Where do I begin. Well, back when I was a young boy, I used to read all of the gun magazines, especially those on handgunning. I was afflicted with handgunitis at the tender age of thirteen when I used to go Pheasant hunting with my Uncle Louie. Uncle Louie was a Greek immigrant and a story unto himself but we'll leave him for another entry.
During our hunts we would stop for lunch along a farm road. After lunch, Uncle Louie would produce a High Standard Citation .22 caliber target pistol and we would have a go at the empty soda cans. I caught on quickly to the attributes of sight alignment and trigger control and I'd send those cans flying. In his broken English, Uncle Louie would tell me that I was a very good shot with handgun.
When I was fifteen, a customer of our family's grocery business asked my Mother if it was okay for me to accompany him to a Moose Lodge Road and Gun Club swap meet. My Mom agreed so he picked me up on a Honda 750 equipped with a sidecar. That alone was pretty cool but when we hit the swap meet I was mesmerized by all of the guns for sale. While walking along the tables filled with goodies, I spied a Smith & Wesson Model 1917 revolver chambered for .45 ACP/Auto-rim. The revolver has seen it's better days but with a price tag of only $30.00 I wanted it.
I asked the man who took me to the swap meet what I had to do to buy the revolver. He explained that in the People's Republic of Illinois I needed a Firearm Owners Identification Card (FOID) card and be at least 21 years of age. I assured him that my Mother would allow me to have it so we called Mom and after some keen negotiation and pleading on my part, the Big S&W was mine. The man bought the revolver and then transferred it to my Mother the next day.
I shot that old hog-leg for a while and when I was sixteen, I had the chance to pick up a new-in-box Colt Python with a 4-digit serial number from a Chicago Police Officer I knew quite well. The gun was built in 1959 and it was now 1972. The Python was cool for a while but the old S&W made me realize I was a "Smith" man for life, or should I say a "Smith" boy.
Now you're probably thinking why would a Mother allow her son to have handguns at that age. It was a different world back then, kids were far more responsible and mature than those Text-sending, video game playing, mindless, effeminate Zombies that are walking around today. It was common practice for me to load up my car with several firearms and head to the the firing range by myself or with a few gun buddies. Now 35 years later I'm still at it. I'm just a bit more shrewed at wheeling and dealing.
Over the years I've come to utilize certain calibers more than others. Between managing one of the largest police pistol clubs in the region, and running my firearm training company, I probably shoot several thousand rounds of rifle and pistol ammunition every year. I like to keep my caliber selections fairly small. The bulk of my training and competitive shooting is done with the .38 special, the 9 Millimeter, the .223 Remington, and the .308 Winchester. But as a handgun hunter there is one caliber that I really cherish and that is the .41 Remington Magnum.
The .41 Remington Magnum first hit the scene in 1964. It was designed to bridge the gap between the .357 Magnum and the mighty .44 Remington Magnum. It was also touted as being the ultimate law enforcement caliber, which it may have been had the factory loading been better suited for police use. Being that the .41 Magnum was pushing a 210 grain bullet at over 1,300 feet per second, it was apparent that it was far too hot a load for rank and file police use. At the same time several gun scribes had their own pet projects in the mix so the .41 Magnum was pushed aside and became sort of a Red-headed stepchild.
Now as a handgun hunting round it has very few peers. Granted the .44 Remington Magnum, the .454 Casull, and the newer .460 and .500 Smith & Wesson Magnums far outshine the .41 Magnum in many ways, these aren't the easiest calibers for the average person to handle comfortably. The .41 Magnum is actually a joy to shoot, even with hotter loads and is extremely accurate to boot.
Currently, I have several .41 Magnums in my inventory. My all-time favorites are a Smith & Wesson Model 57 with a six-inch barrel. A semi-rare Smith & Wesson Model 58 with a four-inch barrel, and a scoped Ruger Super Blackhawk Hunter with a 7.5" barrel. All of these revolvers shoot extremely well. The Model 58 was the Red-headed Stepchild that was supposed to replace the police revolvers of the 1960's.
The .41 Remington Magnum will easily take Black Bear. Several years ago, I hunted Black Bear in Maine with Wayne Bosowicz http://www.foggymountain.com/ of Foggy Mountain Guide Service. Wayne told me he has killed a slew of Bear with the .41 Magnum. During my handgun hunt for Mountain Lion in Idaho, the .41 Magnum was at my side. Shot placement on game is critical when hunting, especially with a handgun. For most people the .41 Magnum will be much easier to shoot than a .44 Magnum, and that alone will give a shooter the ability and confidence required to make a lethal hit on a game animal.
Now that doesn't mean you can pick up a .41 Magnum and run out into the field and be proficient with it. On the contrary, all big-bore handguns take time and practice to master. That means you have to burn up some expensive ammunition to achieve your goals. You must spend time on the range sighting in your hand-cannon for various distances. Know where your given load will strike at 25 yards, 50 yards, and possibly 75 yards. I've seen a lot of hunters who think bore-sighting their firearm means it's sighted in properly. That is the furthest thing from the truth. You owe it to yourself and the game your after to become a proficient marksman and handgun hunter.
