By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
A little over eleven years ago, at a time I was letting it be known I was looking for a Model 57 Smith & Wesson with a 4-inch barrel—I already had one with a 6-inch barrel I’d bought back in the 1980s from the old John Jovino gun store in New York City—I got a message from a pal who spotted one being advertised in an online shooters’ group to which I belonged.
It was being offered for a very reasonable price and, if the buyer happened to be a group member, the deal included four boxes of ammunition, two HKS speedloaders and a brand new set of dies. I quickly fired off a message to the seller, we hooked up by telephone and he knew immediately who I was. A deal was struck—he needed some cash and this sixgun had been dwelling in his gun safe for some time without having been fired—and the next day he showed up at my office. An associate with an FFL did the necessary background check (and made sure of this revolver’s pedigree), and the deal was legally done.
Later that afternoon, with my “new” .41 Magnum in a cardboard box with all of the promised accessories—but not the original blue S&W box, alas—I was off to the gun range to see just what this wheelgun could do.
This was in July 2015, wrapping up what had been a decades-long search for a 4-inch Model 57. My intention at the time was for this sixgun to be my normal carry piece in retirement; I’m almost there and I’ve gone through several grip changes over the years, but have discovered this gat is a bit on the large size for practical concealment, except during the winter when hiding inside a parka.
It was never intended to be used for taking game; my 6 ½-inch Ruger Blackhawk and the 6-inch Model 57 were largely for that purpose and the Blackhawk has two notches to its credit.
I experimented with different handloads, using either 170- or 210-grain JHPs, the former from Sierra and the latter from Nosler, with an occasional foray into the Hornady XTP arena. I discovered that the 170-grainer ahead of 24 grains of H110 worked really well, while my loads pushing the 210-grainers ahead of 20 grains of H110 also delivered reliable accuracy.
I cannot recall why I took this 4-incher along on a fall deer hunting trek over to Washington’s Columbia Basin, but I did. By that time, I had swapped out the grips for a set of imitation ivories from Altamont, and built a Threepersons-type holster to carry it. Prior to that, the gun had worn set of “bonded ivory” grips I had bought many years before at a gun show to slap onto my older gun.
(“Bonded ivory” was allegedly made from some polymer mixed with genuine ivory dust, back in the days when it was still allowed for ivory to be imported for gun and knife grips, piano keys, chess pieces and other things, at least how it was explained to me once upon a time. I don’t know, although over the years, the grips have taken on a patina, so I can’t say for sure.)
I was hunting down in vast coulee, which can be a mule deer haven because of all the farming and ranching, staying with an old pal. The landscape was right out of a John Ford western. The morning hunt amounted to a very tiring hike several hundred feet up a draw. Lots of tracks, but nothing standing in them. Late in the morning, on the far side of the canyon, I spotted a monster buck, but he was on private land.
That afternoon, I learned of a buck on the edge of some property and was invited to go get it. Never say no to such an invite!
We drove down to where the buck was feeding with a bunch of other deer. I lined up a shot with my bolt-action .308 and down he went like the proverbial bag of rocks.
When we drove over to field dress the buck, he suddenly went zombie on us. To everyone’s astonishment, he was up and trotting away. My hand was quickly wrapped around the grip of my sixgun and a well-placed shot took him down a second time. That had never happened to be before or since. Fortunately, nearly every other buck I’ve tagged has dropped to a single bullet, whether fired from a .30-06, .32 Special, .308 Winchester or my trusty old .257 Roberts. One of the bucks I took with the Blackhawk went down to two shots, as did a Montana muley I capped with a .350 Remington Magnum; a test rifle I was using for a magazine article.
The buck was a nice 2×3-pointer. It took three of us to get him to my pal’s garage, where he hung overnight as the temperature dipped down to freezing. I was up very early the next morning with a bag of razor-sharp knives, removing the hide and then boning out my buck; roasts, backstrap, loins, ribs, chops. Good eats.
And my revolver—the gun not intended to ever stop game in its tracks—had delivered the knockout punch decisively.
Before I ever bought a .41 Magnum, I did a bit of homework. The .41 Magnum is a “true” caliber, launching a .410-diameter projectile at velocities which might get up around 1.500-1,600 fps, depending upon the propellant and how much of it is packed in the case.
The .44 Magnum, meanwhile, actually fires a bullet measuring 0.429-inch, and while the likes of Elmer Keith and Charles Askins said great things about the cartridge—and deservedly so—the .41 Magnum shoots a bit flatter, with slightly less recoil when using comparable loads. I paid attention to that.
I like the Model 57 platform, built on Smith & Wesson’s proven “N-frame,” because it is hefty (the weight helps tame recoil) and thanks to the slightly thicker cylinder walls, I know it will handle a pretty stout load.
I have used all sorts of bullets in my .41 Magnums, including the aforementioned JHPs, various lead SWCs weighing 200 to 225 grains, Speer’s half-jacketed SWC-type bullets weighing either 200 grains (hollowpoint) or 220 grains (softpoint), and launched with various propellants, including H110, Hercules 2400, Alliant 2400 (the company changed hands some years ago), and Accurate #9, all with decent results.
Today, my 4-inch Model 57 wears a set of superb Kirinite grips from Raj Singh at Eagle Grips. There’s a notch on the left grip panel, to always remind me this wheelgun helped save the day when it probably shouldn’t have even been there. But, of course, that’s the way it goes sometimes.
I will cherish this sixgun for many reasons, but that buck is definitely one of them, and with another deer hunting season looming on the horizon, it’ll probably ride with me again. Let’s just hope it isn’t necessary to put the bonk on a buck this time around! I’m getting a little old for that kind of excitement!
