Free Republic

While researching pistol uses in self-defense from bears, I noticed the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) bear mortality database listed a self-defense killing on 8 August of 2009. The database did not indicate what kind of firearm might have been used. Years later, Bridger Petrini gave me a lead to the person who had been attacked and had defended himself with a .41 magnum single-action revolver.Tanner Allen, who lives in Wyoming, is an accomplished hunting dog trainer and dog breeder. His hounds are sought after by big game hunters to improve their packs. They are noted for their ability to trail...

Let's be honest. The .44 Magnum is a fraud, being a .429 in true caliber, while the .41 Magnum is the real McCoy. With comparable loads, the .41 Magnum can do anything the .44 Magnum can do, and it is a real survivor. The popularity of the .41-caliber Magnum seems to ebb and flow, but those who have stuck with it make it as versatile a choice as its siblings. I've carried the .41 Magnum for personal protection, killed a couple of deer with it, shot long-range targets (it's a favorite among silhouette shooters) and had it in the back...

It's a shame things don't always turn out the way they're s'posed to ... nothin' ever turns out right!" So said Harry Carey as the Marshal, to John Wayne as Quirt Evans in the 1947 production Angel and the Badman. He was speaking of being cheated out of hanging the reformed gunfighter-turned farmer, but he could just as easily be speaking of the .41 Magnum. If ever a cartridge did not turn out the way it was s'posed to, the .41 Magnum is it. What went wrong? Several things have worked against the .41 Magnum almost since its very inception....

As I have written before the 41 magnum is special in the magnum class for me. The first game I took with the 41 was a record class feral pig at 400 plus pounds. And it has been exceptionally effective since that day in early 1970. But there is a class of bullets that most don’t think of for the 41 magnum...and that is the heavy weights... What is a heavy weight in the 41 magnum? Most quickly think of the 240 grainers...and that is heavy but only moderate compared to 250 grain thru the 300 grain bullets this caliber...