This review is about my Smith and Wesson Model 57-4 .41 Magnum. Model 57 | Smith & Wesson (smith-wesson.com). I thought I would take a moment to write a review as my wife is washing all my COVID masks so I can’t go anywhere right now anyway. It would be near to the end of his years that my colleague and I discovered we shared almost the same long history with shooting the .41 Magnums. One of the last conversations that I had with Frank James was a discussion on .41 Magnum Handloads. My friend Dick Metcalf really loves the round too and we shot them a lot on his farm at PASA Park.
Like some, I got started with a Model 57 from Fetlas Anyone remember Fetlas in Valpo? | Indiana Gun Owners - Gun Classifieds and Discussions back in the day because there was a waiting list for Model 29’s and the 57 was in stock. Little did I know that I would like the gun and the caliber this much. Yes, I still ran Model 29’s as well, but the Model 57 was trouble free. See my Model 29 review Smith and Wesson Model 29-6 Review | Indiana Gun Owners - Gun Classifieds and Discussions elsewhere in this forum. I might add here that not once have I ever needed a repair on any of my .41 Magnum Smith revolvers. Being the same OD as the 44 Magnum revolver but with smaller .410” holes instead of .429” made for just a little more steel mass around the round.
I carried a 4 inch 57 for years on the street but loaded it with .41 Specials at the time. Thankfully, I had to only present but not shoot one time or that could have been a legal nightmare for me. Going forward from that time I abandoned the .41 Special round as being a homemade not SAAMI approved cartridge. .41 Special - Wikipedia. Now my favorite round for this gun is 210 JSP or JHP which moves at the muzzle at about 1375fps. But for game, I really like the Winchester 240 Gr Platinum S41PTHP | Winchester Ammunition tipped rounds. Now these make their mark on anything that may stumble in front of it’s path. Some of you may be putting together here that with the availability of factory ammo and handloading possibilities, I find that the .41 can do anything my 44 can do only more efficiently. Don’t worry though, the “Magnum in the Middle” does not replace any of my Forty-Fours, it just compliments each other. The pic shows the .357-41-44 side by each.
This 8 3/8” barrel NFrame Double Action revolver has been fitted with a 2X28 Duplex Leupold Handgun scope(Discontinued I think) to wring out it’s fine accuracy with. I fit all my Leupold scopes with the Alumina screw in caps for storage, keeping it clean and protection in travel on horseback or 4 wheeling. This thing prints under 4 inches at 100 yards when I do my part. Back in the day, I used an earlier 8 inch 57-1 for Bowling Pin Shooting Events | Pin Shoot. One year at a Pin Shoot in Michigan City, I used it to bust the pin pictured in half. I love this round…oh, I said that already. Yes, I have always shot 6 shot magnum revolvers on Pins, there are only five pins to clear and that leaves me one round left over more often than not. Not much to clean up when the round picks up the pin as cargo and carries it directly to the dirt.
Taking game is fantastic with this caliber. If your shot placement is there, this round will do It's job. Handloading is easy peasy with this straight walled casing. I do apply a firm crimp as for heavy revolver shooting, one does not want the bullets moving around under recoil. The grips that came on this gun are beautiful and while I used to throw these factory grips away and replace with Hogue rubber, I have went back to these grips in the last few years.
I used to have a .41 magnum rifle to go with my revolvers, but it seemed that the law of diminished returns allowed that I could squeeze a broader range of ballistics out of both my 357 and 44 Magnum rifles. Go figure.
All in all, this round that was an afterthought of the magnums, turns out that it is the most well engineered magnum in NFrame or Blackhawks. There is just more steel around the charge holes and barrel but with less percussion (blast) as an NFrame in 357. In other words for me, I get the most energy out of the bullet with less felt recoil proportionately in these N Frames or so it seems.
I enjoy the six inch version as well but Maggie May as I call this one just feels right. Writing this review of my 8 inch 57-4 has made me decide it is time to me to take another Wild Boar this spring. I will wear a mask if the Boar has COVID.
Like some, I got started with a Model 57 from Fetlas Anyone remember Fetlas in Valpo? | Indiana Gun Owners - Gun Classifieds and Discussions back in the day because there was a waiting list for Model 29’s and the 57 was in stock. Little did I know that I would like the gun and the caliber this much. Yes, I still ran Model 29’s as well, but the Model 57 was trouble free. See my Model 29 review Smith and Wesson Model 29-6 Review | Indiana Gun Owners - Gun Classifieds and Discussions elsewhere in this forum. I might add here that not once have I ever needed a repair on any of my .41 Magnum Smith revolvers. Being the same OD as the 44 Magnum revolver but with smaller .410” holes instead of .429” made for just a little more steel mass around the round.
I carried a 4 inch 57 for years on the street but loaded it with .41 Specials at the time. Thankfully, I had to only present but not shoot one time or that could have been a legal nightmare for me. Going forward from that time I abandoned the .41 Special round as being a homemade not SAAMI approved cartridge. .41 Special - Wikipedia. Now my favorite round for this gun is 210 JSP or JHP which moves at the muzzle at about 1375fps. But for game, I really like the Winchester 240 Gr Platinum S41PTHP | Winchester Ammunition tipped rounds. Now these make their mark on anything that may stumble in front of it’s path. Some of you may be putting together here that with the availability of factory ammo and handloading possibilities, I find that the .41 can do anything my 44 can do only more efficiently. Don’t worry though, the “Magnum in the Middle” does not replace any of my Forty-Fours, it just compliments each other. The pic shows the .357-41-44 side by each.
This 8 3/8” barrel NFrame Double Action revolver has been fitted with a 2X28 Duplex Leupold Handgun scope(Discontinued I think) to wring out it’s fine accuracy with. I fit all my Leupold scopes with the Alumina screw in caps for storage, keeping it clean and protection in travel on horseback or 4 wheeling. This thing prints under 4 inches at 100 yards when I do my part. Back in the day, I used an earlier 8 inch 57-1 for Bowling Pin Shooting Events | Pin Shoot. One year at a Pin Shoot in Michigan City, I used it to bust the pin pictured in half. I love this round…oh, I said that already. Yes, I have always shot 6 shot magnum revolvers on Pins, there are only five pins to clear and that leaves me one round left over more often than not. Not much to clean up when the round picks up the pin as cargo and carries it directly to the dirt.
Taking game is fantastic with this caliber. If your shot placement is there, this round will do It's job. Handloading is easy peasy with this straight walled casing. I do apply a firm crimp as for heavy revolver shooting, one does not want the bullets moving around under recoil. The grips that came on this gun are beautiful and while I used to throw these factory grips away and replace with Hogue rubber, I have went back to these grips in the last few years.
I used to have a .41 magnum rifle to go with my revolvers, but it seemed that the law of diminished returns allowed that I could squeeze a broader range of ballistics out of both my 357 and 44 Magnum rifles. Go figure.
All in all, this round that was an afterthought of the magnums, turns out that it is the most well engineered magnum in NFrame or Blackhawks. There is just more steel around the charge holes and barrel but with less percussion (blast) as an NFrame in 357. In other words for me, I get the most energy out of the bullet with less felt recoil proportionately in these N Frames or so it seems.
I enjoy the six inch version as well but Maggie May as I call this one just feels right. Writing this review of my 8 inch 57-4 has made me decide it is time to me to take another Wild Boar this spring. I will wear a mask if the Boar has COVID.
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