Smith and wesson midel 41 issues again

First topic message reminder :

My new from the factory custom shop model 41 pistol is a nightmare. Failure to feed, Failure to eject, Stove Piping. Failure to fire twice. Primer was hit but no go bang. Out of 50 shots pistol failed about 15 times. I even tried different magazines. I tried it with and without the recoil buffer. Still no work.  I even had other people shoot it. Same problem.  I have about 500 rounds through pistol using CCI Standard velocity ammo. I even cleaned and lubed the pistol before use. I am using CCi standard velocity ammo. Heck I have a Walther exesse and it runs perfect. The Ruger mark iv even work better.  I hear from other members that there smith 41 were problem pistols also. Heck for $1400 it better work. Calling Smith and Wesson on Monday. I hope I don't have to go through having to send gun back several timers. Disappointed

I installed the Volquartsen extractor before I ever sent mine back to S&W. Did not help, chamber was way to tight.

Some of the following, from the S&W forum, might help:

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I shoot bullseye, run a bullseye team, and own two 41's that are competition ready and they have thousands of rounds through them. Fixed them many times and have fixed other shooters model 41's. Have been sucessful every time. 

First off, you say that you cleaned it. Good! Make sure it is operating room clean everywhere. Step 1 done.

Next, you said that you have replaced the extractor and spring. I assume you have cleaned out the firing pin etc and everything looks good there? Step 2 done. 

Moving on, you have replaced the main recoil spring with a new one. When these weaken they will deliver jams and also fail to push the slide fully forward into battery but you got that covered. Awesome!

Now here is some new stuff for you to take a look at. Remove the barrel and drop a live round in the chamber. It should slide right in and drop out when you turn it upside down. If it doesnt, look in the barrel at a bright light and see if there is a carbon ring. Use a Q tip to see if there are any burrs and take care of them. Polish the chamber using valve lapping compound and a brass brush with a patch on it. Get it so that the live round drops in and falls out easy as pie. This is important. 

Ok with the barrel removed, take a close look at the ejector/slide stop. S&W calls this the slide stop but most people call it the ejector but it performs both functions. While this is not positively attached to the frame, there should be no movement sideways from the frame. If there is movement side to side, the ejector is unable to get a good bite on the empty casing and you will have jams. Replace if necessary, about 50 or sixty bucks. 

You say that this is only happening on the first couple rounds in a magazine. I assume it doesnt matter what magazine it is but check to make sure it is not magazine specific. If it is specific to one magazine or a couple magazines, it could be that a burr has developed on the magazine catch and the magazine could be riding higher then it should, dragging on the slide. Check the magazine catch on the pistol and see if it is deformed. replace if necessary. take a look at the magazine catch slot in the magazine. As a test, pull the mag follower down and file at the top of the slot that catches the magazine catch, allowing the mag to ride lower in the frame and get the pistol to operate correctly. 

Personally, from reading through this thread, I suspect that it is the slide stop/ejector that needs replacing but I have given you a systematic approach to get the pistol operating correctly. Feel free to send me a pm if you have any more questions. 

Sincerely, 
Cranky

Bestdentist99 wrote:I had EXACTLY the same issues with my Performance center 41. Sent it back to S&W and got back exactly the same gun; couldn’t get 5 rounds out without a problem. I sent it to David Sams to work his magic. I got back a completely reliable tack driver. He even relined the barrel with a Walther barrel liner to get as much accuracy out of it as can be gotten - and he did.
My suggestion is bite the bullet and forget the fact that it is under warranty and send it to a gunsmith who knows his stuff and will get you what you’re looking for. It will cost you, but you’ll get what you paid for.

Even though I already knew David Sams is a master gunsmith, this is still nice to hear.  I just recently sent my Performance Center Model 41 to him along with 7 of the magazines and an extra 7 inch barrel.

mike is correct in a lot of people use a brass brush with valve grinding compound on it to polish the chamber. It works but it will also leave a rougher chamber. Smooth but rougher. I bought a wooden dowel rod for mine that was skinner than the chamber from Wal-Mart. I also purchased 2000 grit wet/dry sand paper from the automotive section.
when home took a strip of the sandpaper (the same width of a 22 lr casing) superglued it to the end of that cut off dowel rod. Cut to the length that I wanted it at. Wrapped the sandpaper around the end after glue dried. Started spinning the sandpaper and rod into the chamber to the depth of the edge of the sandpaper. Just hand turned the dowel rod for quite a while till I got the chamber polished up and good and shinny. Check it with the plop test, when the cartridge falls back out without any resistance hardly you are done.

I did this to two out of the three barrels I had for mine. My 41 runs like a sowing machine with any ammo now. Very happy with all three barrels. Easy Peasy and makes the pistol a calming experience to shoot.

S&W quality has hit bottom.  Sent my 986 back 4 times and the only way my issues got resolved is when I wrote to the CEO; then a QC manager personally followed the repair work.  That whole process of returning, getting lip service and finally fixing took the better part of a year.  The S&W smiths seem to have last word even though they know the problem isn't fixed.

Simple way to smooth out the chamber is to use a Flex hone from BRM. Check amazon as they list them for 22s.. just be sure to limit the depth to just the chamber.. these do an excellent job and will not alter the dimensions 

The 22 brush can also be used to smooth out the extractor and firing pin holes..

Hey Jimmy,
I had to look that flex hone up. Found the company but did not see a firearm size for .22.
Looks interesting, was just trying to see what the price was. Do you have a link?

https://www.amazon.com/Research-08305-Chamber-Flex-Hone-Silicon/dp/B00DB8DU3C/ref=pd_cp_200_1/136-2258304-7159212?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B00DB8DU3C&pd_rd_r=6f160f93-fac6-4536-8e1b-703e2d2d11c0&pd_rd_w=Ra1wh&pd_rd_wg=Wk31v&pf_rd_p=0e5324e1-c848-4872-bbd5-5be6baedf80e&pf_rd_r=29KS30GA7SMYREF9511Q&psc=1&refRID=29KS30GA7SMYREF9511Q


this is listed as a 22magnum but it's the same one they also list as a 22 that is out of stock .  just use a good honing oil with it

BTW that's cheap. usually around $20




6mm flex hone will work and you can find those on eBay in different grits

Thanks,
That looks very interesting at a very good price. I will have to keep this link for future use maybe.

The problem is that the bore is too tight. nothing will change this.  there is no "breaking in" this problem.    send it back and demand a new gun.  you must be firm with them  and go past the initial person that you speak with.  get to a supervisor.

when you get your new gun back from them, try putting a drop of oil on the top casing in the magazine before you shoot.  put the drop of oil on the brass and not the bullet.  do this for each magazine that you shoot.  this will help out a great deal.

Polishing the chamber will take care of that problem. One thing I will not due is add oil every time I want to shoot a magazine. You are correct in that the oil drop will help, but polishing the chamber will take care of all that.

I am also an owner of a new model 41 Performance Center pistol. Picked it up last week, have about 400 rds through it and this AM I am practicing some slow fire and about 25 rds into it the trigger pull doubled. The next round was the same and the last two in the mag took 4 or 5 trigger pulls before firing and the last one fired as I released the trigger. I packed up drove home call S&W and the 41 is with FedEx returning home. When I explained the issue to the CS rep he said, I would have thought that the Performance Center could do better than that.

It is very disappointing to spend that much money and have a big problem. I've had several issue with 41s. One of them was sent back four times and I spoke to a tech about it. He said firing 48 out of 50 rounds is not bad. I asked him if S&W is advertising "We fire 96% of the time." They never did solve the problem.