41 mag Vs. 44 mag

M

Mr. Mister

New member
I'm told the 41 mag does just about everything the 44 mag does but with less recoil and a fuzz less power.

For those of you that have shot both:

What do you think and which do you prefer?

Thanks,

Steve
 
For deer or black bear they are both about the same with 240-250gr bullets. The real benefit with the 44 over the 41 is heavier bullets 300-320gr, and the availablilty of ammo. YOu can find 44 mag ammo just about everywhere, not so with 41 mag ammo.
 
The 41 has less power, less avail ammo, and less weapons chambered for it. I know, I have a taurus tracker in 41. great back up for bowhunting, but i wouldnt buy another, especially with the 44 tracker coming out.
 
Hi, I much prefer the .44 for many of the same reasons stated. Get your moneys worth in horsepower for the same money. Light loads available to.
 
The 44 looks to a life going forward.

The 41 is looking at the history books.

There are many more powerful rounds available in handguns now, but the 44 mag is the limit for most people.

Jack
 
My personal preferance is the .41, has been for years. I have an old model Ruger three screw Blackhawk that has dropped quite a few Whitetails. Also have a .41 Super Blackhawk Hunter that was a limited production in that caliber made just for Davidson's. This gun will fire a group of six rounds at 50 yards with all holes touching. I have setteled on just two bullets for all my shooting. The Hornady 210Gr. XTP loaded to around 1350 fps, and a hard cast 210Gr. flat point loaded to around 1200 fps. All I can say is that I have never had to look for a deer that I shot with a .41 Mag.
 
Whatever you decide, use quality hunting bullets. I have taken several deer with my .44, all shots within 100 yards. Do not use the Winchester White box soft points. These are very accurate in my weapon, but do not expand. I now use either Winchester Plantinum tip 255gr. or Remington Core-Lokt 275gr. Both of these expand nicely and seem to cause almost as much shock force as my shotgun. They are both pretty clean burning rounds also.
 
22-250VT,

I have both. My 44 mag is a Ruger Super Redhawk and the 41 mag is a Smith & Wesson 657 Pro Hunter. Both sport Burris 2X7 scopes. Both will drop whitetails with no problem. However, I agree with Smoke Pole, the 41 mag will do it all with less recoil and a little less muzzle blast.

My first intro to the 41 mag was in the early 70s through a police officer friend. Later I shot the 44 mag. Since I find that I am more accurate with the 41 mag and can control it much better, it is my gun of choice now. The only advantage I see that the 44 has is the availabilty of larger bullets.

Either one will do fine for you. Just try them both before you choose. And since I handload everything I shoot, finding bullets is no problem. Also, most sporting goods stores carry 41 as well as 44.

Best idea is go ahead and get both. One cannot have too many handguns (or guns in general).

larry
 
I like the .41 Maggie a great deal and have a Ruger Blawkhawk 6 1/2" barreled revolver chambered for such. My old single action Ruger is a go getter and more often than not rides my hip through the brush as the choice over other handguns. With that said however, I'd choose the .44 Magnum if forced to choose between the two cartridges. The ability to sling 300 grain chunks of lead, easier to find a box of factory loads if I were forced to shoot such, rifles to match, more guns so chambered, ect... I've owned a Smith & Wesson M29 .44 of one sort or another for a long time. A Ruger Super Blawkhawk .44 for a longer time. Here's some coyote content. I was deer hunting and had just MISSED and nice eight point whitetail at about 65 yards. Thirty minutes later I was stewing over the miss when this coyote came trotting by at close to forty yards. He took the brunt of my mood. The handgun is an 8 3/8" S&W M29 .44 loaded with 250 grain hard cast LBT type slugs I cast myself over a dose of H110.
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I have a blackhawk 44mag with a 7 1/2 (i think)barrell. Recoil is a beast, mainly because the factor wood grips leave enough space for the square trigger guard to bite you. I have even sprung a leak a few times because of the square guard cutting my finger.

I added aftermarket (Houge I think) grips and they fit flush with the trigger guard so that took care of the "Bite"

As far a recoil is concerned.....unless I am hunting wild hogs in thick bruch and want the wallup of 300 grains and a case full of powder, I just shoot 44 specials through it.

I like the idea of having a pistol that will shoot 2 different calibers too.

Good luck with you decision....Hell, it's a gun so either way you made the right choice. You just cant have too many.

Jay
 
I had two .41 Mag. one Ruger Blackhawk and one S&W Mod. 57. This was back around 65 or 66 when the .41 was popular. And even then, every time I wanted to reload some ammo, I could not hardly find bullets. After all these years I would bet you can hardly find any bullets for it.
Went to .44 Mag. and that was the way to go at that time. Killed a few deer and groundhogs with it. Since have gone back to .357 Mag.
Stick with the .44 Mag....like one guy said earlier, 41. is heading for the history books
 
OK, let's break this down.

41 Rem Mag 44 Rem Mag
case OAL 1.290 case OAL 1.285
41 mag is .005 longer
case diameter .434 case diameter .456
44 mag is .022 larger
rim diameter .492 rim diameter .514
44 mag is .022 larger
bullet diameter .410 bullet diameter .4295
44 mag is .195 larger
Yes, the 44 is ever so slightly larger than the 41, but you have to admit, it's not that much.
Now, if you were to load the 41 to 44 pressures, with the same weight bullet, which one would have the better ballistics?
Why are 41 mag pressures lower than the 44 mag?
I'm sure some of you 44 mag gurus can make the numbers look like the 44 is far superior, but the bottom line is, if you point a 41 and a 44 at a game animal, it's going to have the same ending result. So which one are you more comfortable and more accurate with?
 
I agree with Jack's description and here is my opinion. As far as the two, there is no difference to me. Both recoil and you won't be able to tell the difference using about the same load. Target can't tell the difference either as dead is dead! The only valid reason is availability of ammo. 44 mag is plentyful and .41 mag would be hard to find. If you reload, there is no difference at all.
 
i have both. both blackhawks. and the deer i've shot with either dont seem to know the diff. also have a freedom arms 454. now that's a thumper!!! like said before, it's easier to get ammo and components for the 44, and the 44 isn't going anywhere for a long, long time! the 41 is fading slowly but surely. my next gun will be the smith x frame 500 custom. nice!!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
If you don't mind the weight and bulk, skip both of them and get a S&W 500 Mag. Nicest pistol I've ever had and I've had a few. You can severely download it although some "creampuff" .500 Mag loads are at the top of max .44 Mag loads or you can stoke it up and go over 3000 ft lbs with loads that are under Hodgdon's max. Trigger is great, I personally shoot this one better than anything I've ever owned. Don
 
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