41 and ammo

High velocity safe in a S&W Model 41?

Nope....



Too cryptic?  It destroyed the bolt on mine after maybe 6-7000 rounds.

Although mine functions well with just about anything I tried in it I see no reason not to use standard velocity in mine since all I use it for is target shooting.  My go too ammo is CCI SV, functions well, is priced well and with my skill level off hand I would not gain anything with more expensive ammo.  Just about any firearm will wear out eventually but from everything I have read etc standard velocity will not wear out our model 41's as quickly as high velocity.

Len, what are we looking at there? Looks like the firing pin hole is gigantic.

Personally I consider my 41 to be a precision instrument and only feed it SV because that is what it was designed for. I have a Ruger MKIII that I will run anything through.

It got battered, indented and enlarged on a steady diet of SuperX and MiniMag

But don’t be afraid of the “Semi-Auto Match” stuff.  The GECO version is loaded to 1170fps where’s the  normal SV is 1070fps.  The extra oomph does help function a tad as my 41 requires the 9drop of oil” trick after cleaning.

If there was a specific reason for HV, I’d  change the recoil spring.

S&W used CCI SV to test an M41 I sent in for repair.
It was written on the target they returned with the gun.

If S&W uses it, then that's good enough for me.

I just have a crap ton of Aguila HV Ammo. And it shoots good in the Nelson. Just wondering about some other 22’s I own that are older. Thanks.

No leading?  We had a couple guys use hv in a 41 and had to have repairs after just one season. YMMV

bruce martindale wrote:No leading?  We had a couple guys use hv in a 41 and had to have repairs after just one season. YMMV

I haven’t shot it in the 41 yet and it looks like I won’t. But I’ve put nearly 4,000 rounds of it through my Nelson with zero issues.

Maybe the tight chamber and bore helps there?


Jason side qstn...for your bp revolvers, how much oversize is the ball relative to the cylinder? Does it shear a ring in seating? Thanks

bruce martindale wrote:Maybe the tight chamber and bore helps there?


Jason side qstn...for your bp revolvers, how much oversize is the ball relative to the cylinder? Does it shear a ring in seating? Thanks

Yes it cuts a ring when seating. It should cut a complete and unbroken ring.