Elric
Well-Known Member
Always looking for 41 caliber action. This is not exactly .410, but is a progenitor to the .41 S&W Magnum, a.k.a. .41 Remington Magnum...
CLASSIC CAST BULLETS Modern handgunners are the heirs to a century of cast bullet design and development.
GUNS MAGAZINE, OCTOBER 2001, page 24 By: John Taffin
http://jeffersonian.name/g2001/2001-10.pdf
While men such as Keith, Thompson, and LaChuk spent most of their sixgunning experimentation with the .44 Special and .44 Mag., Gordon Boser took a different path. Like LaChuk, Boser used the Colt Single Action Army fitted with a new cylinder and wildcat brass made from rifle cases.
Boser went with the Colt Single Action Army in .38-40 or .41 Long Colt and fitted them with new cylinders to accept .401 Winchester brass cut to 1.2". In the 1930s Boser had designed the wildcat that would later become the .401 PowerMag in the 1960s.
To obtain the performance he desired with his .401 Special, the New York gunsmith designed a bullet for Ideal in 1940 that worked fine in the .401 Special and still works very well in both the .401 PowerMag and the .38-40. It is, in fact, the only truly “modern” bullet made for the .38-40.
Boser’s bullet is much like Keith’s design, with one major exception. While the body of the nose of Keith’s bullet is somewhat rounded, Boser’s is straight and sharp. Until recently Lyman carried Boser’s .38-40 bullet as #401452.
Boser’s experiments were not confined to his .401 Special. He also spent a lot of time with the .44 Special. In fact, Boser had identical Colt Single Action Armies, both with 5" barrels, one chambered in .44 Special and the other in .401 Special.
To complement his #401452 .401 Special bullet, Boser came up with a companion .44 bullet, #429360. This bullet was cataloged until recently by Lyman. Cast from hard alloy it weighs 232 gr. and can be driven a little faster using the same amount of powder than Keith’s 250 gr. bullet. It is also quite temperamental and requires some experimenting to find a truly accurate load.
CLASSIC CAST BULLETS Modern handgunners are the heirs to a century of cast bullet design and development.
GUNS MAGAZINE, OCTOBER 2001, page 24 By: John Taffin
http://jeffersonian.name/g2001/2001-10.pdf
While men such as Keith, Thompson, and LaChuk spent most of their sixgunning experimentation with the .44 Special and .44 Mag., Gordon Boser took a different path. Like LaChuk, Boser used the Colt Single Action Army fitted with a new cylinder and wildcat brass made from rifle cases.
Boser went with the Colt Single Action Army in .38-40 or .41 Long Colt and fitted them with new cylinders to accept .401 Winchester brass cut to 1.2". In the 1930s Boser had designed the wildcat that would later become the .401 PowerMag in the 1960s.
To obtain the performance he desired with his .401 Special, the New York gunsmith designed a bullet for Ideal in 1940 that worked fine in the .401 Special and still works very well in both the .401 PowerMag and the .38-40. It is, in fact, the only truly “modern” bullet made for the .38-40.
Boser’s bullet is much like Keith’s design, with one major exception. While the body of the nose of Keith’s bullet is somewhat rounded, Boser’s is straight and sharp. Until recently Lyman carried Boser’s .38-40 bullet as #401452.
Boser’s experiments were not confined to his .401 Special. He also spent a lot of time with the .44 Special. In fact, Boser had identical Colt Single Action Armies, both with 5" barrels, one chambered in .44 Special and the other in .401 Special.
To complement his #401452 .401 Special bullet, Boser came up with a companion .44 bullet, #429360. This bullet was cataloged until recently by Lyman. Cast from hard alloy it weighs 232 gr. and can be driven a little faster using the same amount of powder than Keith’s 250 gr. bullet. It is also quite temperamental and requires some experimenting to find a truly accurate load.