I'm thinking of working up an everyday handy load for the .41 Remington Mag in my 4" S&W M 57. Probably will use either Unique, AA #7, or something like that with cast and/or jacketed bullets.

What would you suggest for both accuracy and mid-range power?

i always used h110 in mine but that is in a 8" barrel. i would think that something like the 170 gr jacket and aa9 would work OK. 7 might be a bit fast the 57 is one of my most favorite of all

I use Hodgdon Titegroup. For lead 200-220 grains you can use 4.5-5.5 grains for about 1K fps. For jacketed 210s you can use 6.5-7 grains for about the same velocity. Not much powder and very acceptable results.

For my hunting loads I use H110.

Thanks for the suggestions. Have either of you tried Blue Dot in any of your .41 Mag guns? I use it in the .38-40 and .45 Colt, so have a supply n hand....

You've come to the right place....
I have been enjoying S&W M-57's for a few decades, and have several pages of load data.
My "GO TO" moderate load is 6.7 gns. Unique with a 225 gn cast, CCI-300 primer. This is a VERY mild "feeling" load in my 4". I used it in IPSC Revolver competition. It was tested on a ballistic pendulum,on an 80 degree day, and despite the mild feel made "major" caliber. With my 10 in. Contender bbl, off sandbags with a red dot sight I can get 8 rounds into 1.1" @ 50 yds. You didn't ask, but for Jacketed hunting rounds I settled on 20.5 H-110 and the 200 gn. Speer.
Interestingly, looking through my log of .41 mag. loads going back to the 1970's... I have NO experience with Blue Dot recorded. Sorry I can't help you with that one.

Can't help you with the Blue Dot, sorry. I have also tried X800 and it did not burn completely.

There are a lot of "new" handgun powders.
However all of my handgun loads are old school, I have not seen a reason to change, especially since I load on a progressive machine and have fixed powder slides for my loads.

So I would start with a cast SWC bullet @200 to 220 grains, with 6.5gr of Unique and work up toward 10 grains, till I found the load that gave the power, recoil, and accuracy that suited me.

As a comparison in the 44 Mag with a 240gr cast bullet I find 7.3gr of Unique to be a comfortable plinking load, comfortable to shoot in double action practice, in high volume shooting, powerful enough for defense, 8.5gr of Unique a little better for defense, 9.2gr of Unique a good field load in non bear areas.
[I have powder slides that throw these charges].
The 9.2gr load is very controlable for an experienced 44 Mag shooter, IMHO, and I have shot through the skull of some pretty big pigs with it.

If I need/want more power than the 9.2gr load I go to 2400 powder, which is good for the 41 Mag too.

Thanks very much to all of you guys for the comments and loads.

I am very old school with almost all of my handgun powders. Until a friend gave me a keg of Blue dot in the early 1980s, I used only Bullseye, Unique, and 2400 for all my handguns except the M-1 carbine chambered Ruger Blackhawk. the custom Rem XP in .221 Fireball, and the Super-14 in 6 m/m TCU. Another friend gave 5 old cans of Blue dot in about 1991. He had given up shotgun reloading because of his age and had no use for it.

In my Ruger .30 Carbine Blackhawk I briefly used W-296. After about a week of trying that revolver for jackrabbits, I sold it. Just too noisy for me. In the .221 and the 6 m/m TCU I use a French powder not commonly available in the U.S. (Tubal 2000)

Now I use only Bullseye, Unique, 2400 or Blue Dot for everything else depending on the pistol and the kind of load I am putting together.

Based on your advice, I think I'll skip the Blue Dot for future loads in all my revolvers...and I have never used it in my semi-autos anyway. That's just one less powder I need to keep on hand.

I've been tempted in the past to give Red Dot a try, but never got around to it and now in my late 70's, doubt I ever will.

Thanks again

BTW, my current reloading handgun chamberings are:

- .221 Fireball
- 6 m/m TCU
- .25 Auto
- .32 Auto
- .32-20
- .32 S&W Long
- .32 H&R Mag
- 9m/m Kurz
- 9m/m Luger
- .38 Long Colt
- .38 S&W Special
- .357 Mag
- .357 Max
- .38 S&W
- .38-40 Win
- .401 Powermag
- 10 m/m Auto
- .41 Rem Mag
- .44-40
- .44 Spec.
- .44 Mag
- .45 ACP
- .45 Colt
- . 454 Casull

I think its great that 4 powders make all of those cartridges useful for my needs.

AC I have never used Blue Dot, but I know people that have.

From the Lyman cast bullet handgun book with cast bullets of 220gr weight;

Starting load 12.5gr for 1220fps, 19,200CUP

MAX load 17.5gr for 1625fps for 39,400CUP


From the Hornady loading book, with their 210gr XTP bullet;
Starting load 10.1gr for 1100fps
11.8gr for 1200fps
13.5gr for 1300fps
MAX 14.3gr for 1350fps

Blue Dot is more of a full power powder.

In the 41 Mag and 44 Mag is gives velocities equal to 2400 with top loads according to the manuals.

Hope this helps.

Red dot, green dot or herco under a cast bullet well give you just whar you are looking for.

Am old school in the .41M ... 8.0 gr of Unique for a light to moderate load.

Used #7 for Super and used it and #9 for the 41M, but didn't find enough value there to stock one or the other. Eventually wen to 3N37 for the Super and back to Unique for the 41M.

When I first started playing with my Model 57, I went to Ken Waters' Pet Loads book. He listed 21 grains of IMR 4227 as being the most comfortable and best accuray load he could find. He talked about felt recoil being somewhat "softer" than with other powders.

Well, I shot a lot of it. A lot... and it did wonders with the Lyman 410459 or Remington 210-grain JSPs.

I later started playing with other projectiles and settled on 13 grains of WC 820 from www.gibrass.com behind the SAECO 220-grain bullet (I don't remember the mould number.), Out of my 4" 57 that load is more accurate than I am.