Newt2
Senior Member
I shiver every time the .41 magnum is brought up. My main deer guns were .41 magnum. First the 6.5 inch Blackhawk then the 7.5 inch Redhawk. For a lead bullet, I like the Lyman 220gr Keith.
Welcome Guest!
Let the .41 mag talk
- Thread starter tcward
- Start date
James Miner
Member
I love deer hunting with revolvers and have depended on the SBH .44 for years with a mold I made for a 330 gr bullet. Then I discovered the BFR revolvers, most accurate ever. I started with the cannon 45-70 that needs a carriage. I made a mold to find the gun is too fast at 1632 fps and does little internal damage as the bullet goes through too fast. It is hard to maintain needed case tension but I have hit 1" targets at 100 yards from a rest. Next was the .475 Linebaugh with my 429 gr bullet at 1348 fps. Deer just vanish when out of the huge recoil as the drop right there. Then I had to get the .500 JRH and with my 440 gr it starts to penetrate too fast at 1350 fps but will shoot 5 shots touching at 50 yards and has done under 1" at 100 yards. It will drop most deer right now.
James Miner
Member
I will tell you a secret about the .44 and .41, do NOT use a magnum primer with 296 or H110. It will triple groups. What happens is the stronger primer will break case tension and release the bullet too soon. I won Ohio state IHMSA with 79 out of 80 with Federal 150 primers and won almost every revolver production shoot with the SBH.
I flushed out all the accuracy that a good revolver can do and any help you need, I can answer.
.44 mag hard cast at 70yards.
.475 exit
I flushed out all the accuracy that a good revolver can do and any help you need, I can answer.
.44 mag hard cast at 70yards.
.475 exit
James Miner
Member
A few more pictures
I set five empties at 50 yards on their sides and shot each into the bases, lost two in the weeds. 500 JRH
12 gauge at 100 yards with JRH. I use Ultra Dots now.
I set five empties at 50 yards on their sides and shot each into the bases, lost two in the weeds. 500 JRH
12 gauge at 100 yards with JRH. I use Ultra Dots now.
Railroader
Billy’s Security Guard.
Impressive shooting! Hat tip! ?
James Miner
Member
I have a Smithy granite 1324 in my basement. I bought two cast iron risers and made a vice that turns to center. I design my own bullets and turn the cherries for my molds. No store bought mold has ever shot better. I equal or exceed the XTP Hornady bullets that are the best.
I have sent some bullets to fellows to get duplicated but they always changed something to double groups. The amount I have learned is out of sight. Even my 30-30 Marlin will do 3/4" at 100 yards.
Drop test of my .44.
James Miner
Member
I can show how to get a trigger pull of crazy numbers on Ruger's and BFR's. My SBH is 1-1/2#, 45-70 BFR is 19 oz. No failures to fire.
i solved the double firing pin strikes and doubling on S&W revolvers. I informed S&W and they said it was operator error but now do what I said. I found most revolver calibers do not need a gas check, I was wasting time and money.
Just ask.
i solved the double firing pin strikes and doubling on S&W revolvers. I informed S&W and they said it was operator error but now do what I said. I found most revolver calibers do not need a gas check, I was wasting time and money.
Just ask.
Newt2
Senior Member
I reloaded, but never got really involved. I worked up loads to shoot sub 2" at 50 yards at the highest possible velocity. Taking deer at up to 100 yards was no problem with my .41 or .357 even. Not bragging (yes I am), but of the dozens of deer I've taken, all were one shot stops except one using Remington 210gr soft points.
James Miner
Member
Yes, the .41 is great but the .357 needs attention to bullet construction. The ideal is two holes with damage internally enough to bleed them fast or disrupt the nervous system. I have taken about 150 deer with revolvers and have learned a bullet must slow in passage yet not stop inside. Energy must be given up and when enough, any left after passage is moot. sometimes looking for the fastest bullet you can get can can lead to lost animals.
Gallon jugs of water are good to test on. My .475 will blow the first 4 to the moon, split the fifth and continue in a straight line through 17, never caught one yet. I watched a video where a guy hung water balloons and shot with his .44 and actually caught the bullet in a balloon. If I remember it was only 5---NO GOOD at all.
I shot many deer with the 240 gr XTP and close to dark it took a trip home for a fishing lantern to track. I found all and also the mushroomed bullet inside so I went to the 300 gr XTP and tracking ended. Quick energy dump and penetration. I went to cast and some of my revolvers have never seen copper.
James Miner
Member
I applaud all of you that handgun hunt, great sport.
Once I was able to break small water bottles off hand at 100 but now at 84 with a few health problems there is a gnome swinging on the end of my barrels! I need some way to rest the gun now. I suggest you never get old.
Once I was able to break small water bottles off hand at 100 but now at 84 with a few health problems there is a gnome swinging on the end of my barrels! I need some way to rest the gun now. I suggest you never get old.
Newt2
Senior Member
Too late. I'm already there. I can't hunt anymore.
Newt2
Senior Member
I used factory loads with the .357. Federal Hydra-Shok and Speer Gold Dot. In both calibers, I found one .41 Mag 170gr Sierra that passed thru and stopped in the leg and the one Hydra-Shok .357 blew apart on his neck. Had lead all over that thing.
tcward
Senior Member
I relieved one of the hammer springs off of my Blackhawk. Reduced trigger pull about a pound.
James Miner
Member
It does not creep up on you, it slaps you silly!
I had farms to hunt with unlimited damage tags and donated a lot of meat to the poor. At one time it was free but now I would have to pay for a butcher.Gone are the days when I carried a 10#, .54 Hawken in deep snow, up and down mountains tracking deer. A revolver in a shoulder holster came next. Pure joy!
Some tips on tracking in snow, walk in the deer tracks because they make large circles like rabbits. One day I passed my truck 7 times until I shot one. If there are other hunters and you come to a clearing, stop and post because if they run into a hunter, they will backtrack to you. If deer go over a hill, get off to the side and crawl to peek over, they will stand at the bottom and watch up the hill.
Soon I will tell you how to fool white tails so they forget about you and you can even make one come to you. Last time I could walk OK, I made one come to me from 100 yards until I put a .500 JRH through her.
By the way, blaze orange is the best camo ever made. Forget patterns on it, just more expensive.
James Miner
Member
NO, NO and NO again!!! You have just removed what the gun can do. Shooting IHMSA a time came when I would miss. I found the hammer spring weakened and took a set so I bought them by the dozen until I tried Wolff over power springs. Every one of my Ruger's and BFR's gets a 26# over power variable. BFR is a large Ruger by the way, Pine Tree makes the castings and Magnum Research has a company that does the machining to very tight specs, faster twist rates, and today Green Mountain barrels. Most of mine have Badger barrels.
To do the trigger, stone the hammer to remove creep, leave the trigger alone. Now bend the trigger spring to reduce pull on it. You can unhook an end too. Now add a stronger hammer spring as it does not affect pull and the primer MUST be struck with a heavy force for accuracy.
Now the tricky part, the transfer bar! Most are too short and if your trigger kicks your finger ahead, it will nick the pin and cause a hang fire or it will drop below it and fail to fire. I make my own transfer bars by hand from tool steel, harden and temper them. At full cock the bar covers almost the entire pin. You have to fit the length for your Ruger or the bar can run above the lug at the top of the hammer and will not fire.
See if you can see it here.
You can buy a few new ones and find the longest, they seem to vary a lot.
The very worst thing to do is to reduce the hammer or firing pin spring on any gun.
Newt2
Senior Member
I have many stories I could tell, but I am a lot like you. I've followed does looking for a buck and got so close I was able to slap their butt. Even when taking a smoke break I had deer come to me when the wind was right. I hunted western NY, slug, muzzleloader, pistol only, and blaze orange was the norm. Still doesn't help sometimes. You know you can see a shotgun slug in flight when it is coming towards you? I do! Here is my usual hunting garb:It does not creep up on you, it slaps you silly!
Gone are the days when I carried a 10#, .54 Hawken in deep snow, up and down mountains tracking deer. A revolver in a shoulder holster came next. Pure joy!
Some tips on tracking in snow, walk in the deer tracks because they make large circles like rabbits. One day I passed my truck 7 times until I shot one. If there are other hunters and you come to a clearing, stop and post because if they run into a hunter, they will backtrack to you. If deer go over a hill, get off to the side and crawl to peek over, they will stand at the bottom and watch up the hill.
Soon I will tell you how to fool white tails so they forget about you and you can even make one come to you. Last time I could walk OK, I made one come to me from 100 yards until I put a .500 JRH through her.
By the way, blaze orange is the best camo ever made. Forget patterns on it, just more expensive.
James Miner
Member
Very good choice.
I will start here a little, you know what the deer does when one comes into view and you see each other? The deer does not know what you are so they stamp their foot. This is not to warn other deer, it is a recognition signal to you so do the same back and if she does the head bob, do it back. There are usually other deer around and they will show when you settle the first. I have been in the center of a whole herd, upwind and downwind. I would kneel for a shot with my bow or walk to a tree for a gun rest. They paid me no attention at all. Once I settled a doe with young. The little one was frisky and ran past me a long way, then turned and ran back, stopped next to me to look at momma so close I could touch it.
Then one morning before work I walked up the hill in the woods next door to see if there were acorns and bounced a big doe out of bed. I stamped my foot over and over, she came back and laid back in her bed just 12 yards from me. I stood there scanning trees for squirrels as she licked her sides. Had to go to work so I walked past and she bounced up again, I laughed at her.
I have not figured how to stamp the ground from a tree stand!
Deer will pick up the slightest movement or a dark blob but they really can't see well. Act like a deer and they can't tell. They will bolt from a high frequency sound but not low ones. New bows can be a problem, emitting sounds we can't hear.
Another day I left my stand at dark and bungled into 20 deer feeding on alfalfa. I settled them and followed them at 40 yards for 500 yards. I decided to scream at them with the noise a deer makes when she runs off. I took my pack off and laid it and my bow down, took off in a noisy run to the side, smashing branches and sticks when I got to the woods. Figured that would get rid of them--NOPE, I followed them to the end of the field.
You will have a lot of fun doing something I learned on my first deer hunt. I came face to face with a doe, froze which I found is WRONG as a pile of deer bolted. I wondered what the foot stamp was about, slept on it and tried it on a young buck the next day. I let him walk to me and pass me at 2 feet. I shot a deer with my bow every single time I went hunting to the dismay of the archery club members.
I will start here a little, you know what the deer does when one comes into view and you see each other? The deer does not know what you are so they stamp their foot. This is not to warn other deer, it is a recognition signal to you so do the same back and if she does the head bob, do it back. There are usually other deer around and they will show when you settle the first. I have been in the center of a whole herd, upwind and downwind. I would kneel for a shot with my bow or walk to a tree for a gun rest. They paid me no attention at all. Once I settled a doe with young. The little one was frisky and ran past me a long way, then turned and ran back, stopped next to me to look at momma so close I could touch it.
Then one morning before work I walked up the hill in the woods next door to see if there were acorns and bounced a big doe out of bed. I stamped my foot over and over, she came back and laid back in her bed just 12 yards from me. I stood there scanning trees for squirrels as she licked her sides. Had to go to work so I walked past and she bounced up again, I laughed at her.
I have not figured how to stamp the ground from a tree stand!
Deer will pick up the slightest movement or a dark blob but they really can't see well. Act like a deer and they can't tell. They will bolt from a high frequency sound but not low ones. New bows can be a problem, emitting sounds we can't hear.
Another day I left my stand at dark and bungled into 20 deer feeding on alfalfa. I settled them and followed them at 40 yards for 500 yards. I decided to scream at them with the noise a deer makes when she runs off. I took my pack off and laid it and my bow down, took off in a noisy run to the side, smashing branches and sticks when I got to the woods. Figured that would get rid of them--NOPE, I followed them to the end of the field.
You will have a lot of fun doing something I learned on my first deer hunt. I came face to face with a doe, froze which I found is WRONG as a pile of deer bolted. I wondered what the foot stamp was about, slept on it and tried it on a young buck the next day. I let him walk to me and pass me at 2 feet. I shot a deer with my bow every single time I went hunting to the dismay of the archery club members.
James Miner
Member
A funny story, bow hunting PA. Everyone left camp before daylight and came back empty. Ken and I visited a large group camped above us. I told them to sleep in and go hunt chipmunks, eat lunch and hunt in the afternoon. They said you shoot CHIPMUNKS? I said yeah and the next day I took them 7 tails.
On Friday I told them I know where a big doe is and I will shoot her at 6 PM Saturday. They all looked at me and each other with grins. Sat night I drove my truck into their camp with the big doe, said I was off time by 10 minutes.
They never talked to us again. We hung the deer from a tree next to the tent and I tied a string from a leg, under the leaves to a pile of pots and pans with silverware inside. In the middle of the night it all crashed and we heard footsteps running away.
On Friday I told them I know where a big doe is and I will shoot her at 6 PM Saturday. They all looked at me and each other with grins. Sat night I drove my truck into their camp with the big doe, said I was off time by 10 minutes.
They never talked to us again. We hung the deer from a tree next to the tent and I tied a string from a leg, under the leaves to a pile of pots and pans with silverware inside. In the middle of the night it all crashed and we heard footsteps running away.
Newt2
Senior Member
I had a different experience with that. If a deer spots me I freeze. You are a threat and the deer wants to see if you will move. It is the same with the head bob.
I enjoy still hunting. I enter an area and slowly move through looking for deer. Once I spot a nice one, I stalk it to move in for a clean shot.
James Miner
Member
I found freezing doesn't work, it is the same a predator does like a big cat. If you settle them you can move. Try it next time. Stalking is different as you avoid being seen at the start. If they catch you, do the foot stamp and it also works if you are on your knees, just hit your fist in the ground over and over.
