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I loaded a few .41 mags today.
- Thread starter Drycreek
- Start date
Native Hunter
Well-Known Member
Looks good Drycreek. Post us some target pics when you shoot it.
1100LT20
Active Member
It’ll put venison in the freezer fosho!
Drycreek
Well-Known Member
Well, right after I started this thread I realized that I had read the wrong line in my print out of .41 mag loads. I used 11.5 grains of AAC no. 9 as a starting load when it should have been 14 grains. I tried to pull the bullets with a kinetic bullet puller but after three sharp raps on my oak reloading bench the bullet failed to move. Decided to just shoot ‘em out. I mounted the Weaver 2X6 scope this morning, torqued the screws to specs and gathered up my possibles. I was a little surprised that the scope was very close.
This is my group at 25 yards shooting off a bipod and sitting in a hunting chair. Pretty sure I can beat that with a better rest, and pretty sure the fliers are me.
This is my group at 25 yards shooting off a bipod and sitting in a hunting chair. Pretty sure I can beat that with a better rest, and pretty sure the fliers are me.
Drycreek
Well-Known Member
I loaded up a few more rounds this morning. Thirty rounds at three different charge rates. Started with 14 grains, then 14.5, and finally 15 grains. Ten of each. Chasing the most accurate load. I have to wait a few days to shoot though, raining today and tomorrow, plus doctor appointments ahead. I really want to smack a hog with one of these 
Mennoniteman
Well-Known Member
Forgive my revolver ignorance, does half a grain of powder really make a difference in accuracy? I'd always imagined that pistol accuracy to the quarter inch wasn't important due to the much larger margin of error in the human holding the grips?
Drycreek
Well-Known Member
Well MM, it’s like this. You shoot for accuracy off of sand bags on a bench at like 25 yards. You also do the very best you can under the circumstances. Some bullet/powder combinations do better at certain speeds, and you chase the best groups shooting your chosen bullet (because the bullet performance is what kills). Performance can change in three tenths of a grain if the shooter is good enough to take advantage of it. I may or may not be that shooter ! 
Some bullets like to go fast, some like to go slower, and with this particular powder a couple of grains can be 150 to 200 fps. Pistol powders tend to be hot because you can’t stuff much in that case. I’m usually looking at a medium weight bullet to push at about 1200 fps, but I’ll go higher if the groups get tighter. Standard weight for a .41 mag is 220 grains but I loaded some 215 grains bullets because they have a big hollow point. They are still long, and long bullets stabilize better. I also loaded up some 250 grain bullets with gas checks. I can push them faster if I need to. Once I get a load I like, I won’t shoot it much. I’m not a shooter, I’m a hunter, so I won’t mind shooting a “rocks and dynamite” load while hunting, I just don’t enjoy a steady diet of them. The bigger bullets are in the back four rows. 
Some bullets like to go fast, some like to go slower, and with this particular powder a couple of grains can be 150 to 200 fps. Pistol powders tend to be hot because you can’t stuff much in that case. I’m usually looking at a medium weight bullet to push at about 1200 fps, but I’ll go higher if the groups get tighter. Standard weight for a .41 mag is 220 grains but I loaded some 215 grains bullets because they have a big hollow point. They are still long, and long bullets stabilize better. I also loaded up some 250 grain bullets with gas checks. I can push them faster if I need to. Once I get a load I like, I won’t shoot it much. I’m not a shooter, I’m a hunter, so I won’t mind shooting a “rocks and dynamite” load while hunting, I just don’t enjoy a steady diet of them. The bigger bullets are in the back four rows. 
