Ruger's 41 Magnum Blackhawk Part I

08/20/2023 – In a world that poses the question, “Is a rifle chambered for the 30-06 Springfield sufficient for whitetail deer?”, I was elated to see a box of Winchester 41 Magnum ammunition labeled for deer and black bear hunting.

Power in a small package…

The 41 Remington Magnum version of the New Model Blackhawk is built on the Ruger large frame with a measured 1.732″ diameter and 1.676″ long cylinder. This is the same as used in Ruger 44 Magnum Blackhawks and Super Blackhawks. Subsequently, the smaller diameter cartridge 41 Remington Magnum version has thicker cylinder walls, outward and adjacent, than the 44 Magnum version.

Unlike the Super Blackhawk, the Blackhawk has an anodized aluminum grip frame. Not a stressed component, the aluminum grip frame helps reduce weight and the black anodizing blends in well with alloy steel pieces.

The Blackhawks top side uncluttered with a black, ramped front, horizontally striated to cut glare. The rear sight is click adjustable, both windage and elevation. Each click shifts point of impact approximately 3/4″ at 25 yards, or 3 MOA. The 6.5″ barrel 41 Rem Mag Blackhawk feel a bit nose heavy, but feels more balanced when loaded. The weight distribution steadies the Blackhawk sights on a target.

The subject New Model Blackhawk has a plow handle grip form. No, that is not the same as a Bisley grip or a bird’s head grip. It is the same kind of grip shown in 1950’s westerns, where a sheriff uses it to tack a wanted poster on his office wall.

Why is it called a plow handle? I submit, a picture of one side of a walk behind plow handle set. See anything familiar? Do I sound… cranky? I don’t mean to. It’s just that when ever I use the term plow handle to describe a grip, someone will comment, “Also known as birds head”, or Bisley or a handle.

The 41 Remington Magnum as a tween… not really

Pictures L-R 22 Short, 41 Remington Magnum, 44 Remington Magnum. Just checking to see if you’re paying attention. Of course that first round is a 380 Auto. Gotcha again. Yes, it is the 357 Magnum. No, it has no middle name. Ask SAAMI.

The 357 Magnum was introduced in 1935, the 41 Remington Magnum was introduced in 1964, the 44 Remington Magnum was introduced in 1955.

The 41 Mag is typically described as a mid point between the 357 Mag and the 44 Mag. In my experience, the 41 Mag barks about the same as a 44 Mag, recoils a tad less, and both are considerably more in all departments than the 357 Mag.

The 357 Mag is probably the most useful of the three, the 41 Mag can reasonably play to both self defense and hunting, and the 44 Mag is really a cartridge for hunters. However, the 44 Mag does much better in movies for all applications.

Tables. It was only a matter of time…

Cartridge	Bullet Weight grains	MV FPS	ME Ft. Lbs.	# Factory Loads
357 Mag	180	1225	600	63
41 Remington Magnum	180	1520	924	12
44 Remington Magnum	180	1700	1155	62
10mm Automatic	180	1300	676	65
180 grains was selected as a weight as a common denominator

Obviously, we can clearly see… Nope, nothing is obvious. However, the table might infer that the 41 mag is much closer in performance to the 44 Mag, than it is to the 357 Mag. The notion, that the .40 caliber 10mm Auto is nearly as powerful as the .410 caliber 41 Mag, is a work of science fiction. Perhaps not of Jules Verne proportion, but at least H.D. Wells.

Again, in serving my need to be repetitious… In a hunting world where kinetic energy, bullet diameter and penetration rule supreme, it could only be a 44 Remington Magnum, 41 Remington Magnum one-two finish. If I could only pick one for double duty, hunting and personal security, it would be the 41 Mag. If I was only interested in personal security… it has been, and remains, a 357 Mag.

How about some empirical data? Sure…

Picture L-R, the monolithic copper Barnes Vor-tx 180 grain HP, and the double jacket, lead core, Winchester Platinum Tip 240 grain HP.

For folks who hunt animals comprised of boneless ballistic gel, animals that always appear in profile, both rounds are good for 21″ – 24″ of penetration. And for those who hunt flesh and blood animals, both rounds are deep penetrating, will break bone and reach vital organs in hogs, deer, black bear and similar size and constructed game.

I do not know what suspends the laws of physics when the subject changes from rifle ballistics to handgun ballistics. A handgun cartridge, that matches the ballistics of a relatively low powered rifle cartridge, is often wrapped in adjectives more appropriate for a 458 Winchester. Conversely, the 458 Winchester is often describe in terms of anemia; too short, too low powder capacity, minimal knock down power.

My conclusions as a youth, suggested this was all true. No doubt, the result of magic and writers with vivid imaginations. As I got older, and maturation and field experience tempered my opinions, I concluded that handgun ballistic claims were true, but subjective assessment of objective ballistic data understated rifle cartridge potential.

The 41 Remington Magnum can easily take big game but, like other big bore revolver cartridges, it can easily be outpaced by a pedestrian 308 Winchester. The 180 grain rated MV/ME for the 41 Mag is 1,520 fps/924. The 180 grain rated MV/ME for the 308 Winchester is 2640/2785. A 30-30 Winchester 170 grain MV/ME output is 2200/1827.

Over the chronograph, the Barnes 41 Rem Mag 180 grain MV/ME was 1452/843. The Winchester Platinum 240 grain loads checked 1277/869. Joe, why are you doing this? You know numbers are boring. Because…

The Ruger Blackhawk 41 Rem Mag and hunting season…

Ballistically, the Ruger is comfortably a 100 yard deer season firearm that, based on the nature of the hunting environment and type of game, would probably see more use inside 50 yards.

Best Zero Results
Near-Zero – yards.		6		Mid Range – yards.		45
Far-Zero – yards.		80		Max Ordinate – “		+1.5
Point Blank – yards.		151

Best Zero : Range 0 – 100 yards
Yards		0	10	20	30	40	50	60	70	80	90	100
Velocity – fps		1452	1407	1363	1321	1282	1245	1211	1179	1149	1122	1096
Energy – ft.-lbs.		843	791	742	697	657	620	586	555	527	503	480
Momentum – lbs-sec		37	36	35	34	33	32	31	30	30	29	28
Path – “		-0.50	0.26	0.85	1.24	1.44	1.43	1.19	0.72	-0.01	-0.99	-2.26
Drift – “		0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
Time Of Flight – sec.		0.00	0.02	0.04	0.07	0.09	0.11	0.14	0.16	0.19	0.21	0.24

Selecting a 3″ critical terminal target diameter, the 41 Remington Magnum, shot from the 6.5″ barrel Ruger Blackhawk, has a 151 yard point blank range. So no hold over out to 151 yards and 480 ft-lbs of KE arriving at a 100 yard target. Excellent potential. What else comes into play?

The Ruger’s adjustable sight’s smallest adjustment increment is 3 MOA, or 3.141″ (Pi) @ 100 yards. The Ruger’s 0.120″ front sight, held out 24″ from the eye, obscures approximately 17 MOA. So 8.5″ at 50 yards, 17″ and a tick at 100 yards and reference points surrounding the sights are necessary to hit critical areas on a target.

Yes, there are red dot and scope scope solutions to alleviate the problem, but that is getting away from the simple, compact hunting firearm. It does underscore one of the reasons people hunt with a handgun, its use poses a more primitive challenge. More practice is required to hunt with a handgun than there is with a rifle.

As a point of reference, from a rest, the Winchester ammo put 6 rounds into a 2″ group. The Barnes shot a 1 3/4″… could have been 1 1/2″ if I measured with my China made tape measure. Why six shots? 5 shot revolver groups make no sense to me in determining shot to shot precision. Two three shot groups would have been real works and convenient in a six shooter. Maybe next time.

Shooting impressions..

I find shooting heavier calibers with a Bisley grip profile is much easier than a traditional plow handle form. In the case of the Blackhawk and the 41 Remington Magnum combination, the hard polymer grips and sharp checkering were abrasive to my baby soft hands. That is what happens when you routinely wear work gloves. Switching to smooth wood grips, or a soft rubber mono grip, are a quick and inexpensive 100% solutions.

I can’t discern recoil differences between the 44 Mag and 41 Mag Blackhawk version. While both are… lively, neither are severe. Report is also about the same.

Trigger pull was light at 3 lbs 7 oz. There is zero creep, let off is crisp and there is only a small amount of overtravel. The Blackhawk was responsive and predictable in sight adjustment and adjustment stayed put. In fact, the revolver was tight and precise in all movement of parts. Loading and ejection of empties was routine with nothing sticky or requiring rim picking at the loading gate.

The 41 Remington Magnum Blackhawk, without my picky comments, is what I have come to expect; a solid, nicely finished single action revolver, selling at a fair price and promising many, many years of reliable, accurate function.

The older I get, the less unnecessary weight I want to carry, the greater the appeal is to let handgun big game hunting replace rifle lugging hunting. On balance, I think The Ruger New Model Blackhawk and 41 Remington Magnum would make for an ideal combination.