# 44 special or 41 mag



## Bam Bam (May 1, 2010)

Which one is more powerful 44 special or 41 magnum ?


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## john erwin (May 1, 2010)

41 mag is


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## Apex Predator (May 2, 2010)

.41 mag by a long shot.


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## yaines (May 2, 2010)

*A .41 mag. is .410 / a .44 mag is .429 . I guess @ the time .43 mag just didn't sound*

like they wanted ...../ .41 mag dia. is only 19 thous. difference than the legendary .44 mag , the sixgunner grand old dad of us all , Elmer Keith & equally as famous Bill Jordan & maybe Skeeter had a lot to do w/ the development of the .41. That being said , there is nothing wrong w/ the great .44 special , its just not as powerful as the mighty .41


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## Larry Rooks (May 9, 2010)

41 Mag all the way.  The 44 Spec is a scaled down 44 mag like the 38 spec is to a 357 mag.  Ain't even close tween the two.  44 spec does make an awesome defense round though, and easy to handle the recoil too


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## Richard P (May 17, 2010)

In a strong gun and in strong cases the 44spl aquits itself very well.  Factory ammo respects the small revolvers and about duplicates the 45acp, no slouch itself.  If you are shooting a Ruger or other strong 44mag and you can load for it, a 44spl can drive a 240gr bullet close to 1200fps.  If you dont need full 44mag performance the 44spl serves well.  Just dont feed those loads to a Charter Bulldog.  rp


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## Nugefan (May 17, 2010)

I love my .41 Smith ....


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## steve9616 (May 17, 2010)

For hunting, the flatter trajectory of the .41 Mag is preferable.

The .44 Mag is actually a scaled up .44 Special, not the other way around. The reason .44 Spl and .44 Mag are .429 lies in the history of heeled boolits, back in the black powder days.


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## biggsteve (May 20, 2010)

and, if you watch those old 'dirty harry' movies, clint states that he shoots a 44 special with a home made load, not a 44 mag., in his model 29.  ya feel lucky, punk?  lol


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## steve9616 (May 20, 2010)

biggsteve said:


> and, if you watch those old 'dirty harry' movies, clint states that he shoots a 44 special with a home made load, not a 44 mag., in his model 29.  ya feel lucky, punk?  lol


IIRC, it's in _Magnum Force_, when Harry's swapping guns with the motorcycle cops at the range. Harry says he's shooting "light specials" because they're easier to control. I think he may also have said that a guy reloads them for him. BUT this is a direct contradiction to his earlier pronouncements about "the most powerful handgun in the world" which "will probably blow your head clean off". 

In other words - it's Hollywood. 

However, the .44 Special is a great round.


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## Gentleman4561 (May 20, 2010)

.41's more powerful.  And its Clint Eastwood he can do whatever he wants.


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## 2789britt (May 21, 2010)

41 mag hhas the same power as the 44 but the recoil of a forty caliber iti is a lot better to shoot


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## dertiedawg (May 21, 2010)

2789britt said:


> 41 mag hhas the same power as the 44 but the recoil of a forty caliber iti is a lot better to shoot



That is NOT TRUE!!


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## steve9616 (May 21, 2010)

2789britt said:


> 41 mag hhas the same power as the 44 but the recoil of a forty caliber iti is a lot better to shoot


 Most factory loadings of .41 Mag are significantly more powerful than most factory loadings of .44 Special.


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## joemeadows (Jun 15, 2010)

I love my taurus tracker 41 magnum with ported 4.5 barrel I also have a 44 mag ruger redhawk with 7.5 inch barrel 44mag kicks way harder but I dont like it like I like the 41mag


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## joemeadows (Jun 15, 2010)

at 25 yards the 41 shoots way flatter than the 44


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## seeemmiss (Jun 22, 2010)

Ok here it is. The 44 magnum was develpoed off the 44 special cartridge by non other than Elmer Keith. The only difference in the two is the length of the brass. This is so some unknown fella does not put magnums in a gun chambered in 44 special. A handloader can load a 44 special case to "factory" 44 magnum levels. But the same handloader can load the 44 magnum even hotter than facotry specs. Now the 44 magnum is a .429 diameter while the 41 magnum is a .410. I doubt a deer will ever know the difference. The difference in the factory loaded cartridges makes most of the difference in the two. Most 44 magnum factory loads are 180 gr or 240 gr bullets while most 41 mags are 210 or 220 grain. Out to 50+ yards, not much difference between the two. After that, it is my experience that the 41 magnum will shoot much flatter and appears to have a bit more range than the 44 mag. I love the 41 for this very reason. I currently have seven 41 mag guns. Six revolvers and one rifle. I also handload and use two different bullets. First and best for all around is the 210 grain Gold Dot bullet with 22 grains of H110 stuffed in. The newest load is a CPBT 265 grain lead gas check bullet with 20.8 grains of H110. The 265 grain bullet is pretty cool but limits the 41 mags effective range to due to the heavy bullet. So in effect the heavy bullet of the 41 mag has just cause the range advantage of the 41 mag to be right there with the 44 mag. Now most deer shots in GA with a handgun will be inside 100 yards so it really does not matter. I just like the 41.


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## Dub (Jun 23, 2010)

Love .44RemMag dearly but I'm learning how sweet the .41 RemMag can be, too, since adding one last month.







. Cylinder filled with Double Tap.

Love these Mountain Guns.


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## thurmongene (Jul 1, 2010)

so why is the .44 special ammo so expensive?


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## Buzz (Jul 1, 2010)

There is no comparison here.   The .41 Magnum (along with the .44 Magnum) is loaded to 36k PSI.   The .44 Special is loaded to a max SAAMI pressure limit of 15.5k PSI.


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## steve9616 (Jul 1, 2010)

thurmongene said:


> so why is the .44 special ammo so expensive?


 As with everything else, the answer is scarcity. Relatively few people buy .44 Spl, so the ammo makers make relatively little of it.


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## chuckdog (Jul 1, 2010)

It cost basically the same to load the 44sp, 41 mag, 44mag, ect. The components are all about the same. It's what the market will bare with any load. With the exception of a the type and amount of powder used, I can load 44 mag for about the same money as the 44 sp, or the .454 Casull for that matter. I can load a 300 Win mag for about the same as .308 Win., but look at the difference the ammo companies charge. Stick the word Magnum on it anything and it doubles in price! They charge a lot for the .41 because they aren't as popular, don't sell as much, so production cost remain a little higher, just like the .410 and 16ga shotgun shells compared withe the 12 and 20. If it's fun, it's going to cost you! ChuckDog


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## ironhead7544 (Jul 2, 2010)

The 41 Magnum in factory loads is a lot more powerful than the 44 Special.  If you are buying one for hunting the 41 would be first choice.  I have a 44 Special and handload so that round is all I need.  It will handle 98% of the uses you might have for a handgun load.  I think the 44 Special ammo is hard to find right now due to the new Ruger Flat Top 44 Special.  Also S&W has brought back some classic 44 Special models.


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## Dub (Jul 4, 2010)

This is what my .41 Smith is loaded with right now....


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## HandgunHTR (Jul 5, 2010)

Dub said:


> This is what my .41 Smith is loaded with right now....



And that is some SERIOUS firepower.


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## Dub (Jul 5, 2010)

It really is all I can envision needing in a very easy to pack pistol.  I like this little 57-5 Mountain Gun.  Handy little weapon.



I've got to get some dies and brass and work up some loads.  This DT stuff isn't in my budget to use for range fodder.


It still can't take away undying regard for the .44 Rem Mag.  This caliber is my favorite for handgun hunting.


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