The .41 Remington Magnum, also known as .41 Magnum or 10.4×33mmR (as it is known in unofficial metric designation), is a

center fire Two rounds of .357 Magnum, a centerfire cartridge; notice the circular primer in the center A center-fire (or centerfire) is a type of metallic cartridge used in firearms, where the primer is located at the center of the base of its casing (i.e ...

firearm A firearm is any type of gun that uses an explosive charge and is designed to be readily carried and operated by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see legal definitions). The first firearms originate ...

s cartridge primarily developed for use in large-frame

revolvers A revolver is a repeating handgun with at least one barrel and a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold six cartridges before needing to be reloaded, ...

, introduced in 1964 by the

Remington Arms Company Remington Arms Company, LLC, was an American manufacturer of firearms and ammunition. It was formerly owned by the Remington Outdoor Company, which went bankrupt in 2020 with its lines of business sold to several purchasers. Two resulting com ...

, intended for

hunting Hunting is the Human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products (fur/hide (sk ...

and

law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of the government or other social institutions who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by investigating, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms gove ...

purposes.

Development

In 1963,

Elmer Keith Elmer Merrifield Keith (March 8, 1899 – February 14, 1984) was an American rancher, firearms enthusiast, and author. Keith was instrumental in the development of the first magnum revolver cartridge, the .357 Magnum (1935), as well as the la ...

and Bill Jordan, with some help from Skeeter Skelton, petitioned

Smith & Wesson Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. (S&W) is an American Firearms manufacturer, firearm manufacturer headquartered in Maryville, Tennessee, United States. Smith & Wesson was founded by Horace Smith (inventor), Horace Smith and Daniel B. Wesson as the ...

, Remington, and

Norma Norma may refer to: * Norma (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) ** Norma Lizbeth Ramos, a Mexican bullying victim Astronomy *Norma (constellation) * 555 Norma, a minor asteroid * Cygnus Arm or Norma Arm, a spiral ...

to produce a

pistol A pistol is a type of handgun, characterised by a gun barrel, barrel with an integral chamber (firearms), chamber. The word "pistol" derives from the Middle French ''pistolet'' (), meaning a small gun or knife, and first appeared in the Englis ...

and

ammunition Ammunition, also known as ammo, is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. The term includes both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines), and the component parts of oth ...

in .41 caliber which would fall between the extant .357 Magnum and .44 Magnum cartridges in ballistic performance, and at the same time address perceived shortcomings with those loads. While as early as 1955 Keith had suggested a new, medium-powered " .41 Special" cartridge, this idea was passed over in favor of the higher-powered "Magnum" option, and the Special survives only as a custom

wildcat cartridge A wildcat cartridge, often shortened to wildcat, is a custom-made cartridge (weaponry), cartridge for which ammunition and/or firearms are not mass-produced. These cartridges are often created as experimental variants to optimize a certain ballis ...

, bearing roughly the same relation to the .41 Magnum as the .38 Special does to the .357 Magnum and as the .44 Special does to the .44 Magnum. The .357 Magnum suffered from restricted terminal ballistic effectiveness in the early 1960s, as jacketed hollow point bullets were not yet commonly available, and the manufacturers' standard loadings consisted of simple

lead Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...

bullet A bullet is a kinetic projectile, a component of firearm ammunition that is shot from a gun barrel. They are made of a variety of materials, such as copper, lead, steel, polymer, rubber and even wax; and are made in various shapes and constru ...

s. The powerful .44 Magnum, primarily a heavy hunting round, was considered overkill for

police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

use, generating too much

recoil Recoil (often called knockback, kickback or simply kick) is the rearward thrust generated when a gun is being discharged. In technical terms, the recoil is a result of conservation of momentum, for according to Newton's third law the force requ ...

for control under rapid fire. In addition, the revolvers chambered for the .44 Magnum were considered too large, bulky, and heavy for police to carry.Smith, Clint
"The .41 Mag: If only we could do it over"
''Guns'' magazine April 2005. BNET Web site. Accessed August 6, 2008. Keith's original vision called for dual power levels in the .41, a heavy magnum load pushing a JHP at a

muzzle velocity Muzzle velocity is the speed of a projectile (bullet, pellet, slug, ball/ shots or shell) with respect to the muzzle at the moment it leaves the end of a gun's barrel (i.e. the muzzle). Firearm muzzle velocities range from approximately t ...

of , and a milder police loading which was to send a semiwadcutter downrange at around . These plans went awry due to an ongoing fascination in the firearms community with high-powered cartridges; Remington was swayed by this community's influence and instead of following Keith's

blueprint A blueprint is a reproduction of a technical drawing or engineering drawing using a contact print process on light-sensitive sheets introduced by Sir John Herschel in 1842. The process allowed rapid and accurate production of an unlimited number ...

, chose to emphasize the performance of the new cartridge. As a result, the .41 "Magnum" load was released at an advertised , and even the "light" police loading was introduced with a lead semiwadcutter "warmed up" to about . However, the police load as delivered was regarded as overpowered by most

law enforcement agencies A law enforcement agency (LEA) is any government agency responsible for law enforcement within a specific jurisdiction through the employment and deployment of law enforcement officers and their resources. The most common type of law enforcement ...

, many of which were still using .38 Special revolvers. Additionally, Smith & Wesson had simply adapted their large N-frame revolvers for the new cartridge, which did not address size and weight concerns. The Model 58, targeted for the law enforcement

market Market is a term used to describe concepts such as: *Market (economics), system in which parties engage in transactions according to supply and demand *Market economy *Marketplace, a physical marketplace or public market *Marketing, the act of sat ...

, was introduced on July 10, 1964. Weighing , the Model 58 compared unfavorably with other revolvers available at the time, such as Smith's own Model 10 in .38 Special. These combined factors mostly eliminated the .41 Magnum from consideration for its intended market as a law enforcement firearm, although it continued to be touted as such and was adopted by a few law enforcement agencies. For a handgun cartridge, the

bolt thrust Bolt thrust or breech pressure is a term used in internal ballistics and firearms (whether small arms or artillery) that describes the amount of rearward force exerted by the propellant gases on the Bolt (firearms), bolt or Breechblock, breech of a ...

is considerable at C.I.P. conform maximum loads and an important factor in weapons design. The greater the bolt thrust, the stronger the locking mechanism has to be to withstand it. Smith & Wesson produced a high-end, premium revolver in .41 Magnum, the Model 57, identical to the .44 Magnum-chambered Model 29.

Magnum Research Magnum Research, Inc. (MRI) was an American privately held corporation based in Fridley, Minnesota which manufactured and distributed firearms. The majority owners, Jim Skildum (President and CEO) and John Risdall (Chairman, COO), had been wit ...

Desert Eagle The Desert Eagle is a trigger (firearms), single-action, Gas-operated reloading, gas-operated, semi-automatic pistol capable of chambering the .50 Action Express, the largest centerfire cartridge of any magazine-fed, self-loading pistol and a nu ...

division produced a .41 Magnum in their semi-automatic Mark VII. Sturm Ruger also produced their Blackhawk single-action revolver in .41 Magnum. A couple of manufacturers have produced lever-action rifles chambered in .41 Magnum.

Marlin Marlins are fish from the family Istiophoridae, which includes between 9 and 11 species, depending on the taxonomic authority. Name The family's common name is thought to derive from their resemblance to a sailor's marlinspike. Taxonomy T ...

produced four variants of its Model 1894, but no longer offers any model chambered for it.

Henry Repeating Arms Henry Repeating Arms is a firearms manufacturing company. As of 2019, Henry Repeating Arms ranked in the top five of U.S. long gun manufacturers, and eighth overall in total firearms production, manufacturing over 300,000 firearms annually. H ...

introduced a .41 Magnum variant of their Big Boy Steel model in 2016.

Market reception

The .41 Magnum never enjoyed the popularity and success of either the .357 Magnum or .44 Magnum cartridges, but is still prized by handgun hunters as some feel it generates somewhat lighter recoil and slightly flatter bullet

trajectory A trajectory or flight path is the path that an object with mass in motion follows through space as a function of time. In classical mechanics, a trajectory is defined by Hamiltonian mechanics via canonical coordinates; hence, a complete tra ...

at long range than the .44 Magnum. Nevertheless, the .44 Magnum still catalogs a greater variety of heavier bullet weight offerings which are more effective on larger game, and boast a slight edge in power when using the heaviest

factory A factory, manufacturing plant or production plant is an industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with machinery, where workers manufacture items or operate machines which process each item into another. Th ...

loads, or if pushed to the edge by handloading (heavier bullets or bullets of different types). Marshall and Sanow called the .41 Magnum "one of our most unappreciated calibers".

References

External links

Ballistics By The Inch .41mag results

Smith & Wesson Model 657

{{DEFAULTSORT:41 Remington Magnum Pistol and rifle cartridges Remington Arms cartridges Weapons and ammunition introduced in 1964 Magnum pistol cartridges Rimmed cartridges

Development

Market reception

See also

References

External links