FA 41, That's 2 Mod. 97's

[De41mag]

Picked up the 41 Magnum in the F. A. Model 1997.
Man... What a beauty. The 41 and the smaller frame 97 seem to be perfectly matched with a five shot cylinder.
Have only shot one load through it of my own reloads. A charge of Power Pistol behind a 215gr. SWC Leadheads bullet. Greybeard had the same bullet style loaded with a max charge of magnum powder. We shot 10 rounds of those. Pretty stout but not punishing.
A total of 45 rounds has been shot through it so far. All cast bullets.
I'm not sure yet, but this FA may only see cast bullets shot through it.
This is going to be a real winner and be able to tote it along with my Marlin 1894FG in the same caliber.
I think I'm finished now on buying more FA's. $3000.00+ in four months for two handguns.  :shock:  :shock:  :shock:

Dennis  

[msmith]

Sweet combo there. I have been thinking of pairing up the FA and Marlin in .41 myself since Marlin won't make an 1894 in 454.

[Graybeard]

When Dennis came down on Saturday for us to inspect and shoot his pair of FA97s one thing struck me as odd immediately upon holding both. The grip panels on the .44 Special are noticeably thicker than those on the .41 Magnum. Dunno if that's intention or if they just don't have any set standard thickness for them. I sure preferred the slimmer ones on the .41 Mag. but prefer the .44 Special chambering.

I'm thinking one day when I get me one I'll specifically ask for the thinner panels as they sure feel better in my hands.

[JOE MACK]

Picked up the 41 Magnum in the F. A. Model 1997.
Man... What a beauty. The 41 and the smaller frame 97 seem to be perfectly matched with a five shot cylinder.
Have only shot one load through it of my own reloads. A charge of Power Pistol behind a 215gr. SWC Leadheads bullet. Greybeard had the same bullet style loaded with a max charge of magnum powder. We shot 10 rounds of those. Pretty stout but not punishing.
A total of 45 rounds has been shot through it so far. All cast bullets.
I'm not sure yet, but this FA may only see cast bullets shot through it.
This is going to be a real winner and be able to tote it along with my Marlin 1894FG in the same caliber.
I think I'm finished now on buying more FA's. $3000.00+ in four months for two handguns.  :shock:  :shock:  :shock:

Dennis  

Congratulations! Now that you got the FA in .41Magnum you have been absolved of sinning with the .44 spcl. You may also retain the .41 in your user name Now, you must purchase some leather that is worthy. Can't have a gun like that in (ugh!) nylon.
I've been lucky enough to acquire a FA M83 Premier 6 inch and a M97 Premier 5.5 inch in .41Magnum. They sure do shoot!  I just wish the 97 would take a little bigger bullet like a 250grWFNGC that I just really like. My paired long gun is the Marlin 1894SS41. Maybe I should match the marlin by getting a pair of gray laminated grips for the 95. I shoot the RCBS 41-210-KT in the 97 as it has a fairly short nose. I use a load of 7.5gr of Unique behind it for a real user friendly load.

After recovering from the shock of my federal and state tax bill; I plan on seeing if I can get a 5.5 inch 97 Premier with an octagonal barrel, fluted cylinder, and round butt grip frame. Oh man, then there's the new S&Ws in .41Magnum coming out! Guess I better put the old lady out on the corner!  :-D

[TScottO]

Where's the picture?!

GB, I'm not sure if they size the grips for a specific caliber. The grips on mine are all differently shaped. The ones on my 454 are slim while the ones of the 475 are robust. The grips on the 22 97 aren't much different than the 44 97, so I don't really know. It seems like they take grip scales and shape with out rhyme or reason. Maybe the have more than one person that shapes grips and each individual person shapes them to fit their hand. It would be interesting to know one way or the other though.

Take Care,
Scott

[De41mag]

Thanks Mike, I think it's a good set-up also.
Bill is right, there is a differince in the grip thickness on the two guns. He noticed it before I did. I was wearing shooting gloves.
JOE MACK...Brian, glad to hear from you again. Was wondering what happened to a fellow 41'er. I really like this Power Pistol powder, it meters a lot better than Unique. Don't get me wrong, it's a very accurate powder, but through my Hornady powder measure, it bridges over at about every third charge. PITA. Probably going to order a holster from the Freedom Arms web sight. Loaded up some 215's last nite and tonite. Hopefully the weather will be permitting tomorrow.

Dennis  

[Graybeard]

Hey Dennis, what kinda holster ya looking for? Strong side hip? Cross draw hip? Shoulder?

If strong side hip ya oughta take a look at the one I have for my Ruger Bisley and even see if the FA97s will fit. Dunno if it will or not but they are really nice looking rigs and cost much less than most quality holsters I've seen. Comes from the Cabela's CAS line.

[Dand]

I'm a 41 guy too and I keep wishing for a Marlin 41 lever to go along with my 3 hand guns.  Any of you above with the Marlins, have you made any posts on them elsewhere in GB?

Comments, pros, cons, etc. ?

thanks

[Graybeard]

Dand, I think if you do a bit of searching you should find some posts on the Marlin .41s in both the Marlin Forum and the Lever Actlion Forum. Pretty sure I recall seeing threads in both forums on them.

[De41mag]

Yup....Bill;

Gonna go strong side. With the size of this little booger it should be no problem. I want something out of the way while walking and that's why I went to the Mod. 97 size.
By the way, shot some jacketed bullets today in the 41. Some factory and some old stand byes. And guess what..... Those Sierra 210gr. and those 200gr. Rem. that you gave me, were the only ones that shot worth a hoot. But I'm also shooting at 50 yds also.
But doggone it, gonna have to order another smaller front sight like I had to on the 44 Special. I've got the rear sight up so high it looks humped back. I'm outta 215 grainer's. Had to order more from Tommy Mace last week. Should be here tomorrow or Tuesday. Had just a few, maybe ten, of some 230 grain Keith Leadhead. Made a dummy round with one bullet. Ended up  putting one in the chamber, sticks out the end waayy to much.
I'll try the holster when we meet at your house to go out west.

Dennis  

[Graybeard]

Since you're going with a strong side hip holster ya really need to take a look at the one I have and see if the FA97 fits. Mighty nice holster for a reasonable price. Next time you're down remind me and we'll take a look and see if I have more of those .41 bullets laying around, probably do and it's rather doubtful I'll ever get another gun to use them in.