Smith & Wesson .41 Magnum Revolver

The Smith & Wesson Model 657 is a .41 Magnum revolver. This one has a 7.5" barrel, a cylinder with six chambers, and is drilled and tapped for mounting a scope. I really like the trigger and grip that comes with the Smith & Wesson revolvers. Unloaded, it weighs 3.3 lbs.

Handloading: .41 Magnum

The .41 Magnum is right between the .357 Magnum and the .44 Magnum in terms of power and recoil. It seems like an ideal handgun hunting cartridge. I will be able to use it to hunt whitetail in Illinois (where hunting deer with rifles is prohibited), and I can take it along on hog hunts for backup.

Recoil isn't bad, even the heavier loads will be fine for hunting, but you can certainly feel the kick. H110 has a lot of muzzle flash. 170 and 175 grain bullets are fairly easy in terms of recoil. The 240 grain bullet and even the 210 with H110 has some notable whomp. I think I'll go with the 210 GoldDot with H4227 for hunting.

I am looking at a Bushnell handgun scope, which should have enough eye relief that I can hold the gun at arm's length. I should also look for some kind of holster to carry this in when hog hunting.

Ammunition

Since this is a hunting sidearm, I have been loading it with 210 grain Hornady XTP bullets, a good expanding hollow point. However, I am also thinking about trying the 265 grain Beartooth WLN. This is an accurate and fairly heavy hardcast bullet with a .320" meplat. It ought to be quite deadly against anything it hits.