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Post by RDW on May 15, 2020 9:54:38 GMT -5
I've never owned a dedicated 41 Special. Do load for the cartridge and shoot them in my FA97 41 Magnum. Seems everyone's opinion of the cartridge and Dave Clements is universal and positive. Appreciate all the input. It'll all come together soon. It is just the perfect balance of power and FTSF (Fun to Shoot Factor) for a mid frame in my opinion. It seems to be another of those cartridges that just got completely missed in the quest for The dirty Harry special factor! Power, Power, Power! Haha. I have often thought about the timeline of the advent of so many of these cartridges and proposed a theory that if the cartridge Gods did exist they would have designed in this order. 32,38,41,44,and 45 Short < 1900 ! 32,38,41,44, and 45 Special < 1940! Then all of the previous in magnum > 1940 to present. Its funny how even after so many years of 45 colt, its still such a winner. I have always loved the 41 Mag. I have a number of 41 caliber Ronnie or something stupids i made during my, (I WANNA CHANGE THE ROTATION OF THE EARTH WITH FIRE AND RECOIL) days. 414 cases shortened to 1.5 and 1.475 so i could fit them into a standard frame. I even knecked down a 475 linebaugh case to 41 caliber and that was a lesson in futility! They are great. However 41 mag like 357 mag tends to stab your ear drums like shooting a Thompson contender in 223. I like to just walk over the ranch in south Texas and shoot at random targets. Cactus, rocks, anything that i dont believe is complete without a hole in it! 41 mag has such a shrill spikey stabbing high pitched pop that it almost sucks to shoot with out Super ninja ear muffs. Not 41 special. It just always seemed to be just right. I just recently did the conversions on the few that i have ( last ten years or so) based on some articles that i read and thought what a great direction to go for some one running out of nutty ideas. haha. I always tended to design up rather than down in power. But then comes the white hair and grand kids sooooo, You Know. lol What a great cartridge though. Im glad the shooting community and the great smiths who dreamed it up or thought it was agreat idea, pusued it. I beleive the 41 Special is here to stay! And if its not it will in my family cuz a year ago i burned a thousand dollars for five thousand starline cases. Haha, Just in case! I also beleive you will love that clements special Mr Encore64. I know i would!
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Post by Encore64 on May 15, 2020 11:00:12 GMT -5
The "almost magnums" have always been great balanced cartridges. But, in the last few years they've really came into their own.
Modern powders such as Power Pistol, CFE Pistol, Longshot and a few others really make these shine.
I'm so close to magnum territory, I doubt most animals would know the difference. These loads also eliminate or minimize the need for GC Cast Bullets.
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Post by RDW on May 15, 2020 12:28:25 GMT -5
So Power pistol is a bang up powder for 41 special huh?
I need to try it out!
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Post by Encore64 on May 15, 2020 13:15:04 GMT -5
So Power pistol is a bang up powder for 41 special huh? I need to try it out! I've found any of the powders that give good results in the 10mm Auto also give great results in the 41 Special. So far, Longshot for new powders and 2400 for old reliable powders have worked best for me. But, I'm still learning. Really like both GT 215 grn Hollow Point Bullets for it too. They don't seat deep in the case to spike pressure and still fit in the cylinder.
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Post by eliminator on May 15, 2020 17:11:59 GMT -5
Encore, will you be staying with the aluminum grip frame?
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Post by Encore64 on May 15, 2020 17:55:33 GMT -5
Encore, will you be staying with the aluminum grip frame? Yes... I'm hoping to keep the gun in the general weight range of the easy packing FA97. I'm one of those strange people who builds gun for use.
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Post by rjm52 on May 15, 2020 20:53:54 GMT -5
Don't remember what year it was but I bought 12K pieces of Special brass from the first run Dixie had Starline make... Bought it mainly for resale and ended up keeping only a couple hundred maybe for myself... Reasons being a) didn't own a dedicated .41 Special b) 8.0 grains of Unique is just so accurate and to me mild I had no need for Special brass.
But then I had Mr. Clements make up the USFA Shooting Master that USFA was going to make before they went out of business at which point I only had a small stash of Special brass. Ended up cutting down a 1000 pieces of Starline Magnum brass...what a pain... A few years later Starline put the Special in their standard line and I bought a bunch..just in case.
It is the perfect size for the Taurus Tracker line, FA 97 and of course a mid-frame Ruger...
Have been using bullets from the MP 180 grain that GT sells as the 165 HP up to a 250 group buy Keith mold from Lee. Have only used Unique...don't need anything else...
What is real sad, now there are more manufacturers making .41 ammo than ever before in a wider variety than ever before but fewer guns than ever before. Four manufacturers, three SAs, one DA and Henry with a lever gun with two different barrel lengths. And the number of used .41s is shrinking on the auction sites...
Bob
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Post by eliminator on May 15, 2020 21:13:41 GMT -5
It is the perfect size for the Taurus Tracker line, FA 97 and of course a mid-frame Ruger... Bob It is indeed. I called Freedom Arms in early March of this year to see if I could order a Model 97 in .41 Magnum and have an auxiliary cylinder chambered in .41 Special. I was told told "he will not do any custom chamberings at the moment." Rats!!!
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Post by leadhound on May 15, 2020 21:41:22 GMT -5
It is the perfect size for the Taurus Tracker line, FA 97 and of course a mid-frame Ruger... Bob It is indeed. I called Freedom Arms in early March of this year to see if I could order a Model 97 in .41 Magnum and have an auxiliary cylinder chambered in .41 Special. I was told told "he will not do any custom chamberings at the moment." Rats!!! Just an idea, maybe they could fit a reamed cylinder and have it chambered elsewhere?
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Post by Encore64 on May 16, 2020 4:36:43 GMT -5
Agree that the FA97 is the perfect sized gun for the 41 Special.
That's what originally piqued my interest in the cartridge. I load them for my FA97 41 Magnum.
The bullets I want to use are too long for the cylinder if seated in 41 Magnum brass.
It's also a top choice in 44 Special. Hard to imagine a better packing pistol.
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Post by rjm52 on May 16, 2020 5:23:03 GMT -5
If FA won't do a custom cylinder ask them if they would fit a .357 cylinder to your gun and then have Clements punch it out...
Another thought...since there really isn't going to be any noticeable accuracy difference between a Magnum cylinder and a Special cylinder, why not just shoot the original cylinder with all the Specials you want and "if" chambering Magnum length loads later becomes a problem then send it back for a new cylinder... Properly cleaned you'll probably never send it back... And I don't know about your 97, but all my FA 97s and 83s are very tightly chambered and have short leads into the throats. In many cases real Keith bullets and some LBTs will not go into the chamber because the front driving band that is above the crimp will not fit into lead. Having a Magnum cylinder and Special brass eliminates this problem.
Was going to shoot Specials in my 97 but since the only bullets I wanted to use and could not were Keith style, I just use them in other .41s. I've settled on the MP mold that throws a 165 HP-180 Solid grain bullet and have three 250s that also work. Accurate 41-250L, 250F and the LBT 250 WNFP like is used in the Federal CastCore round.
"It's also a top choice in 44 Special. Hard to imagine a better packing pistol."....and yet it was the last large caliber chambered for the 97...what were they thinking...
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Post by Encore64 on May 16, 2020 6:19:03 GMT -5
I have no interest in a 41 Special cylinder for my FA97 41 Magnum. I simply can see no reason for it. The Specials shoot just fine in the Magnum Cylinder.
I don't buy into theory of not shooting the shorter Specials in Magnum Chambers. If anyone let's their gun get that dirty, they deserve any problems they get.
I guess when FA or any company comes out with a new gun, one cartridge has to be added first and one cartridge has to be added last. These days it always seems to be Magnum to the front of the line.
The FA97 44 Special was well worth the wait IMHO...
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Post by eliminator on May 16, 2020 11:03:45 GMT -5
Encore, will you be staying with the aluminum grip frame? Yes... I'm hoping to keep the gun in the general weight range of the easy packing FA97. I'm one of those strange people who builds gun for use. Very cool. I don't find that "strange" AT ALL.
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Post by eliminator on May 16, 2020 11:17:53 GMT -5
Another thought...since there really isn't going to be any noticeable accuracy difference between a Magnum cylinder and a Special cylinder, why not just shoot the original cylinder with all the Specials you want... That truly is the truth of the situation, especially considering my personal capabilities, or lack there of. I just had "moment" where I allowed my OCD to come to the fore while considering my next purchase. Encore, the 5.5" barrel length sounds like it would serve well and be a bit easier to pack (also, I may need to apologize for the mini hijack here).
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Post by Encore64 on May 16, 2020 11:29:31 GMT -5
Hey, hijack away. When you ask for input, you get what you get.
Honestly, I'm leaning towards the 6.5" barrel. My FA97 is 5.5", so this would "justify" my build.
Clements has built me (3) 327 Federals, 38-40/10mm, 44-40/44 Magnum, 44 Special and 45 Colt Revolvers. Some custom, some semi-custom.
I'm kinda addicted to his OCD Gun Building. I figured this would be a great departure from my other builds.
All ideas have merit and I don't want to miss any details.
My only complaint about Freedom Arms 41 Magnums are the .410" throats. But, I generally use the 210 grn XTP Bullets in mine. This gun will be built specifically for cast bullets.
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