Concealed Carry Handguns – August 2019

Incidentally, if this round gun goes off
in said alley, it won’t be dark for long,
because the muzzle fl ash from this
magnum snubby is awesome.

The muzzle blast is nothing to
dismiss, either. In an emergency,
even if you miss, the fl ash and blast
combined could cause some people
to faint dead away.

RUGGED
AND RELIABLE
Readers may recall last year I had a
chance to put Charter’s XL revolver
chambered for the .45 Colt cartridge
through its paces. That chambering
was, after all, my suggestion and
Ecker’s team produced a handgun that
handled the cartridge with confi dence.

This .41 Magnum chambering might
strike some people as overkill, but
I beg to differ. The cartridge was
originally developed at the suggestion
of old gun hands Elmer Keith and Bill
Jordan, primarily, as a law enforce-
ment round. As it turned out, the .41
Magnum proved too hot for some
people to handle in Smith & Wesson’s
N-frame Model 58, but when that
company produced the Model 57 with

adjustable sights, and the folks at

Sturm, Ruger chambered their beefy

Blackhawk for the .41 Magnum, it

became a cult favorite.

The chamber wall thickness is an

impressive 0.150-inch. After shooting

a mix of factory loads and some of my

handloads pushing 210-grain Nosler

or Sierra JHPs propelled by healthy

doses of H110 over Winchester

primers, no further convincing is nec-

essary. This revolver will handle the

cartridge. Through all of that shooting,

the .41 Mag Pug gave nary a hint of

weakness.

Thanks to Charter’s crane positioning,

which is within the frame rather than

forming the front of the frame, there

is no concern of damage. The larger

S&W N-frame guns (I own two) have

a beefi er crane but at the end of the

day, the smaller Charter revolver is a

solid performer.

I have a couple of DeSantis holsters

into which the .41 Mag Pug tucked

fi ne despite the 1.60-inch diameter

cylinder. It carries well, weighing

23 ounces empty and were this my

revolver, it just might wind up on the

RIGHT TOP: Rear

sight is a traditional

notch, and the

Mag Pug has a full

hammer that may

be cocked for sin-

gle-action work.

RIGHT BOTTOM:

The molded rubber

grip is a Charter

Arms standard, with

molded checkering

for a irm hold even

in rotten weather.

LEFT: Author Dave

Workman is a .41

Magnum devotee

and he found plenty

to like with the 41

Mag Pug.

trail while my 2.5-inch .357 Magnum

six-shooter stayed home.

LET’S TALK

HORSEPOWER

When you talk about magnums, it is

almost obligatory to address concerns

about over-penetration. Even out of

a 2.5-inch barrel, the .41 Magnum is

no wallfl ower and thanks to a tight

fi t between the cylinder and forcing

cone, one doesn’t lose that much

horsepower.

Using a Chrony Alpha chronograph

with the screens 20 inches ahead

of the muzzle, the hottest velocity I

achieved was 1,126 fps with a DPX

load launching a 180-grain solid

copper hollowpoint. However, that

round averaged 1,115 fps while the

Cor Bon round launching a 210-grain

JHP averaged 1,120 fps.

The Charter Mag Pug liked Speer’s

210-grain Gold Dot JHP as well, with

a top muzzle velocity of 1,123 fps and

an average of 1,101 fps.

I had a box of BVAC loads topped

with 210-grain lead SWC pills and

they didn’t do too badly, clocking

FALL 2019  CONCEALED CARRY HANDGUNS 113