Alliant&p=370874&viewfull=1#post370874
It's a long story, and I ain't gonna type it all, but I found about 500 rds of 41 mag that I loaded with Blue Dot, some a few years ago (2009) and some loaded last year. The old ones were 208gr hand swaged brass jacketed bullets with 11.0gr and also some 224gr SWC w/GC with 11.7gr. The new ones were 255gr RF Ranch Dog with 11.7gr. That load I got from a QuickLoad printout I got from Micheal and should be 25Kpsi with the 255gr RF...which would make the other loads less or at least similar.

Anyway, during the range trip today, I brought the Henry 41mag, to give it a workout ...it still doesn't cycle some ammo 100% reliably. I'm just gonna keep shooting it, til is wears or loosens up. Also, I believe there is something with the Lever actuating the 'release next round' linkage to the mag tube...it doesn't always actuate...the weird thing is, it seems to not actuate with mostly SWC ammo...honestly, I would think the bullet wouldn't matter...also, it almost NEVER fails to actuate a Jacketed bullet?

I shot up 200 rds of these blue dot loads today. I was having a good day, using my prescription bifocals, which wasn't the case in the past. I had some empty 134a freon cans (12 oz), and a small empty propane cylinder. Off hand I was hitting them every shot at 25 yds. I've struggled with these glasses, this was the first outing I was happy with hitting my targets. I didn't notice any pressure spikes/issues, I checked each fired cartridge, as that was the reason for this range trip. Also, it was good trigger control therapy, that's for sure. I'm getting pretty good with the iron sites on The Henry. The Ranch Dog bullets did the best, when they were loaded, I seated them, so they engage the rifling when chambered.

While I didn't do any shooting from the bench to get an idea about 'real' accuracy, I was plenty happy with these loads, and it will be difficult to NOT use Blue Dot in 41 mag anymore, as I say again, I was quite happy with these loads today...80º degrees and humid.

The 224gr SWC GC were bullets that I didn't cast, I swapped for them from Rbuck351 (spelling?), and they had a homemade lube that he had experimented with, that was orange and soft and gooey. I remember loading those, and it was messy...more messy than Speed Green. I mention all this, cause after shooting about 80 rounds of those (half didn't want to cycle well, dang SWC), the action was a greasy, sloppy mess. Makes me appreciate SL68B all that much more.

OK, that's all, just sharing my range visit today.
 

JonB

Halcyon member
Continued...

I went to the range again...today.
I shot the rest of the blue dot loads (about 300).
I brought a pistol (S&W mod 57) along as well as the Henry.

When shooting the 208gr hand swaged Brass jacketed ammo, I didn't have any pressure spikes/flattened primers from the Rifle (yesterday or today), But when shooting the pistol I had some random flat primers with the pistol. It happened about 1 in ten rounds, and I could feel a increase in recoil on those, and I'd get a flyer. Two of them pierced the primer. I was able to recover some of those bullets. The ones shot from the Henry, had deep rifling cuts with soot (blowby?). The ones shot from the S&W 57 had shallower rifling cuts, shiney and not sooty, and you could see the base was cupped (obturated, I'm guessing?).

That clinched it, no more Blue dot.
On the plus side, I got 500 empty cases :)
 

JonB

Halcyon member
Oh yeah, one more thingy I noticed.
The Blue Dot loads with the 255gr Ranch Dog, was loaded in February (not a year ago, as I thought). According to my notes, I test fired several in the Henry and liked the load. I also test fired some in my 3" 657 and noted that it was way too hot of a load for handgun...it was February in Minnesota...that's why...I also stumbled onto the baggy of brass from that February range visit, as I setup to start cleaning these 500 cases, as well as some others I had from previous outings...I usually put a note in the baggie, stating what they were fired in and a date. Those February primers were seriously flat...I mean seriously, one had been pierced.
 

Rick

Moderator
Staff member
Let's see . . . February on the frozen tundra and the load is too hot. Mid July and . . .

Yep, I definitely see a possible problem there. :eek:
.
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
blue dot is famous for losing potency in the cold.
it is a perrrrfect burn speed for field type shot shell applications [steel shot too] but it sucks in the cold and gets super erratic.
it is the reason STEEL powder was invented.
 

mattw

Active Member
Man, gotta say the 41 mag is my favorite caliber! I load 16.0 grains of 2400 behind a Saeco #411 for around 1130 fps in a 5.5 inch S&W. I am working to end up with a custom carbine barrel this winter in 41 mag. As long as I don't get derailed and end up with a 357 barrel.

 
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mattw

Active Member
Yes, I meant 411. It is the best shooting bullet I have yet found and I have a few 41 moulds. It is my only mould from them, they are just way to pricey. That one was a gift from a very dear friend who has passed on.
 
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Rushcreek

Well-Known Member
I like Unique for everyday use, H110/ W296 or Lil Gun for full boogie hunting or long range steel loads. My favorite revolver cartridge (next to the .38 Special) is the .41 Rem. Mag. It just works.
 

JSH

Active Member
Nice this thread has popped back up. If one has an old jug of HS-7, give it a try. Longshot, the more I use it the more I like it. It has done some outstanding work for me in several wheelguns.
 

mattw

Active Member
I have almost run myself out of HS-7 in the 41 mag, so sad... But I am having great results with my other longstanding 2400 load.