.41 REM MAG

[Snake9t9]

Looking at buying a new handgun and I find the .41 REM MAG to be interesting. Thinking of getting the Taurus tracker in titainium. I would like to get some opinions on the round as far as hunting goes... Looks like factory ammo producing 1365 Ft. Lbs. at 50 yrds. is availible. Who knows what high performance hand loads in this cartridge can produce? I'm sure it is okay for deer, but how about close range Elk? Opinions please?

[Dogfish]

The .41 mag is a good deer round, providing that you are willing to practice.

The few issues that made me look to the .44 mag and .454 casull instead were the availabilty of ammo. There is a lot better selection of reloading components, and factory loaded ammo for both. I am a firm believer in putting BIG bullets down range, and 300 grain bullets hit with more force than 210 grainers.

My Hornady manual shows max loads for the .41 mag 210 grain bullet moving out at 1400 FPS, with 1250 ft lbs of energy at 50 yards.

Elk might be stretching it a bit, so I would suggest a bit larger caliber. The .454 Casull equals my muzzle loader at 50 yards for ft lbs, and the .44 mag with good Corbon loads comes in at about 1450 ft lbs. But if you limit the range of your shots, with good shot placement you should be able to take one down.

I also have a little .44 mag rifle so it is nice to carry one ammo for both pistol and rifle. There is talk that Ruger will make their Deerstalker semi-auto in .454 Casull as well.

Have fun choosing a new gun. Andy

[Zen Leecher aka Bill W]

Buy a .44 unless you want to be different. It's easy to find factory ammo for .44's.. but not every place carries it for the .41.

I could say more on the subject, but that sums it up. The .44 is a more mainstream gun, shoots a heavier bullet, hits harder and ammo is more readily found. The kick isn't all that much more especially if you get a well designed revolver.

[Snake9t9]

Well, I already have my sights set on the .41 mag. Not planing on doing any pistol Elk hunting anyway, just wanted a concensus on the potential of the round. I like the .41 because it is a medium frame revolver and easily used as a self / home defemse weapon. The .44 mag is a touch BIG for haulin' around with ya. The .41 does have a nice selection of hunting rounds available for it though as well as some "sheet rock break up" rounds for home defense. If I did use it for hunting it would be limited to deer season.

[Zen Leecher aka Bill W]

I'd wonder if the .41 is a little much for a medium frame. The .357 was built on small frames for undercover and meant to carry, not shoot. Whem people shot them with .357 loads a lot, the gun got loose.

I've owned a few "non-mainstream" guns that looked good when I bought them but later didn't meet with much public acceptance. I have three .264 Mags.. and some variations of the .22 Hornet, and my first one, the .401 Herter's Powermag.

Now, if you have your heart set on the .41.. then buy it, but make sure you buy one that will handle the cartridge, not one that will shake apart. My .401 would shed screws, shear screws, have ejector bars fall off, and also have the rear sight elevation screw back off and eventually fall out.

I forget which Taurus is a copy of, but it should do what you want it to do.