41 Long Colt

My experienced-based opinion is that the 41 Long Colt is a paradox, a conundrum, a mystery, a success, a missed opportunity and most of all – a very interesting cartridge. Let’s look at those words. My desk thesaurus lists absurdity as a synonym for “paradox.” It is absurd to have a cartridge with a bullet nominally .386 inch in diameter for use in handguns with a nominal barrel groove diameter of .401/402 inch. “Conundrum” is a synonym for puzzle. It’s puzzling to logical minds why a cartridge using .38-caliber bullets would be named 41. A “mystery” is why Colt’s engineers did not reduce revolver barrel dimensions to match the 41 Long Colt’s bullets. “Success” is that 41 Long Colt gained such popularity that revolvers chambered for it were made in the tens of thousands including Colt’s Single Action Army, Model 1877DA, and Army and Navy Specials. In fact, 41 Long Colt was in fifth place of the SAA in terms of numbers produced. Factory loads for 41 Long Colt were produced at least until the mid-twentieth century.

Consider this as the “missed opportunity.” If Colt, in the 1890s, had made revolver barrels to match .386-inch diameter bullets and given the cartridge some catchy new 38 name, it likely would have been futile for Smith & Wesson to introduce its 38 Special in 1899. Handguns chambering the 38 Special, which is actually a .35 caliber, have been made in the millions instead of tens of thousands. They are still being produced by both domestic and foreign factories. Colt could have had much or most of that business with a true 38. That, for sure, was a missed opportunity!

Lastly, “interesting” is a subjective term. Indeed, most modern handloaders are put off by the necessity of assembling 41 Long Colts with soft hollowbase bullets that must expand at least .015 inch in order to grip revolver barrel rifling. The only alternative is a heel-base, outside-lubed bullet for which a special crimping tool must be used if shooting them over smokeless powders. I understand all that, but I’m drawn to such historical oddities as a moth to flame. Therefore, in 2020, when a fine-looking 1901 vintage 41 Colt SAA with 5½-inch barrel appeared for sale online, I bought it.

The history of .41-caliber handgun cartridges is a mishmash of information. Not only were there rimfire and centerfire versions but the latter primed 41s were made in both short and long versions. Charles Suydam’s book, U.S. CARTRIDGES AND THEIR HANDGUNS 1798-1975, lists the 41 Long Colt as first appearing in the late 1870s for Colt’s Model 1877DA. It had outside lubed, heel-type bullets of 200 grains with 21/22 grains of black powder. Its case length was .93 inch, with an overall cartridge length of approximately 1.40 inches. The bullet diameter is listed as .406/408 inches. Hence, the 41 moniker.

According to Suydam, in 1895, the second version of 41 Long Colt factory loads appeared. Bullets were inside lubed, 195/200 grains, with full bullet diameter inside the case. The black-powder charge remained the same. Because the bullet length inside the case reduced usable volume, case length had to be increased to nominal 1.13 inches. The overall cartridge length remained about 1.40 inches. This is where the bullets were reduced to true .38 caliber and given deep hollow bases. If a revolver was ever caliber stamped 41 Long Colt, I’ve never seen it. Each one I’ve examined has been marked simply 41 Colt.

Beginning in 1886 (sources differ), Colt started chambering the SAA for 41 Long Colt and by 1912, had produced about 20,000 with 16,402 as standard SAAs with the rest Bisley and target versions. The same year, Colt discontinued the Model 1877DA and I had never discovered how many were made in .41 caliber. As for side swing Colt double actions, both Model 1889 Navy and Model 1892 New Army and Navy were offered in 38 Colt and 41 Colt. More than 300,000 of those were made prior to 1907. Again, if information exists as to how many were 41s, I have not found it.

As soon as my new Colt SAA arrived in 2020, its barrel and chamber mouth were checked by slugging the former and using plug gauges on the latter. All six chamber mouths were .410 inch and the barrel’s slug measured .401 inch. Although this SAA left the factory in 1901, I’d rate bore condition as 98 percent. Noteworthy is that the chambers were bored straight through with no “neck” or “ball seat.”

Leftover from earlier 41 Long Colt forays was a single 50-round box of Winchester factory loads. According to hearsay, someone special ordered a million 41 Long Colt rounds about 1976. They were loaded with 200-grain Lubaloy roundnose bullets and packaged in plain white boxes. Some were fired from my new Colt, giving velocities of 700 to 725 feet per second (fps) depending on the exact day. Searching the internet, a vintage box of Winchester factory loads was found. Five of those clocked at 712 fps. The bullets were 196-grain roundnose. Both factory loads had .386 inch hollowbase bullets and gave machine rest five-shot groups at 25 yards (usually) of 21⁄2 inches to 23⁄4 inches Peters’. Knowing this revolver was capable of at least of decent accuracy I progressed down the .41 LC handloading trail. It wasn’t smooth sailing.

A minor amount of brass came from the Winchester factory loads mentioned above. However, on the internet, I was able to locate a few hundred brand-new Starline cases. Both types of cases require Small Pistol primers, with the Winchester brass needing RCBS shellholder No. 3 and Starline fitting RCBS No. 32, or in my case, a Lyman No. 3.

Bullets were more difficult, or should I say, finding proper bullet moulds was more difficult. A perusal of the internet showed no used Lyman or Rapine HB moulds for sale but I discovered a mould maker named MP Molds in Slovenia. (Yes, in Europe.) Fearing an extended wait time, I rather shakily ordered their 41LC-200HB double-cavity brass mould. To my great surprise and pleasure, it was in my hands in a week. It drops smooth 192-grain bullets of 1:20 tin-to-lead alloy or 196-grain ones of pure lead. However, the cast diameter of the pure lead bullets was only .385 inch, with the 1:20 alloy ones measuring .386 inch. Simultaneous with ordering the MP mould, an order was placed to Buffalo Arms for a custom-made .386-inch lube/sizing die.

My attitude was that reloading dies would be trouble free. Not hardly! They turned out to be the most frustrating part of this project. First, I purchased the Redding dies. Dropping .386-inch bullets in cases full-length sized resulted in bullets simply dropping all the way into the case. Although belling case mouths was unnecessary, that die’s stem was measured. It was .389 inch in diameter. The only good news was that if I could get an MP bullet to stick in place the seating/crimping die would apply a healthy crimp. Results were less than stellar with some bullets hitting where aimed and others soaring off into the ether. Shooting loose-fitting HB bullets with smokeless powders is not a recipe for good accuracy. My guess is there was a glitch at the Redding factory on this particular set of dies, as others have told me there were no problems with their Redding dies.

With the help of an industry contact and at a premium cost, I acquired a brand new set of 41 Long Colt dies by RCBS. The sizing dies reduced cases just barely enough with the .384-inch belling die stem lightly touching the interior case walls – however, the shellholder butted against the die bottom before the crimp was applied. That die body could have been ground off a bit. Instead, the Redding seating/crimping die was substituted and handloads at least began to perform as expected. Not superbly, but rather loosely landing where aimed.

Then, my stubbornness (or obsessiveness) came into play. I began to check eBay every day and it paid off, albeit again at great expense. Eventually, I found both Lyman No. 386178 and Rapine No. 386195 HP moulds. Sticking with 1:20 alloy, Rapine bullets dropped at 185 grains and .386 inch in diameter. Conversely, the Lyman mould dropped .389-inch bullets but they weighed only 175 grains instead of Lyman’s old manual’s nominal 200 grains. Sizing those Lyman bullets in a .386-inch die literally wiped out its lube grooves. Therefore, a .388-inch lube/sizing die order was placed with Buffalo Arms. Common wisdom with HB bullets says to use pure lead, but in my situation, pure lead simply resulted in bullets that were too small for my reloading dies. My 1:20 tin-to-lead alloy actually works better.

Also found on eBay was something I did not know existed – Lyman 41 Long Colt reloading dies. Lyman discontinued them in the late 1970s. They sized cases down nicely so all bullets fit tightly after being belled with the .383-inch seating stem. I was finally happy – for a short while. Although a good crimp was being applied, the bullet seating depth varied. A quick check revealed that the channel in the seating/crimping die through which the seating stem fits was too narrow in diameter. Removing the seating stem and dropping in bullets showed none would enter the stem’s channel. All were caught by the channel’s edge. In fact, the seating stem could be removed and the bullets were still seated by the channel’s edge but not with any sort of consistency. So, back to the Redding seating/crimping die. Finally, good loads were being assembled.

A 42nd Edition Lyman Reloader’s Handbook (1960) lists the only still existing powders for 41LC as Unique and Bullseye. They were tried first. At charges I deemed safe, Bullseye wouldn’t break 650 fps. Unique results were almost mystifying. Some rounds fired normally albeit, with horrible (machine rest) groups. Other Unique loads made various pop to mild burping sounds and I could see some of the bullets in their short 10-feet to 10-yard flights. That would have been funny if not frustrating. Recovered bullets showed no rifling marks and the revolver’s chambers were full of unburned powder. My theory was that the primer drove the HB bullets free of their crimps before Unique could ignite. Trail Boss was also tried. It ignited well but wouldn’t even produce 550 fps. Black powder was considered but along the way, a heel-based 41LC mould popped out of the woodwork, so my intention for the future is to use black powder both with it and hollowbase bullets. (During this project I bought a pre-1900 Colt SAA 41 Colt that will  be the test vehicle for black-powder handloads.)

The next step felt like walking out on a limb. In my experience, two fast-burning smokeless propellants that have consistent precision and easy ignition are W-231 and Titegroup. No 41LC data exists for either. SO READ AND HEED THIS. DO NOT USE THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION IN ANY REVOLVER EXCEPT POST-1900 COLT SAAs AND MODERN REPLICAS THEREOF.

Colt SAA 41 Long Colt chambers have much thicker walls than those for bigger rounds such as 45 Colt, 44-40 and 38-40, so I felt safe doing some careful load development with the two above-mentioned powders.

Working upwards a couple tenths of a grain at a time, when 4.2 grains of Titegroup and 4.5 grains of W-231 were reached, velocities were right in my desired level of 700 fps to no more than 750 fps. Velocity variations were also reasonable in five-shot strings running from 20 fps to around 50 fps.

With those powder charges, bullets fitting properly tight in cases and crimped firmly machine rest groups were hovering from 2½ to 4 inches with all three HB bullets. Measuring the overall cartridge length showed that my handloads were a bit over the factory load’s nominal 1.40 inches but the SAA’s cylinder handles them fine. With these handloads, my 41 Long Colt groups (machine rest) were in the 2-2.50-inch range, with occasional flyers extending things to 3 inches. Strangely enough, almost all flyers were to the left, so further work needs to be done to determine if there is a flawed chamber.

On a whim, some Small Rifle primers were tried. Only Remington’s No. 7½ Small Rifle were on my bench at the time. What a difference they made! Velocities jumped more than 100 fps. Just out of curiosity, I experimented by reducing the 4.2 grains of Titegroup four-tenths of a grain at a time. At 3.4 grains with the Small Rifle primers, chronograph readings were back in the low 700 fps level. In my small lot of shooting with Small Rifle primers, it seemed that on average, groups were tighter and flyers were fewer with all three bullets. The idea deserves more experimentation. Also, on average groups with the MP Mold’s 192-grain HBs were slightly better, which is nice because the double-cavity bullet mould makes production faster.

Many more rounds were fired in this Colt SAA 41 Long Colt than the accompanying table would indicate. In fact, hundreds were fired along the way. The table’s results are what I got for groups and velocities when those particular loads were all fired on the same day. In some ways, this project was frustrating, not to mention expensive. Still, it was satisfying.