The Custom .41 Magnum
I was in Church when the phone call came...my wife came out of the Office crying and I knew what had happened. Jack had died just moments earlier. An old and close friend, we knew he was fighting his last battle, but we did not think it would be this fast. The family wanted to know, would I come? I made arrangements to meet John Taffin and was headed that way.
The funeral was large...nearly everyone knew Jack. Just before the Funeral Service John and I slipped some of Jack's favorite cartridges in his pockets for the last time....some .41 Magnums that Jack had handloaded himself. I spoke a few words during the funeral Service. We laid Jack to rest besides his wife and then headed back to the house for a bite to eat before we went to the airport.
At the house Jack's son handed me a stainless steel Ruger...one of Jack's favorite guns. "Dad wanted you to have this. It was one of his last requests." he told me. I was speechless. The gun had begun life as a stainless steel Super Blackhawk .44 Magnum. Jack had picked it up used, worn, beat. He sent it to Hamilton Bowen of Bowen Classic Arms and said, "Make it a .41.." and Hamilton did. Not "just" a .41, but a super-deluxe .41 featuring a hand-made cylinder, new oversize cylinder pin, BCA's cylinder bolt bushing, trigger work, special sights, and Bowen's own Custom Ovate Rib barrel which was Taylor-throated.
Jack had fired the gun during stages of it's building and work, but had never had a chance to shoot it after the finish work was done. He got ill and went on over the Great Divide before he could find out just how well it shot. During his illness he had talked about taking it out, but never got well enough to do so.
I had never owned a .41 and frankly, had never been interested in owning the Little Magnum. Jack's present was one of the best things that ever came my way for it opened my eyes to a whole new realm of shooting. The .41 is a really surprising cartridge. I have used bullets from 180 gr. up through 270 gr. and find it works well with them. It can be handloaded to meet about any need. This gun in particular is extremely accurate and will shoot under 3/4" for 5 shots at 25 yards if I do my part. With open sights I have fired 5 shot groups at 110 yards that were near 3 1/2" center to center.
I took the gun to Arizona on a Javelina hunt and killed a nice boar with it.
I also shot a nice Whitetail Doe during Deer Season of 1997. If I missed, it was obviously my fault. There was only one thing I did not like about the gun. The Super Blackhawk grip. Jack was a big man and it fit him well. For my hands the grip is too large and is clumsy. And I do not like the square-backed triggerguard. Elmer was right when he insisted that Bill Ruger should have called it a "Dragoon" instead of a silly name like Super Blackhawk.
So I sent the gun off to Milt Morrison at Qualite' Pistol & Revolver. Milt does very nice work and I had a special project in mind. A few years earlier Paul Persinger of Persinger's Shop had made me a beautiful set of carved ivory grips for my Bisley. He also made a set of hand-checkered Ebony grips for the Bisley. Now I can only use one set at a time, so I had these beautiful grips and needed a gun to put them on. So... I call Milt and ask if he can fit a Bisley gripframe to the gun....and..to the grips!
Those of you who have done such things know that you normally fit the grips to the gripframe. But since these grips were already made it had to be done in reverse. I think if Milt had known what he was in for...... but anyway... he took the job. At The Shootists Holiday 1999 Milt walked up and handed me the purtiest .41 Bowen/Qualite' Bisley that I have ever seen. The grips and frame are perfectly matched. The grips by Persinger fit your hand so nice I cannot describe it other than to say, they feel like they live there. Milt put his overtravel stop on the hammer. The trigger has absolutely no creep and perfect in letoff.
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The gun is almost perfect. All I have left to do it send it to Jim Stroh of Alpha Precision. When he puts his half-cock conversion in it, it will be.
I think Jack would approve. Perhaps he can see what I am doing, I don't know. If he can, I am sure he is smiling.