This is a quote from Reeder Custom Guns;
"GARY REEDER CUSTOM GUNS has just what the 41 caliber lover needs for this hunting season. In 1980 we developed our 41 GNR which is a 44 magnum necked down to 41. Since then it has been one of our most popular cartridge conversions. Much flatter than a 44 magnum. the 41 GNR with a 170 grain Sierra bullet will reach 2100 fps out of an 8 inch test barrel. It will put out 114O fpe at 100 yards. A 44 magnum will barely do that at the muzzle. We have had animals the size of an elk taken with one shot with the 41 GNR and the 170 grain bullet. Numerous caribou have been taken with one shot with the 41 GNR"
Guess they like the 170g Sierra. I used to load it but I'm trying to cut back on the number of loads that I work with. I have killed according, to my hunt logs, 11 (one shot) deer, three small pigs, and two goats with that bullet. Memory and my logs say that it kills real dead, real quick.

ScottB....My guess is that it is probably the best bellet available for the .41AE...that being said I will also bet that it won't expand very well. I have never tested that bullet that low in velocity but up over 1300 fps it expands quite well. Line up several, like about 6, one gallon plastic milk jugs and shoot length wise into them. You should be able to catch the bullet in one of the bottles. Put a piece of thick plywood behind the last bottle backed up with a cinder block. It will at least give you an idea of whether or not the bullet will expand. If it doen't expand you might want to try the 200 gr. Speer. That bullet won't expand much either but it will penetrate deeper and cuts a very round .41 hole....Bob

Guys,

Remember I indicated that my experience last year with 220 grain Keith hardacast bullets in 41 Mag wasn't what I wanted it to be. Bullet went through like an FMJ. Deer struggled from a double lung shot at a lasered 125 yards. Took a second round to dispatch it quickly. Weapon is a 6" S&W M57 with a 2x Leupold on Beuhler mounts ... rig is from the good old Smith days of the middle 60's.

So, today I tried the factory 210 Remington Softpoint.

Worked like a champ at 40 years ... the 6 point wouldn't give me a side presentation so I took a front quartering shot which entered the neck on the right side just in front of the shoulder. It exited on the left side about half way down about 4 inches behind the left shoulder.

Entry wound was 41 caliber more or less, exit wound was something around 80 caliber or so. He dropped in place ... like a sack of potatoes ... and was dead immediately.

That's the kind of performance I like!

Next trip we take the muzzle loader as I now have two with a bow , one with a rifle deer, and one with a handgun.

This thread has me wanting to try the 170's soooooooo i am sighting the gun in for them tomorrow. Wish me luck!!

.41 fans,

The latest Shooting Times, in the "New for 2003" section, indicates that Winchester will be marketing a 240 grain PTHP (platinum tipped HP, I think) load in .41 mag. Might be a good hunting round.

And, Marlin will once again chamber an 1894 in .41 mag. I'd love to wrap my paws around one of those...

Cool stuff - I hope it all happens!

BigIron

I am glad to still occasional post to this thread- I started-- while did get a 4pt It was with my 358 not my .41-- anyway I notice the use of the 210 rem. sp -- I tried these and even in 2 feet of wet paper no expansion - I think your big hole came from the meplat of the bullet which is rather large( depending on of course what it hit)- I am still trying with 170 grain but I do not see why 230 Keith with the .300 meplat would not make a large hole -- my Lyman 220 keith has a .260 meplat but I have killed one deer with it - and the bullet left calber holes in and out but it centered the heart and left a bigger than my thumb hole in the heart - which is the only tuff thing it encountered as it went through the deer from 50 yards out of my Blackhawk --load was 20 .5 grains h110 226 grain Keith type bullet --I guess what is hit has a lot to do with the hole even with cast duh?-- I enjoyed the details of the hit you gave btw

Since the early 1980s I have hunted with 41 Mag handguns for white tailed deer and ground hogs.Over this time period I have used a T/C 10", 14", Ruger 6", S&W 6" M57, and a S&W 657 8 3/8". Hands down my all time favorite is the S&W 657 with the 8 3/8" barrel. Todate I have killed 21 white tails, 2 boar (one 218#, and one 236# field dressed)ground hogs, fox, and verious other critters that just plain needed shoot-in with the afore mentioned handguns. I have used cast bullets, Hornady 210-gr JHP,and Sierra 170 & 210-gr JHP.Several things became clear after having many years of in the field use of handguns and loads that I bench developed. They are as follows;The two best powders for high velocity hunting loads are WW296, and H110. Magnum primers are not necessary, but a good crimp is. The Sierra 170-grain JHP comes apart too fast for deep penetration on med to big game. However it works very well on varmints like ground hogs. Hard cast bullets work very well in the penetration department but expand little (how much do they have to expand? They are nearly 1/2" to begin with! It has been my experince that the cast bullets of the Keith design are very good killers indeed, and they don't mess up too much meat. They just punch through hide,bone and meat all the same. The Hornady 210-grain bullet is one of the best that I have ever used on game. The Sierra 210-grain bullet tends to lose its jacket when it hits bone. Rib bones are not much of a problem, but heavy bone will make the jack frag off the core.I had shot several deer with a 357 mag before moving up to the 41. Glad that I did. There is no comparison between the 357 and the 41. It has been my experince that the 357 is a very poor round when it comes to stoping critters fast. I don't feel that it is much better than a 38 special. It just has a lot more bang. On the other hand the 41 gets the job done right the first time without having to watch the game do the 100 yard dash after you hit them. I will not compare the 41 Mag to any of the rounds that are made for the bolt action pistols and some of the T/Cs. Bolt action pistols and T/Cs are rifles without the butt stock. It would not be fair to campare them with a cartridge designed for a revolver. I think that the 41 will be around for a long time with the folks that have used them.

well said sendero-- I agree with you on bullets and powder --your experience speaks -- I have loaded the .41 for about the same length of time but have not killed that many deer with the calber -- I have used it on wild dogs- ground hogs and have shot 6 deer-- until this year I have stayed away from light bullets but am trying them so far this year -- I may change - I am sure that a 170 will kill a deer but if it runs what kind of trail will I have? I guess I will just have find out-- have you tried the Remington 200 grain component bullet? They shoot well and are about as fast as the 170s-- 1440+ for the 200 Remingtons and 1522-1530 for the 170 I have not shot anything with these either--oh well trying is the fun as long as it is with a .41

Josh, If you must try the 170-grain JHP bullets try for a lung shot. DON"T use them on large hogs.You are really going to piss them off and hogs don't usually run away! The 170-grain Sierra may not make it all the way through on a white tail lung shot. You will not have a good blood trail. The 210s are the bullet that will get the job done right the first time.They will usually shoot through a white tail. I have recovered a few bullets that were quatering shots. The Hornady 210s held together and opened up very nice. I wouldn't ponder too much about weather or not there will be a good blood trail. Put the 210 where it should be and they seldom go over 25 yards. Spine, head, and solid neck shots just dump them on the spot. They may kick about a bit but that is it. GAME OVER! As for cast bullets I cast the 220-grain Keith SWC. I did not cast it as hard as lino type, but rather so that I could just scratch it with my thumb nail. This was loaded over a 20.5-grain charge of H110 and sparked with a Remington #2 1/2 primer. The first big game that I shot with that load was a boar at about 16 feet as it came for me full tilt. The SWC smashed through the heavy bones in the neck and on through to exit midway in the ribs. It dumped him into a slide that brought him to about 3 feet in front of me. My cameraman caught some of the action but took off on a run before I made the shot. Good luck with the 41, and use them 210s.

I had already begun to resight my .41 Redhawk -away from the 170 -- I do not have any 210 jacketed bullets but I have a lot of the 200 Remington SJHP -so it will be this or my keith which I have killed deer with or a 230 Keith by Leadhead or Dry creek bullet-- I did listen to you plus I tend to hunt the swamps here in west Tn so not running is very important and next in importantnce is blood trail- I start again this Sat well see -- Tommorrow i am going to redo the sight setting for what shoots well -- if they tie well I will at first go with velocity-- I just got a 10" TC in the .41 and I am still going to send my .41 redhawk to Reeder for a .41gnr -- ahh lots to play with- about your cast bullet mine are pretty much wheel weights that are cast hot and then quenched - my loads are much heaiver than yours by about 1.5 grians of 296 On Sixgunner there is some data complied by "gunner" and he uses H110 at a charge level of 23.5 over a 225 Kt- in a blackhawk noe that is what I call hot. and yes i have tried once but did not clock it -- too badthanks for your info -- I will let you know how it goes.

I've had excellent luck with the XTP bullet over 20.5 grains of W296.

Lee Martin
www.singleactions.com

Josh,
I've clipped a few deer with my .41 mag, and while the 170's perform a little better than the 210's, I don't find that either expands reliably unless you hit bone. I switched to using cast bullets. I have been using a Keith style semi wad cutter wityh good results. The lyman mold number is 410459.
Hope this helps.

Hi PA Frank - I have a single cavity mold for that bullet and a double cavity which I need to send back to Lyman to rebuild -- the single cavity has never been used but I will correct this weeek I hope as well as send back the mold to Lyman I have killed just one deer with but severl ground hogs and such i like the bullet

Just joined. Found this forum from a referal from my webb page. Hope I can add some good info.

Anyway Winchester is introducing a new
" Surprme Platinum Tip Hollow Point "

41 mag 240 gr. 1250 fps muzzel
44 mag 250 gr. 1250 fps "
454 260 gr. 1800 fps "

It's probably not going to expand in deer, but a good bullet on big hogs is the 220 gr Sierra silhouette bullet over H-110 or W-296. It has a dimple of lead exposed and it does expand on the gristle plate of a hog or big bones and still punches on through. It's got a small meplat, though, so is best used on heavily structured critters to ensure some expansion. California law requires expanding bullets and I've never gotten a clear answer on whether hardcast lead bullets are legal for hunting here. I tried the 240 gr Remington Hollow Softpoint bullets, and they mushroomed perfectly but didn't even go through one side's gristle plate. (Knocked the pig over at 50 feet, though!)

Scott...Have not been over here in a while. As to your question about the Sierra 170 JHC at 1100...best way to find out is line up paper milk cartons between 2 2x6s and put a box of newspaper at the end. That will give an idea of what the bullet will expand to and how far it will penetrate. My guess would be that the bullet will eapand but not break up at that velocity. Would also figure out your maximum range and using the Sierra manual reduce your load and try them in the test cartons to see what you could expect for expansion at your maximum range.....Bob

ok, maybe i am missing something here..but i have been reloading the 41 mag since 1981 and have killed numerous animals including wild hogs and have found Nosler 210HP so good that I quit trying any other jacketed bullets, great accuaracy and expansion with most bullets recovered under the far side just under the hide.

I am glad you mentioned them _ noticed that they had not been spoken of --glad hear they do well-- I am having a 5.5 Redhawk rechambered to a .41 GNR-- and I was interested in trying some of these bullets

Seems nobody mentions the 3/4 jacket Speer bullets. I believe Bob Milek used to like the 200 Speer JHP when loading for the 41 mag in a Contender.

What, no more input?