.41 Magnum / 41 Special Load Data Center

[RJM52]

If we're talking them into a 41 Special I want an SP-101.

...THAT may be a little tough even for the most gifted of smiths...

There are a few made on the Ruger Single-Six platform...would not want to push the gun too hard however.

[MostlyOnThePaper]

...THAT may be a little tough even for the most gifted of smiths...

There are a few made on the Ruger Single-Six platform...would not want to push the gun too hard however.

Comfortable wadcutter loads, hollow base facing out. An absolute joy in the 41 mag Taurus Tracker.

Incidentally the Mihec 265gr Tru-shot clone is the perfect length for it in 41 special brass.

[RJM52]

Taurus Trackers are really .41 Specials...just no one told Taurus yet... Really too bad they discontinued them but the guns just could not handle a steady diet of factory full load .41s.

I had my Titanium 4" bind up while shooting Winchester Silvertip ammo which is about the lowest pressure .41 on the market. I spoke to the Taurus tech about shipping it back for repair and he said I should not have been shooting full magnum ammo in the gun...! Apparently they must have thought that the original POLICE loading of the 210 LSW at 950 fps was still available... When I told him that Silvertips were only going 1225 fps with only a 175 grain bullet he still didn't get the point.

I've been running mine with Special brass and keeping velocities reasonable ever since.

[rking22]

RJM52,I am going to be using my TI gun more in the coming year. What do you consider reasonable for the 225 Keith in special brass? Should I go with a lighter bullet?? Is 13.5 of 2400 in that realm, 7gr unique??? Thing is so light a handy!

[RJM52]

I would stick with Unique only because out of a 4" barrel a bunch of the 2400 isn't going to burn well...

Posted this over on the CampFire the other day for someone with a 425 stainless Tracker...


Loads in .41 Special Starline brass with Federal LP Primers and Unique powder from a 4" barrel:

Remington 200 gr. JHP
7.0 gr.
978 fps

8.0
1031 fps



Leadhead 230 Keith hard cast
7.0
894 fps



210 LSWC
7.0
941 fps



GT 165 cast HP
8.0
1122 fps

GT bullets has lots of great designs cheap...
http://www.gtbullets.com/index.php?m...=index&cPath=6

If you are new to .41s...lots of good links and posts to all loads .41...
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...ad-Data-Center

Using Unique powder, one grain less than the same load in a Magnum case with the same bullet will about equal the velocity...
In a Magnum case I use 8, 9 and 10 so in the Special it is 7, 8 and 9.

Also found this:

https://www.starlinebrass.com/articl...nd-41-Special/



So if you stay in the 6-9.0 grains of Unique range you can't go wrong...

My woods load for my Ti Tracker is the Accurate 41-215V with 8.0 grains of Unique. Have not chronoed it yet but should be in the 1000 fps area...

.37 meplat...can't get much bigger without being called a wadcutter..

http://www.accuratemolds.com/bullet_...=41-215V-D.png

Bob

[ranchman]

RJM52,I am going to be using my TI gun more in the coming year. What do you consider reasonable for the 225 Keith in special brass? Should I go with a lighter bullet?? Is 13.5 of 2400 in that realm, 7gr unique??? Thing is so light a handy!

13.5 2400 should be pretty similar, but likely just a bit less velocity to 7gr Unique (by my own experience)

Using 215 & 230 keith styles of bullet, I was about neck n neck for velocity between powders at 13.5 & 6.5 ... 7 unique would be a good 30+ faster. My barrel was a 4,3/4 so also fairly short.

Accuracy too was excellent at both the 13.5 & 6.5 charges.. two of the best and most consistent charges I've worked with actually.

[rking22]

Thank you both for the info. I shot 2 rounds of the 225 with 13.5 of 2400 over a chronograph on day. Displayed right at 1150 from my 6inch gp100. Think I will play around with 6.5 to 7 of Unique and aliant 20/28 with the 225 and see what the Ti likes. Might work in the Gp100 as well. I don’t know what to expect from the Ti frame using the bullets on the heavy end of the 41 norm. The comment from Taurus about not using full magnum loads gives me pause to wonder about peening or stretching. I understand steel, Ti not so much.

[ddixie884]

What would it cost Ruger to have the .41spl SAAMI approved. Load it with a 210gr bullet and a charge of BE to produce 18,000psi they could even use an existing .41mag test barrel. They could produce a GP100 and a new model Flat Top Blackhawk and a New Vaquero with practically no new tooling. I think they could even Call it the .41 RUGER spl. or just .41 Ruger. as far as I know no one has the copy right to .41spl.........

[MostlyOnThePaper]

What would it cost Ruger to have the .41spl SAAMI approved. Load it with a 210gr bullet and a charge of BE to produce 18,000psi they could even use an existing .41mag test barrel. They could produce a GP100 and a new model Flat Top Blackhawk and a New Vaquero with practically no new tooling. I think they could even Call it the .41 RUGER spl. or just .41 Ruger. as far as I know no one has the copy right to .41spl.........

I like the way you think.

Sent from my LG-LS998 using Tapatalk

[RJM52]

Two loadings would be nice...one at 18K and a +P at 25-28K....

No reason with the current metallurgy and size of the guns it would be used in that a +P round pushing a 210-220 hardcast at 1200 fps isn't safe and doable...would be just like the original Keith .44 Special rounds. It's not like the case of the .38 Special and .44 Special that there are lot of unsafe guns running around to blow up... If Charter Arms can make a .41 MAGNUM snubbie a .41 Special at 30K isn't going to hurt anything anyone will come up with...except matbe those who like Ruger Single-Sixs in .41 Special...

Bob

[RJM52]

And Dixie...you are barking up the wrong tree... Ruger makes guns not ammo... Ruger will make guns for most any round that an ammo company will come up with. Th .480 wasn't developed by Ruger...it was Hornady. .44 Magnum...Remington...so maybe you should hit on Hornady and Federal..or maybe we all should.

Bob

[ddixie884]

Well I wouldn't hold my breath on Hornady setting up to produce a new type of brass case. They discontinued the .455 and Federal nearly let the modern .32s go by the wayside til Ruger wisely decided to make the Single Seven. I guess we can just spend from 6 or 7, up to 25 hundred extra dollars to have a custom built for the perfect mid bore ctg. JMHO-YMMV.............

[Wheelguns 1961]

I’ll take a gp100 and a flattop blackhawk. Count me in.

[RJM52]

My next .41 Special project is either going to be a Ruger mid-frame Flat Top with a 4 5/8" barrel or a Colt SAA New Frontier with a 4.75 or 5.5" barrel...

I would have considered doing a GP100 but having three Trackers just can't justify it...that and I have a 10mm Match Champion that is just a great shooting revolver....

Bob

[cowboy4evr]

I had thought about having Clements build me a 41 special using a GP-100 . Decided to stick with magnum cases . Elmers loads for the 41 magnum using his bullet , HG 258 are 4.5 grs of Bullseye , 7.5 grs of Unique and 20grs of 2400 . I don't shoot his 2400 load , the rest is fine , so I don't need the special . As far as a lighter gun , I have a Ruger NM Blackhawk in 41 magnum , 4 5/8" barrel that is perfect for what I was wanting . Regards, Paul

[RJM52]

Paul, I think you are right...if you don't have a dedicated .41 Special or a short cylinder Magnum gun like a Freedom Arms 97 or Taurus Tracker, there isn't much sense in having Special brass other than to save a little powder.

7.5 grains of Unique in a 4 5/8" barrel should be right around the 950 fps range. I use 8.0 grains which is a duplicate of the original LSWC POLICE loading at 950 from a 4" barrel... 9.0 runs 1100 and 10.0 1180 fps...about all you really need for a .41...

Bob

[cowboy4evr]

Thanks Bob , I appreciate your opinion and the load data . I know , from all your posts over the years that your experience with the 41 goes way back to your years with the Dallas PD and when you carried your own reloads , and reloaded for quite a few others . I went through a 7 year dry spell not being able to get any Unique . So I switched over to Winchester Super Field and found 8.5grs with a 210-220 gr bullet felt about like 8.0grs of Unique . Now that Unique is easier to get I have been using it more and my jug of WSF is about empty anyway . I have written down your load data and performance figures . Again , Thx for sharing . Regards, Paul

[Golfswithwolves]

I have a 6” gp100 that I want to have converted to .41spl. Problem is everyone that does it is so busy that they don’t have time. Any ideas?

I can attest to the work of Mr. Ben Forkin, who built my .41 Special on a mid-sized Ruger Blackhawk. He is a nice guy and does excellent work.

[RJM52]

...well, do we get to see a picture of this masterpiece???

Sounds great!!

[Paul105]

Bob,

I have a Taurus 2.5" Titanium Tracker. Only had it for a month or two and before yesterday only shot a limited number of full 41 mag factory loads (up to 250gr Grizzly). Bought it for pocket carry when walking my dog here in MT. After reading your exchange with Taurus, I loaded some ACME 215gr HiTech over 6.8gr of Universal seated and crimped in the crimp grove and also deep seated (crimped over front drive band) in .41 mag cases. Ran a function test yesterday -- didn't test for accuracy, but did run a plate rack (various geometric shapes and sizes incl 3" triangle) double action at about 8 yds with no problem.


Does the deep seated 6.8gr Univ load seem like a reasonable load for continuous use with the little Taurus?

By the way, the Taurus has an amazingly smooth double action trigger and a great single action one. Always been leary of Taurus but this little gun might just change my mind. Recoil with the 250gr Grizzly load is quite manageable - about the same as my M69 2 3/4" .44 Mag but with less muzzle jump (maybe due to ports and lower bore/grip axis).

Taurus pictured next to Charter Arms .41 Mag Pug



Thanks for your input.

Paul