Brownells Gun Tech™ Steve Ostrem takes us on a little detour from our usual FTV fare of historic / classic firearms and instead discusses the "middle child" of magnum revolver cartridges - the .41 Magnum. It was developed in the early 1960s by two famous gun writers and great cartridge developers, Elmer Keith and Bill Jordan. Jordan wanted a medium-power load with a bigger bullet than the .357 Magnum for law enforcement use, a ".41 Special" that lobbed a 200 grain bullet at 900 fps. Keith envisioned a more powerful .41 caliber hunting load. When Smith & Wesson and Remington got hold of the idea, however, they decided to go full magnum with a cartridge that rockets a 210 grain bullet at a blistering 1,500 fps. That much oomph requires a big, robust revolver, so S&W's resulting N-frame revolver was just too big and heavy for a patrol officer to carry all day. There was a silver lining: the .41 Magnum is an outstanding hunting round, though its bullet weight is nearly that of a standard .44 Magnum and the velocity is the same. You can handload .41 Magnum ammo with even heavier bullets, up to 265 grain - that's a big bullet with a LOT of penetration! So if you're a handloader and you come across at .41 Magnum revolver at a good price, go for it!
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