My 41 rimfire reloading experiments

vintage .41 rimfire ammo

.41 rimfire southerner derringer

First way
I use starline .41 long colt brass cut down using offset .22 acorn blanks similar to the dixie or hc-collections style cases(lower left) it's probably easier buying the dixie or hc cases but at $5.50 each for the dixie this way would be a lot cheaper if loading 50 or 100 rounds or more.

First i drilled and tapped the primer hole with a 1/4x20 tap then used a brass screw and used red loctite to hold it in place.

The electrical tape wrapped around the plier jaws worked well for holding the brass case both for drilling and tapping

The .41colt cases cut down and ready for the offset hole to be drilled.(to be continued)

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The Second thing I tried was drilling the primer hole out to insert a emptied 9mm flobert cartridge like i did with the 38 rimfire round.

 First i used my lathe to trim down the rear of the 41 colt rim , if the rim is removed the round will drop into the guns chamber a thin washer between the flobert cartridge and the brass case might of worked also.

I then drilled out the bottom of the 41 colt base using a 11/32 drill bit all the way through
then i inserted the cut down 9mm flobert cartridge base like i did with the 38 rimfire round.(link above right)

 I fired the empty unloaded round with the flobert base to see if it would fire as you can see it worked.
the round above was fired in a southerner single shot derringer.i then put the same round in my Remington over/under derringer and fired it on the opposite side of the case as you can see(Bottom picture on the side facing you) the firing pin barely struck the rim.there is a small impact mark it seems that the flobert rim isn't large enough for the double derringer.
The flobert rim measures.395 and my original derringer rounds measures .460 so the offset blank seems to be the only way to go for a Remington double derringer well that's disappointing.

Update After trying some original .41 rimfire rounds in the double derringer I've noticed my firing pin is
not hitting the rim properly so it looks like my firing pin is badly worn and needs to be replaced so it might work after all now i have to find a new firing pin and try it again.  

anyway i will load up about a dozen rounds with black powder and a .400 round ball and head up to the gun range to see if it works(note some .41 colts have a bore of .386 and some have a .401 bore i don't know if
this applies to .41 rimfire also or not,mine are all around a .401 bore).

I very slowly pressed in the round ball bullet

Well i went to the range to try it out and it worked great with no problems on the southerner derringer
i also tried it on my Remington double derringer and like i thought it didn't work at all.  

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Original .41 rf cartridge dimensions are.
Neck .406
Base .406
Rim .468 (the .41rf Winchester cases i have are a .475 base)
Length .467
Cartridge Length .913




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