Mod 41 and Smith and Wesson

I have a Mod 41 ,it is old and it started to short stroke.I sent it to S W after my local smith could not fix it. This was in April of this year.After about 4 months I got it back . They replaced the bolt and and the slide. $350.00.The hammer would not fall . My local smith said it was the trigger bar,easy to replace but the new one would not work so we sent it back to SW.My smith got it back he said it still S.S with CCI SV but with Mini Mag it worked fine . I put a 6 lb recoil spring in yesterday.CCi and Eley Target  malfunctioned allot. I did not try the Mini Mag yet . I really don't want to. So the original problem was not fixed .Thoughts, advice.?    Thanks Dave

I’ve been told KC Crawford is the 41 whisperer. Might try talking to him about looking at it.

Thanks.How do I do that?

davela1950 wrote:Thanks.How do I do that?

KC’s Kustom Creations. LLC

Or, you could try a PM here.  I'm not sure how often he's on here anymore.

KC is great with the 41's - mine went from a jam-o-matic to a precision tool at his bench.

By Short Stroking, do you mean that it fired, ejected (without jamming) and failed to pick up the next round?   Was this a sudden change or a gradual change?

I know you sent it to S&W and your local smith, so both of them are unable to see something which might be relatively simple.  Have you by any chance looked at the recoil rod to make sure it isn't roughed up?  Mine was getting gouged up with a sharp point on the end of the recoil spring and that ended up dragging the spring on the rough rod slowing down the slide action.   

If you have someone local with M-41 experience, perhaps they can look at it too?

It stove pipes and,does not pick up the next round . One of the things that I take issue with is that no way did they ever test fire this gun.Both times they had it .New recoil rod.   Thanks Dave

Probably your extractor needs tuning. Personally i replace the stock one with a Volquartsen and then tune it where the claw will not touch the case and still grab the rim. Most S&W 41 extractors are too long. The old solution was to bend them.  The Volquartsen is a much better solution. I think every 41 at our matches has one in their gun. Just replacing the extractor has fixed several folks guns.. cheap and worth the.effort.

jglenn21 wrote:Probably your extractor needs tuning. Personally i replace the stock one with a Volquartsen and then tune it where the claw will not touch the case and still grab the rim. Most S&W 41 extractors are too long. The old solution was to bend them.  The Volquartsen is a much better solution. I think every 41 at our matches has one in their gun. Just replacing the extractor has fixed several folks guns.. cheap and worth the.effort.

+1

the 41's are great,in special series A. a Friend buy one in $350.00 usd here in Puerto Rico,95%blueing and one magazine. was a lucky guy thanks to wife's seller 

Thanks I have ordered one  and have been it contact with KC

If you know someone who has a M41 ask him if he (or she) will let you put their barrel on your frame and slide. 

Backstory. I have a 41 that started having failures to feed first with CCI SV and later with other cartridges. This only happened with my short barrel - not with my long barrel. I tried other springs, oiling, then later greasing the top round. as well as using HV ammo. Some would help but only for a little while. I finally talked to my old gunsmith, now retired, who suggested I measure the chamber since it only happened with the short barrel. I got an inside mike and measured at the front and rear both at 12:00 and at 3:00. All of my measurements were over SAAMi max. I replaced the barrel and the problems went away. The standard spring worked well with CCI SV as did the Wolff 6.5 and 7 pound springs.

If you can "borrow" a barrel that works for a few minutes you may find that you have the same problem I had.

Thank for the advice .

I am suspicious of that the gunsmith did for Davela1950; it may have been unnecessary, especially given subsequent issues, but I haven't looked at the pistol either and I'm not a gunsmith.

I own an A series and they are easy to work on with respect replacing extractors, firing pins, springs, adjusting trigger (see Model 41). I would have recommended a recoil spring calibration pack and buying a new standard spring (7.5-lb) from Wolff ([url=https://www.gunsprings.com/SMITH & WESSON/NUMBERED SERIES/cID1/mID58/dID261]m41 Calibration Pack[/url]).

My model 41 works best with CCI Minimag 1240 fps using the standard recoil spring. That ammo shoots better than I can, even at 50 yards, and gives most reliable ejection of brass. For SV fodder, try the 6.5-lb spring first, but experiment with springs in the calibration pack. The cheapest solution may be to stick with the standard spring and use HV (~1230-1250 fps) ammo.

Did you get all original parts back? Lots of luck, dipnet

Yes that may be the simplest answer H.V. ammo. I have tried many different springs. I don't see how Smith and Wesson even test fired it.Thanks for the response Dave.

I think the extractor suggestions are very good.  I can hypothesize that the additional bolt speed from HV and the reduced recoil spring may keep the case head on the breech face longer, allowing it to hit the ejector more cleanly.    A simple experiment would be to remove the extractor and see if it still works the same with HV.  if it does, then replacing the extractor (and fitting it correctly) might make SV and a standard recoil spring work as it does for others with M-41s.

Good luck.

Thanks to all yous guys. Yes I have a new extractor coming.I would like to fix this without sending it to KC Kustom

Did you order an extractor spring at the same time?  I like to change both at the same time.  Springs are consumables.

+100 on KC Crawford.