I wouldn't be surprised to see .41 Special's on the GP100 / Ruger New Vaquero frame produced for Lipsey's. Starline is making brass and hopefully a manufacturer like Hornady could step up and produce mainstream factory ammunition. My dream factory gun from Ruger would be a Bisley Single Six in .41 Special--several custom gunsmiths will do that build, but it requires an owner who knows the gun's limitations and is willing to load accordingly. That likely is why it never will be built by Ruger.
On an L-frame, oh yes!!Originally Posted by Stephanie B
"And for a regular dude I知 maybe okay...but what I learned is if there痴 a door, I知 going out it not in it"-Duke
"Just because a girl sleeps with her brother doesn't mean she's easy..."-Blues
6-shot .41 Specials have been built on L-frames; all it requires is a re-bored barrel, a re-chambered cylinder, and a gunsmith who knows what he or she is doing. Frankly, given that S&W undoubtedly would want $800-900 for a factory produced L-frame--and such a gun undoubtedly also would come with a lock and with all the QC problems of current-production S&W's--spending $1500 or so to have a custom L-frame .41 Special built by someone like Jack Huntington makes much more sense than waiting for a factory gun.
Last edited by oregon45; 07-09-2019 at 05:48 PM.
The .41 Spl/.41 Mag authority is John Taffin who has written extensively on the subject.
Good Lord, this is tempting!
"And for a regular dude I知 maybe okay...but what I learned is if there痴 a door, I知 going out it not in it"-Duke
"Just because a girl sleeps with her brother doesn't mean she's easy..."-Blues
Brian Pearce's two-part article on loading the .41 Special in Handloader #304 and #305 is worth reading as well, even if you don't plan on handloading.
There is a noticeable difference.... but that is quite subjective too. I have a 3" barreled 41 mag and the full blown Keith type loads are lively.. the 41 special loads I referenced earlier not nearly as much..... still plenty of wallup for what I might run into around my part of Indian Country....
Give it a try... what have you to lose?
Johnny Walker
Thanks, I think I will. I am not set up for reloading right now, still in the "brass building" stage. Plus time, just don't have it.
"And for a regular dude I知 maybe okay...but what I learned is if there痴 a door, I知 going out it not in it"-Duke
"Just because a girl sleeps with her brother doesn't mean she's easy..."-Blues
Anyone wishing to use .41 Magnum dies to reload .41 Spl brass will need to buy a .41 Spl crimp die such as that one sold by Redding.The magnum crimp die has the crimping section located too high in the die to crimp the shorter .41 Spl case. For the price of the Redding die one can buy a complete .41 Spl die set from RCBS.
Liking to tinker, I understand reloading the Spl brass but honestly see no disadvantage to using the regular magnum length brass. I would be tempted to cast and load a 175 gr wadcutter bullet seated in regular brass and propel it with a charge of fast burning powder at a true 750-800 fps from a 4 inch barrel. Flash would be minimal as would recoil. The smaller powder charge of fast burning powder would decrease the ejects--gas and residue--found in heavier slower powder loads. Yes, it's splitting hairs, but that's what we do. I intend to convince the big dude with the hound dog avatar to take up bullet casting so he can test such loads.
I recall reading an article many years ago in Combat Handguns about an L frame converted to .41 special. Might have been Tom Givens but I could be mis-remembering because the author had a mustache and wore a fedora.
Last edited by HCM; 07-09-2019 at 07:36 PM.
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