Register
Log In
Home
October 26, 2008
Offline
As most of you know I am the proud new owner of a DW 741. I am looking to gain knowledge from your guy's experience. Looking for both general plinkin' and silhouette/hunting loads. I'm thinking of using the Saeco 220 gr. truncated cone (home cast) bullet but still have not decided fully. Also leaning towards 2400, 1680 but I have 4227, AA5744, 296, lil gun, and H110 on the shelf any help would be great.
IHMSA ARE YOU OUT THERE!!!!??
April 25, 2008
Offline
Yessir I am here. Be glad to help you with that gorgeous .41 there.
My .41's are used for plinking and silhouette competition, and the DW's are favorites for both. Early on I worked up a load that was very accurate in my 10" VH at 100 meters. Tested with a scope on a solid rest, it would shoot 2" groups out there. After finding out my VH version was overweight, I swapped the shroud for a V10. The gun still shot very well. I then tried it in my VH-6 and it was excellent in that one too.
The load was 20.5 grains of H-110 and a Hornady 210 grain JTC-SIL bullet. Winchester brass and a Federal 150 primer completed the round. It has become my favorite load and works well in ALL of my .41's, and I have quite a few different varieties from several manufacturers, since it's my favorite revolver cartridge.
Over the years, I experimented with it a bit and found out that W-296 shot identically. The same load, 20.5 grains, did as well as the H-110. Not too hard to believe, since both powders are made at the same plant. Some folks say they are different powders, personally, I believe any differences in the two are the same as 2 different lot numbers of any other powder...in other words, minor to none, for all practical purposes. One should still test to make sure in your own guns.
Expanding a bit, here's my recipe:
20.5 grains of either H-110 or W-296 and any 210 grain bullet. The Hornady Silhouette is my favorite, but I have also shot the Hornady 210 grain XTP/HP, the Remington 210 JFN (bought in bulk quantities) and the Nosler 210 JHP (a very nice bullet!).
Federal, Winchester, Starline or PMC brass is all interchangeable.
Federal 150 or Federal 155 primers. I found no difference in accuracy with either one using both powders. I've also used the match versions, the 150M and 155M.
Here is one important thing to do. Crimp your loads in a separate operation after bullet seating, and use a Redding Profile Crimp Die. This makes a big difference in the consistency of your loads and is key to ALL revolver bullets...I have one for every straight-wall case I use. Do not skip this step, the results are worth it.
These loads have shot so well in ALL my .41 Magnums, that I have found no need to try anything else. If I wanted to experiment, Lil Gun would be the next one to try.
Hope this helps some!
The Savantist
October 26, 2008
Offline
obviously the 210 must fly pretty good for silhouette, the little bit that I've worked with H110 (mainly 357mag) I was not impressed with it. It seemed very temperature sensative, same goes for lil gun, but I haven't tried it in a bigger case. Does it still have the crazy pressure spikes like it does in 357, one day it's fine no pressure next day it's through the roof? I was thinking about 296 though hmmm. Is the profile crimp a taper crimp or roll crimp or something completely different? I usually use Lee dies (they're cheap and they work) for pistol, but the Redding rifle dies are awesome, so I'll have to give that some thought I'm sure Midway offers the crimp die separate. I'll start checking out 210 molds, usually I lean towards the heavier bullets but I am planning on trying to get into silhouette with the 741 (even though I do have a 40).
Thanks IHMSA
Range Officer
Range Officers
Dans Club
February 9, 2009
Offline
I will attest to IHMSA's statement on the profile crimp dies, I have one for .41, .44 and.445 and have started using them and it does make a difference. They are not terribly expensive. There is an internet store called Hunter's Outlet that actually stocks many of them, most little shops have never heard of them and don't want bothered with it.
A man cannot have too many SuperMags
April 25, 2008
Offline
I've experienced no crazy pressure spikes. The load works every day.
The Redding Profile Crimp die is kind of a combo die, it uniformly squeezes the last portion of the case neck around the bullet, then applies a roll crimp evenly around the neck.
The Savantist
July 21, 2009
Offline
My plinking load in the .41 was usually a homecast 220 grain bullet (Lyman 410459) on top of about 8.2 grains of Unique and a WLP primer. This gave 1000fps in my Smith 58, and a bit more in the DW. While that's a "plinking load" keep in mind that it will shoot side-to-side through an elk at 60 yards; probably not the thing to shoot at the gongs on the rimfire range.
For silhouette/hunting loads, I'd give AA#9 a look. I've had very good luck with it in various .41s, .44s, and .45s.
1 Guest(s)
