Ruger New Model BH 41 Magnum

[oscarflytyer]

Ruger New Model BH 41 Magnum

6 1/2" bbl. as NIB. impulse buy at the gun show today - price was right

I know all the 'mystique' of the 41. Practical experience?

 

[CWLONGSHOT]

Love my old model!

Good luck with it!

CW

 

[Bret4207]

From those who own them I've heard nothing but good. When the 41 Mag was "built" there were no odd dimensions or vintage guns to worry over, so no weird under/oversized stuff. From what I understand they tend to all be decent shooters.

 

[Missionary]

We have 5 or 6 caliber .41 Ruger mags. I like them all. But I do favor the Bisley model more.

 

[fiver]

ditto the bisley handle.
size to 410 or 411,,, 410 chambers easier, 411 needs some persuading sometimes.
I like to keep my bullets in the 190-220gr. range, if I wanted to shoot 240+grs. I'd have bought a 44 or a 45.
well,, which I did, but,, well you know [shrug]

don't just go out grabbing the lyman 410610 unless your planning on cutting out the gas check.
[maybe if you had a short cylinder smith&W. you'd want one]
it shoots okay but just about anything else does just as well or better without the hassle of gas checks.

Lyman makes a neat little about 190-200gr wad cutter mold with a button nose that is super easy to cast and will shoot lights out in the Rugers, my hunter model and that mold make me look like I know how to shoot a handgun more than pretty much any other combination I have.
I seat it down on 8.5grs of unique.
the 210gr XTP on top of airc 16-16.5grs of 2400 is some serious stuff without undue recoil.
I had a problem with a big o'l cow one time and one shot from the 4-5/8th's Blackhawk ended that problem right now.
it penetrated the skull from one side to the other and the cow just dropped like someone had chain-sawed all 4 of it's legs off.
I never feel under gunned with that combination.

I got another mold that's plain base that has a touch more nose length than the 610 that looks like a pretty good keith copy.
I'm gonna give some longshot a try with that one, and maybe some AA#-9 or 4100, but I have a feeling it'll end up being longshot in the long run.

 

[Missionary]

I will admit to liking the 240 grainers SWC at about 850 - 900 fps for corn crunchers up close. If I think there might be a big one around I up that to a FN 265. Never have recovered a slug. When cast of 50/50 air cooled they make a nice exit hole.
If I need more zip I get out the 414 Supermag. It likes 1680 with heavy slugs.

 

[JonB]

I had a BH in 41...a fine piece it was.
there are many fine molds out there, even the Lee 195gr SWC is a good one, but steer clear of older versions, Lee made some undersized back in the days before the block improvements. I have been happiest with a recent Arsenal molds 220gr RF 5 cav mold.

 

[Bret4207]

I once passed on a Ruger 41/10mm convertible because it had a longer barrel than I liked. I think the price was about $250/275.00 brand new in the box. Yup. Smart feller I am...

 

[oscarflytyer]

I always wanted to try the 41. Did so toady, with very heavy loads (advertised as Bear Loads! 235 grn GC - heavy recoil). But, as stated above, I still don't see it outdoing my heavy 44/45 loads with 250-265 grn bullets. AND I am ALL set up for all of those. If I were just getting started/wanted a one stop shop, this one would prob be it. But I am so set up for various 44/45/45 ACPs that I really see no reason for redundancy. This one will go down the road...

 

[Rick]

I still don't see it outdoing my heavy 44/45 loads with 250-265 grn bullets.

it was never intended to.

It was actually developed for law enforcement to be more than the 357 and less than 44m. Never caught on in that niche but it is a great cartridge. Most accurate revolver I've ever developed a load for was a 41 mag. This is 5 shots on a 150 meter a 7 inch tall target scoped from the bench. The high shot was a called flier, I actually thought I had missed the target but there it is.

 

[waco]

Dang Rick! Very impressive shooting!

 

[oscarflytyer]

Rick - exactly. It was not intended to replace what I already have and am set up for. Why it really doesn't have the appeal to me that I thought it might. And aware of the original intent for it. IMO, would have to work with it a good bit to see if I thought that would have worked, had it been done right. But as for me, it really doesn't fit a niche... and no desire to completely set up for another cartridge/gun...

 

[fiver]

I'd suggest you run it out some further.
it might just surprise you.
I know when I started working with the 30 carbine revolver it got my attention the first time I decided to throw a bullet at a rock chuck of opportunity about 125yds. away.
I expected to skip the bullet in by holding the chuck dead on the post and I just perforated him from front to back.
I could see the bullet hit the rock shelf behind him.

 

[CWLONGSHOT]

I also picked up that Arsenal mold in a 410/220. It’s a very nice one that my BH likes with a scoop of Unique!

CW

 

[Bret4207]

My bad ont he post above, wasn't a 10mm/41Mag, it was a 38-40/10mm. Still dumb to pass up.

 

[fiver]

i had one of those too Bret.
my dad picked one up also and they ended up being consecutively numbered.
weird coincidence.
he eventually swapped me a 44 mag OM Vaquero that had been factory engraved with some gold sumthin or other inlay.
I had no use for the vaquero since I had previously owned a 45 colt version, and just traded him to keep the guns together since he done some cowboy shooting from time to time.
I don't know if he still has them or not, but that vaquero got swapped off pretty quick.

 

[Bret4207]

I used to fish with an old alcoholic millwright friend of my Dads. We used to travel up and down all these little mountain cricks that were no more than 10 feet wide and cold as all get out. We'd wade and I'd fish worms while he fished wet flies on a dropper. I was maybe 11 or 12 at the time. He was a bear magnet and always carried a 38-40 in an old surplus shoulder holster, I believe it was a Colt but might have been a Smith. My first time ever seeing a lanyard on a pistol in action. He was usually about a .20BAC and he did tend to trip a lot, hence the lanyard. In a way that was good because it stirred up a lot of sediment and made those monster 8-10" Brookies think a bank had collapsed into the crick someplace upstream, or that was my theory anyway. Local legend had he had killed several bear with that 38-40. He later ended up doing a murder/suicide when his alcoholic wife got sick. A sad ending really. They were nice people in their own way and as I got older and my "teenager" kicked in I wasn't as goo to them as I should have been, always regretted that.

 

[MikeN]

I started shooting a little Harry Reaves bullseye with my long barrel S&W M57 using 180gr wadcutters with either 4.5gr. of TiteGroup or 5.0gr.Bullseye. Very enjoyable. Also have a M58 that I pack in the woods. Really like the .41 Mag.