Background
There’s no arguing both the .357 Magnum and the .44 Magnum are far more common than the .41 Magnum, which fits neatly between the two. Sitting in the sweet spot, the .41 Magnum is considerably more powerful than .357 with less recoil than the .44. That sounds perfect, yet the round runs under the radar of many shooters and hunters.
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The idea for what would become the .41 Mag started with the revered Elmer Keith, along with contemporaries Bill Jordan and Skeeter Skelton. Officially launched by Remington in 1964, the .41 is a young round as far as revolver chamberings go, yet one born of considerable planning by those three powerhouse shooters.
The round should have found immediate favor as both a more capable and controllable duty round than the other calibers mentioned above. Look no further than the writings of Skeeter Skelton. Though it never saw significant fame in the police sidearm milieu, it gained more traction with avid handgunners and hunters.
The Basics
The .41 Rem Mag uses a .410-inch caliber just as Keith intended, but with even greater capabilities than even he could have expected at the time. The rimmed straight-wall casing measures 1.29 inches in length, with a .492-inch diameter and overall length of 1.59 inches.
The .357 Magnum has the .38 Special, and the .44 Magnum has the .44 Special. The .41 Magnum, by contrast, stands alone. Its casing is the same length as the .357 Magnum, but noticeably larger in other metrics.
Ammunition Options
Whether shopping factory-loaded ammunition or handloading, the .41 Rem Mag is a practical one. Commonly available bullet weights and loads span 175-grain up to 210-grain projectiles. Heavy hitters, usually lead, climb into the 230 to 265-grain projectile range. Factory ammunition, along with reloading components and dies, are readily accessible even today.
Though it may not be the most common wheel gun round, most every major ammunition manufacturer loads for the .41. A few of our favorites, with hunting in mind: Federal Power-Shok 210-grain, Hornady Custom 210-grain XTP, Winchester Super-X 175-grain Silvertip JHP, Remington HTP 210-grain JSP, and Barnes Vor-Tx 180-grain XPB.
Heavy cast lead from the likes of HSM, Grizzly, and Buffalo Bore are common, while crafty handloaders will cast and roll their own.
Favorite Firearms
It should come as no surprise that the most common .41 Magnum firearms are revolvers. Check out Smith & Wesson’s Model 57 blued revolver and stainless 657. Those early, pre-lock, presentation case pieces are true gems, though S&W still builds a “new” Model 57 at the time of this writing. That old S&W Model 58 wasn’t too shabby, either, with lines not unlike a packable carry gun.
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Outside of S&W, Ruger remains a strong player in this space, with its New Model Blackhawk in several configurations. On the higher end, Freedom Arms puts out some fine .41s.
Fans of Thompson Center’s switch barrels can always hunt for a .41 Mag barrel. Even Magnum Research built a short run of .41 Mag semi-automatic Desert Eagle Mk VIIs, and the round can be had from their custom shop on the beastly BFR single actions.
Don’t sleep on the joy of partnering a fine wheel gun and rifle combination. We’re quite fond of Henry’s Big Boy Steel series, available in both rifle (20-inch) and carbine (16.5-inch) lengths. Hornady even offers a lever-gun-specific LeveRevolution 190-grain FTX load.
Related Review: Henry adds .41 Magnum to Big Boy Steel Lineup
Ideal Uses
The .41 Magnum never hit its target with law enforcement upon launch, but that certainly wasn’t the cartridge’s death knell. Instead, the .41 found favor with silhouette shooters, handloaders, and of course, its main market to this day: hunters.
