.41 Special

[WKB]

So I am sure you all have heard of the .38 Special, and the .44 Special. But what about the .41 Special??

I picked up one of my grail guns, a S&W Model 58 in .41 Magnum. It is a N frame that looks like a giant Model 10 M&P. Magna grips, 4" barrel, and fixed sights. A true law enforcement relic of the 1970s. I won't go through the history of the .41 Mag and its limited adoption by some LE agencies as better writers and historians than I have already been down this road. What is unique about the .41 Magnum is there is no predecessor .41 special. Some handloaders have cut down .41 mag brass and Starline has drawn a limited run of .41 special brass a few years ago. AFAIK no one has ever loaded a factory .41 Special, and I do not believe it has a SAAMI spec. In my search for .41 Mag rounds, specifically a replica of the so-called "police load" (210 grain bullet at 900-1000fps) I came across a website that advertised HSM factory .41 Special rounds. I went on HSM's website and saw they had .41 Magnum cowboy loads, but no .41 Special actually listed as offered. I thought perhaps the website was simply advertising the cowboy loads as a mock .41 special, but then I realized the SKUs were different. I ordered 2 boxes of this mystery HSM .41 Special. They arrived yesterday. The HSM box says .41 Special on the side. I opened the box and Sho'nuff sat fifty .41 Special roll-marked cartridges that were exactly .38 special/.44 special in length! I have spent the last few days perusing the web to see if anyone else actually loaded .41 special from the factory and I have came up with very very little. HSM doesn't even offer it in on their website! I am tempted to order several more boxes of this seemingly unicorn cartridge. What are your all's thoughts? Any experience with the .41 Special?

 

[LeftyWilbury]

No experience with .41 special as cowboy loads (from HSM) for the 41 mag are pretty soft, and I could reload it even softer if I had to. What's the lot number off that 41 special? I haven't seen any of that offered at HSM, I'm going to have to ask why they haven't offered us any. Some people believe Elmer Keith got the idea for the 41 mag off the .41 Long Colt which apparently he was fond of. The only other .41 Special I've seen was from PCI (precision cartridge inc) but they haven't produced much of anything since the pandemic.

 

[Axlrod]

I would love to have a 4" Smith in the M57. i currently have a 3 screw Blackhawk that I shoot quite a bit. I have watched the 41 Spec. brass on Starline's site, but never seen it in stock. HSM I won't buy- had trouble with 300 BO & 223 failure to fire, and a whole box of 10 mm that wouldn't chamber in my Springfield Ronin.

 

[WKB]

No experience with .41 special as cowboy loads (from HSM) for the 41 mag are pretty soft, and I could reload it even softer if I had to. What's the lot number off that 41 special? I haven't seen any of that offered at HSM, I'm going to have to ask why they haven't offered us any. Some people believe Elmer Keith got the idea for the 41 mag off the .41 Long Colt which apparently he was fond of. The only other .41 Special I've seen was from PCI (precision cartridge inc) but they haven't produced much of anything since the pandemic.


View attachment 581198

lefty, I will get a picture of the box when I get home and post the lot #. The history of the 41 mag as a cartridge is super interesting to me. It ultimately failed its intended use as a LE cartridge, and was honestly 30 years too late. Big bore aficionado Keith's intent was a slower lower pressure round, but the marketing guys at Remington needed another magnum. This was the 1960s during the magnum craze, and anything labeled "magnum" sold like hotcakes. The final product had mixed results. The majority of factory .41 mag loadings were just way too much for the average city beat cop to be packing around. Whereas the outdoor sports community really grabbed on to it due to its superior trajectory over the .44 and better ballistics than the .357.
The 10mm in its original format suffered a similar fate; too much gun for most cops, great for the outdoors. Unlike the .41 magnum, 10mm "magnum" did get a 10mm Special loading in the .40 S&W cartridge which found great favor on the streets for the next twenty years. Something about a 200 grain bullet at 950-1000 fps is just magic on badguys, kinda like a 125grain bullet at 1450-1500fps, or a 230-250grainer at ~850fps.
The SKU in your picture is the same as mine except mine says "-41S-" I assume the S is for Special.

 

[WKB]

I would love to have a 4" Smith in the M57. i currently have a 3 screw Blackhawk that I shoot quite a bit. I have watched the 41 Spec. brass on Starline's site, but never seen it in stock. HSM I won't buy- had trouble with 300 BO & 223 failure to fire, and a whole box of 10 mm that wouldn't chamber in my Springfield Ronin.

Really? that is interesting. I have had nothing but good luck with HSM stuff, both .44 special, 357 mag and 10mm...I am the same way with Winchester White Box. had several squibs in a row in a box of .40 S&W. Never again.
The three-screw blackhawks are such an elegant revolver, especially in 41 mag. I would consider the Ruger BH in 41 Mag with a 4.75" bbl to be the ultimate packing pistol. A close second would be a Colt New Frontier in .44 Special. I just love that tall front sight.

 

[WKB]

Here is an example of the mythical 41 Special. HSM 210 Keith Style SWC with Starline Brass


Here you can see the lot#

Here is a 44 Magnum 240 gr SP, 41 Magnum 180gr Barnes, 44 Special 190 Grain Underwood and 41 Special 210 Gr SWC for comparison. The 41 Special case has a pretty good crimp on the bullet. As you can see the 41 Special is the same length as the 44 Special.

 

[WKB]

If S&W made an L frame snubby in 41 Mag or 41 Special, (Ala 69 Combat Magnum, or 696) I would buy that in a heart beat. There was a S&W M357 Nightguard (ironic, especially because of the naming of the post-war S-Frame 5 screw Pre-M27s were also officially simply S&W 357 Magnum) in 41 mag that is an absolute sweetheart, but they command a significant premium.

 

[WKB]

Clearer picture of the headstamp on this weird factory loaded cartridge

 

[FLS]

I’m a .41 aficionado.
I’ve loaded .41 Special power level ammo, but have never been able to find the Starline brass. 210 Penn cast bullet over Unique is a soft shooting Tac driver out of my .41s.

 

[WKB]

I’m a .41 aficionado.
I’ve loaded .41 Special power level ammo, but have never been able to find the Starline brass. 210 Penn cast bullet over Unique is a soft shooting Tac driver out of my .41s.

Well, I know where to find the brass in loaded form in you are interested lol

 

[Osteodoc08]

Huge 41 fan. Have 3 clements custom revolvers. I’ve thought about buying 41 special brass but would have to be diligent about not getting it mixed in with the 41 Mag brass.

Favorite do all load is 7gr 231 behind a 210-215 LSWC. Favorite hunting load is 255gr WFNGC LBT style with max load of W296. Fave factory length load is 22gr 11FS and 210gr XTP. Fave nostalgic load is a 220gr Keith in front of 21gr W-296.