I bought my first Freedom Arms and my 2nd 41 Magnum today. It is a 2nd hand gun, came with a fixed 4x Leupold on it and I think it is a 7.5 inch barrel. Looking forward to getting it paid off (it's on layaway at my Cabelas), and shooting it.

If anyone else has any information they want to share I would love to hear it.

The .41 Freedom should be a great gun as is the .44 and .22. I will not comment on other calibers to stay out of trouble.

Nice!!!

Post up the photos as soon as you get it in your hands!

D99

I think you will discover that the Freedom Arms is a most excellent revolver.

It's pretty nice, I am going to try and find some interesting grips for it. I'd like to find some water buffalo grips or a set of mastadon ones.

A wise choice

Great gun! I've got three 83s in .41Magnum and 2 97s. The 83s are hell for stout. I've even used cut-down .414SM brass and light bullets for a varmint load. Have fun with it. John Taffin says the one he's got is his most accurate revolver, period.

I have often wanted a .41, especially in a handgun as strong as a model 83. I have a custom 83 in .454, but sometimes want something a bit less without handloading(I have a Colt cylinder and an ACP cylinder). The difference in diameter from a .41 to a .429(44mag) seems almost indiscernable and yet there are not any IMHO true 41 MAGNUM loads on the market. A couple friends have had great success with their 41s. I have friends that will say why use a 41 when you can have a 44. I remind them I have the 454 and sometimes just want something else.

Andy B

quote:

The difference in diameter from a .41 to a .429(44mag) seems almost indiscernable and yet there are not any IMHO true 41 MAGNUM loads on the market.

What do you mean by the statement?

quote:

there are not any IMHO true 41 MAGNUM loads on the market

Andy, check out Buffalo Bore's offerings in .41 magnum. I think you'll find that their .41 ammo puts the Magnum in Magnum!

quote:

What do you mean by the statement?
quote:
there are not any IMHO true 41 MAGNUM loads on the market

What I mean is there are 44 mag loads like 240@1200fps then there are MAGNUM LOADS 330@1330

I usually see 180gr around 1200. I would like to see 210, 220, even 275 or 300 gr heavy cast moderate velocity.....maybe it is time to check Buffalo Bore max pressure loads. I have some for .454 and they are a handful to shoot. Never did get mine ported, I am still suffering.

Andy B

Andy, Buffalo Bore has a stout 230 grain offering and a really stout 260 grainer.....go check it out!

What is the biggest animal you have personally shot a 41 with?

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Originally posted by D99:
What is the biggest animal you have personally shot a 41 with?

Who are you asking??

A Sasquatch!!!!

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Originally posted by OLBIKER:
A Sasquatch!!!!

hey, thats not entirely true.. you might have shot AT one, but you missed ME

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you might have shot AT one, but you missed ME

Jeffe, do you qualify yourself as a Sasquatch because you are hairy, tall, have big feet, smell like sulphur or a combination there of?

6'4, covered in hair, size 15E ropers, 17.5x38 fitted shirt, FROM Arkansas, currently living south of Conroe...
generally well bathed enough not to smell like sulphur, but after a spirited pig hunt... well,,, !!

I've been seriously thinking about an FA .41 myself and have even talked with them about it and what features and so forth.

Here's what would be my dream gun in an FA - a Model 97, .41 Magnum (they don't make it in the .44 or .454), round butt, white Westinghouse Micarta grips (who knows of another company that actually builds grips in the original Micarta), fluted cylinder, 7 1/2 barrel (shorter barrels maybe look better but in hunting I just plain shoot better with the longer one), express sights and factory action job. It'd be pricy, but if you really appreciate fine guns it'd be quite a package.

Currently, I deer hunt with a nickel Smith 8 3/8 Model 57. The .41 is a fine, fine shooter. In my opinion it's the perfect combo of power + mild recoil, and it's much under-appreciated. In fact many hunters have never even heard of it. When I mention what I have, many say "don't you mean a .44?"

Favorite load for deer? Cor-Bon's 210 grain JHP @ 1350 fps, 850 lbs. They also make a 170 grainer for personal defense and a 250 hard cast. IMO the 170 is a bit light for hunting and the other is overkill.

Oh, and I'm afraid I couldn't resist adding that legend has it there really is a Sasquatch living in Arkansas not far from the town of Fouke...he's usually spotted around Boggy Creek in the Suphur River bottoms...

What is the biggest animal that anyone has taken with a 41?

Whitetails, clean one shots. The .41 is an excellent choice for deer at reasonable range. Fwiw I prefer in handgun hunting loads at or close to 1K lbs.

I have shot deer with my 41 mag it is a blackhawk.Good Luck

I killed a 600 lb steer with my 41 several years ago. It was already down and I shot it betweenx the eyes though. I have killed several whitetails with my 41's. All one shot kills. Good Luck, Louis

Buffalo Bore has some truly impressive loads! My pick would be the 265LWN@1350. Now thats a load!

Andy B

quote:

Originally posted by D99:
What is the biggest animal that anyone has taken with a 41?

I've taken wild pig (300lbs+), black bear, large mule deer, elk, black wildebeeste, red hartebeeste, kudu, gemsbok, bushbuck, large warthog, and one nasty old range cow before she got her hooks in me.

Trying to get a date matching my time off for buffalo, scimitar-horned oryx, water buffalo, or nilgai.

quote:

The difference in diameter from a .41 to a .429(44mag) seems almost indiscernable and yet there are not any IMHO true 41 MAGNUM loads on the market.

Andy, if you handload I can give you some load data for my 654 Silhouette FA. I have a hard cast 290-grain load that chrono'ed at 1800 fps out of the FA. It has a 10-1/2" barrel, so your numbers would be somewhat slower, but the load qualifies as a magnum in every sense of the word!

I'd like to hear about that load too. We have the same pistol but mine is 7.5 inch barrel.

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I have a hard cast 290-grain load that chrono'ed at 1800 fps out of the FA.

OUT OF A 41 HOLY CRAP!! That is quite a load!! Factory .454 260-gr run around 1800 and they are stout. My model 83 is a 10 inch .454 and I have loaded 260gr at just a bit over 2000fps and Buffalo Bore put up some max pressure loads for me I have yet to chrony, and they are ridiculous!!

Guys, I may have to eat my words... I looked through my records last night and can't find the load data I talked about in yesterday's post. Going to keep looking, but right now I have no proof of what I claimed.

I have an IHMSA friend that helped me develop the load data. Will check with him and see if he still has it, but fwiw, we were playing with the NEI 411-275 SSK bullet. It was one of the bullets FA used to set cylinder length and proof test the 654 Silhouette model back in 1997, and is the same bullet Accurate Arms used to develop their load data in their second reloading manual. I supplied the bullets used in both places... The ones to FA were straight linotype, and the ones to AA were my approximation of Lyman #2 alloy...

And finally, I do have the original lab sheet from Accurate Arms, if you want that load data. They tried #7, #9 and AA5744. The only appreciable velocity was with #9, as listed in the manual, IIRC. Pressure spiked with #7 too quickly, and 5744 didn't give the desired velocity.