The .41 Remington Magnum

in 1963, an Idaho cowboy, Elmer Keith, along with two of America's best known Border Patrol agents and authors, Bill Jordon and Skeeter Skelton, petitioned Smith and Wesson to build a .41-caliber revolver that would fall between the .357 Remington Magnum and the .44 Remington Magnum in power. They also asked Remington and Norma to develop the ammunition. Jordon and Skelton were interested in a police round that would fire a 210-grain bullet at a muzzle velocity of 1,230 feet per second, and would generate about 705 foot-pounds of energy and would recoil only a little more than a .357 Magnum and a lot less than a .44 Magnum.

Both Jordon and Skelton had experience being in several gun fights in their profession and wanted a harder-hitting round than the .357 Magnum, but felt that fast multiple shots were difficult to fire accurately with a .44 Magnum.

Elmer Keith, who was the primary petitioner for the intermediate .41-caliber round and revolver, agreed with Jordon and Skelton concerning the police load, but Keith was primarily a hunter and also wanted a load that wasn't too far behind the .44 Magnum in power, but with a little less recoil, so that an experienced handgun hunter could fire it with one hand.

Keith and his good friend Skelton envisioned a .41-caliber, 200-grain bullet that left the muzzle at 900 feet per second for police use, but Keith, an avid hunter, originally wanted a 210-grain bullet that left the muzzle at 1,500 feet per second for hunting and generated 1,113 foot-pounds of energy.

Remington initially dropped the low pressure load and introduced the full power load at 1,500 feet per second in 1964. Smith and Wesson disappointed Keith when they refused to chamber the .41 Magnum in their mid size K frame revolver, but instead chambered it in their N frame size, which was the same size as the .44 Magnum. I'm not sure how big Elmer Keith's hands were, but the grip of big heavy N frame, Smith and Wesson revolvers is difficult for people with small- to medium-sized hands to wrap around properly. I personally have to shoot N frame revolvers by cocking them single action style in order to reach the trigger with the first pad of my trigger finger.

Ruger does make their single-action Blackhawk and Super Blackhawk in .41 Magnum. The Black Hawk is a heavy, rugged revolver, and the grip on the Black Hawk or Super Black Hawk Ruger revolver is pretty comfortable in small to medium as well as large hands.

If you want the power of a .41 Magnum for a trail gun, I don't see any disadvantage in getting it in a rugged single-action revolver such as a Ruger Black Hawk if the N frame Smith and Wesson is uncomfortable.

The decision by Remington to drop the low pressure load was probably a wise one, as most police departments weren't interested in the .41 Magnum, and sales of the low pressure load wouldn't have been very profitable. I don't know for sure, but I suspect that Jordan and Skelton went ahead and carried .41 Magnums anyway if the Border Patrol didn't object.

In the years since 1963, even higher loads have been developed for the .41 Remington Magnum. One can now purchase 265-grain lead flat-nose bullet that exits the muzzle at 1,400 feet per second, with 1,153 foot pounds of energy.

As far as recoil is concerned, I don't understand completely why someone who doesn't like the recoil of a .44 Magnum would be excited with the lower recoil of the .41 Magnum. The recoil of a .41 Magnum firing a 265-grain bullet at a muzzle velocity of 1,400 feet per second is 17.6 foot-pounds of recoil back at the shooter. The top loads for the .44 Magnum recoil at 22 foot-pounds of energy. Although the .44 Magnum does have more recoil, I'm not sure most people would really be impressed by the difference — 17.6 foot-pounds of energy is pretty stout for a hand-held firearm that weighs a couple of pounds as opposed to a shoulder fired rifle that weighs 6 to 8 pounds.

The .41 Remington Magnum is more powerful than the .357 Magnum and about 325 foot-pounds of energy less powerful than a .44 Magnum. I think it has a legitimate place as a trail gun for those who want a hard-hitting, accurate caliber.

The .41 Magnum has enjoyed a resurgence of interest the last couple of years as more and more outdoorsmen have decided to carry a trail gun when hunting, camping and hiking in the backcountry. If you are convinced that you want a harder hitting hand gun than a .357 Magnum for travel in the backcountry, you may just like the .41 Magnum. See if you can shoot one and are comfortable with the recoil and can accurately hit your target with no flinching before you decide to purchase one.

The .41 Magnum really does have recoil commensurate with it's power. Don't let anyone tell you different.

Smokey Merkley was raised in Idaho and has been hunting since he was 10 years old. He can be contacted at mokeydo41245@hotmail.com.

Post Author: By Smokey Merkley

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