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Case Histories: Elmer Keith Magnums

Case Histories: Elmer Keith Magnums

From the 1940s to 60s most American Police forces were equipped with various brands of 38 Spl revolvers. It left them woefully under-gunned in the arms race against criminals. Some forces had evaluated semi-automatic pistols but concluded that they were unreliable. The FBI was to be embarrassed by a number of encounters which highlighted the shortcoming of their similar ordnance. It was handgun fanatic and wildcat experimenter Elmer Merrifield Keith who introduced the American market to calibre ‘upgrades’, better known as Magnums.

THE MID-SIZE MAGNUM

First was his .38 Spl upgrade, the legendary .357 Mag. Born in the 1930’s it was offered to the security agencies but at the time, found few takers. The .44 Mag followed in the 50’s but was considered by most agencies as too much. In the 1930s Colt’s .41 Colt Special cartridge was chambered in their New Service and Police revolvers, but came to nothing. It took a design from Elmer and long time colleague Bill Jordan some 30 years later to bridge the gap. It was their all new, mid size .41 Magnum. Keith convinced Smith & Wesson to chamber a heavy frame revolver for their creation and negotiated with both Remington and Norma to build the ammo. His idea was to produce both magnum and special type loads in various bullet weights and designs, so what went wrong?

BLAME SMITH & WESSON?

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S&W responded to Keith s approach by building a .41 Mag revolver based upon their rugged N Frame Model 29 .44 Mag. Badged the Model 57 and with smaller ‘holes’ it inevitably weighed even more than its’ parent. A big piece of iron for an unfit officer to drag around! Even the stripped Model 58 variant (minus adjustable sights and shrouded ejector rod) did little to impress. With superior distance exterior ballistics to the .44 Mag it found a niche application amongst handgun hunters and later with the long range silhouette brigade… hardly a volume sales market. Had the calibre been chambered in their medium frame design the sales potential may have improved. Ruger later offered it in their Blackhawk and subsequently added the Bisley Blackhawk and stainless Redhawk. During their brief zenith as a revolver maker it was also catalogued by Dan Wesson and the delicious Premier Grade Model 83 still appears in the Freedom Arms catalogue.

Of late, the American interest in .41Mag has shifted to home and personal defence. Stainless variants are in the S&W catalogue and Ruger still offer the robust if clunky Blackhawk. However, the overall numbers produced, especially the Model 58, place it squarely in the collectable market.

UK LONG RANGE

The calibre found limited success in pre-ban ILRPSA events as it offered 300 yard ballistics far superior to the .44 Mag. It still appears in IMSSU revolver events although usually giving best to those chambered in my all-time favourite straight wall, .357 Maximum. However, all is not lost for the calibre in the UK as Marlin have given us the chance to continue the 41 thanks to their brace of lever actions, the 10 shot Models1894FG and 1894CCL as well as the seriously Limited Edition version 1894LTDSS .41 Mag, of which only 250 were built.

Tools, ammo and a good selections of consumables continue to be available. Barnes HP solids may not be PC in the UK but confirm the American application! Bullet weights range from 170 to 240-grains with 200 and 210 grainers giving the best overall performance. TC hard cast bullets and H110 or H4227 work well in the L/A. Note that this cartridge uses a .410” diameter pill, meaning that the old .41 Colt components cannot be used.

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