For those who have never seen a Smith & Wesson Model 58, try to imagine an older square-butt, four-inch, heavy-barreled K-frame Model 10 on steroids, featuring the same minimalist unshrouded ejector rod, matte blue finish, checkered walnut service grips, pinned barrel and counterbored cylinder.
Our friend and resident dinosaur Payton Miller over at Guns & Ammo is a revolver nut, and he bestowed on Smith & Wesson’s Model 58 a great honor–calling it one of the coolest revolvers ever. Sure, the Model 29 gets all the press, thanks to the “Dirty Harry” movies, but the Model 58 holds a special place among cultish types.
The .41 Magnum is a bit of an anomaly. It was introduced in 1964, squeezed in between the .357 Magnum and the .44 Magnum. Some might have wondered then and even now what it was really created to do. It was never never wildly popular, and that’s a shame because the .41 is a grand balance between the other two powerhouses and is a sheer joy to shoot.