Smith and Wesson 41 parts

Good morning All, I have just aquired an A series S&W 41 and would like to put a small spare parts kit together to carry with me. I would like to have with me a spare firing pin, extractor, extractor spring and extractor plunger. I was told by the owner of my LGS that there are no parts that are interchangable between the A series and the newer model 41's. Where/Is there a place I can look for these parts? 

David

Everything is available on ebay.

But why take them with you? Without a steady vise, punch set, hammer and a crapload of patience most of those replacements are difficult at the range.

41's are generally trouble free outside of some feed / extraction issues.  Best recommendation from my point of view is just get an aftermarket extractor and keep the original as a spare.  I've lost more "emergency" parts than I've actually used over the years.  If you find a complete bolt / firing pin assembly cheap it might be worth it. 

CR

No parts interchangeable between a A Series and new 41s??? How about pretty much everything is !

Parts for my 41 have come directly from S&W service at no cost to date.. I even had the service person go up to the assembly line to see about some extractor springs they did not have as spares.. I am generally looking for small parts.

Parts such as the bolt can be found on eBay..

What is an "A" series M41. My newest one was built in 1988. Is that an A series?.

At a regional I asked Dan Morgan, gunsmith and Head of the All Guard Team, what wore out/ broke on a M41. Dan said "extractor spring"!  Dan said the extractor spring weakens, that causes the case to fall off the breech face and cause a jam.

He also said that with enough round the breech block becomes loose in the slide. That causes cases to fall off during extraction and cause a jam. The cure was peening the sides so the breech block is tight.

In my experience, the recoil spring looses its strength and I have experienced failures to feed/eject due to an old recoil spring. After replacing my M41 recoil spring I went to a match and a shooter on the line was having function issues. He had a M41 that was very old. I had my takeoff spring, compared that to his, and his was a lot shorter than my old spring. We installed my old M41 spring and his pistol functioned perfectly.

I did not measure the lengths of the new spring, and I don't consider it relevant. Just buy a new recoil spring every five years or so and use the old one for other projects

a prefix to the serial Number. My 1972 is an A prefix and has the cocking indicator.

jglenn21 wrote:a prefix to the serial Number. My 1972 is an A prefix and has the cocking indicator.

Thanks, I will check my serial numbers.

Thanks for all the input guys.. I will get some new springs and see what happens.

David

I just ordered the Volquartsen extractor and will install it and keep the factory as a spare. (As mentioned above)

$12.50 and free shipping 

I watched a video about installing it

Looks doable (I’m still a novice... have installed new hands in SA revolvers and new internals in a Ruger 22/45 lite MKIII, but never an extractor]

Just remember the process for setting up spare parts (extractors, springs, etc.).  ONLY change one thing at a time (even springs); when setting up spare parts (or chasing issues).  Then go to the range and test - a lot. 

Should issues arise, you will at least have a starting point to know where to look; and you can always put the original / replaced part back to see if its a different problem.

Limit your variables, save time.   

No sense is have spares unless you know they work.  Also, lots of shooters will put in a bunch of parts then go to the range and have issues and have no starting point to identify the specific issues(s). 

CR

IowaShooter wrote:I just ordered the Volquartsen extractor and will install it and keep the factory as a spare. (As mentioned above)

$12.50 and free shipping 

I watched a video about installing it

Looks doable (I’m still a novice... have installed new hands in SA revolvers and new internals in a Ruger 22/45 lite MKIII, but never an extractor]

It arrived on Friday and I installed it 

All went smoothly 

You can see the slightly different shape the Volquartsen has (silver one in package)