.411 Moulds... which are essential ?

[BigSlick]

I'm going to foray into .41 Mag again one day and have been sitting here reviewing my options for moulds.

Lee has one, others have few, not many recent additions to anyone's lineup from what I can tell.

Right now, I'm thinking aluminum, but iron or others won't disappoint me. One holers will do only as an absolute last resort, cause they're so slow

What are you guys using and what should be considered a good option for .41 Mag moulds ?

One or two will do for a start.

I'm thinking I gotta have at least one option in the 210-220gr range, SWC of sorts, but, I'm open

[blueline541]

I'll be taking notes on this thread.

[CZ93X62]

I have two 41 caliber moulds. The first casts a 212 grain plain-base SWC, Lyman #410032/2-banger. It has a smaller meplat, and uses top punch #429 (38/357 intended). This bullet shoots WONDERFULLY in every 41 I've tried it in (3 examples), from 750-1100 FPS.

The other bullet is from a limited-run Lee 6-cylinder, a 240 grain SWC with the usual Lee blunt/wide meplat and shallow lube grooves. This one has real possibilities as a hunting bullet, although the Blackhawk x 6.5" (now departed) didn't have enough front sight to make it hit where it looked. The 657 x 6" will place it 2" high at 50 yards with full-potential loads (1100 FPS), which I can live with.

One issue with the 41 revolvers that might cause a bit of pause for some shooters--the lack of gas checks in that caliber. They went out of print 3-4 years ago, and unless you can make them yourself there could be a problem. My response to that problem was to get a heavier bullet, which in the case of the Blackhawk ran me out of front sight, even at high-end loadings. Luckily, the S&W sights and the Lee Heavy got along--and shoot very well. There is always the option of glass sights or red dots, but I'm not fond of glass on handguns--to me, that's like a camper shell on a Testarossa.

My thoughts, after several years and 3 revolvers in 41 Magnum--the 210 to 220 grain plain-based SWC or Keith bullet is likely the best single choice for the caliber. If necessary, go to a semi-custom mouldmaker site like Mountain Molds www.mountainmolds.com (http://www.mountainmolds.com) and play around with the bullet design software to get EXACTLY what you want--print it out, and mail it to Dan. I have four of his moulds, including the 9.3mm rifle design, and the tools are works of art.

[BigSlick]

Saeco still makes a gas check, but for the wait time and $$$ involved ($170) I think I will check out Mountain Moulds.

RCBS has a 2 banger 210 that looks OK. Single lube groove, no meplat dimensions, but it's a SWC (their version anyway). No idea how it runs as there is very little info out there on it from what I have found with a fairly thorough search.

I may start with it, but what I'd really like is a DEWC and a Keith in the 210-220 range.

Not sure if that's gonna happen nowadays.

Lyman used to offer a DEWC, and I think I have one somewhere at home, but it may be a .358, I don't remember right now.

[zdogk9]

I'm havin' good luck with the Lee 2 banger, really want to try the RCBS sust because I want to.