SW-41 vs. Marvel 1911

First topic message reminder :

I currently have a SW-41 and when it works it is great. However, it seems persnickety to me. Maybe I am the only one with issues and I just got a lemon. I have only used CCI SV in it because that’s what everyone said to do. I have about 1k rds down the pipe so far.

When I got it the thing would Fail to eject (stovepipe) about every 10-20 rds. I changed the recoil spring and now it only has the FTE about every 100rds. But, it still happens nonetheless. I also learned that the 41 needs to be cleaned about every 100 rds to keep it running and I also put oil on the first bullet in the magazine. This all seems like a lot of work just to shoot 5rd strings from a semiauto. 

This has me wondering what other .22 pistols with a 1911 style grip are more reliable and accurate enough for the BE game. Is a 1911 with Marvel conversion a more reliable option? 

I plan to give the MG2 a whirl but I would like to finish chasing EIC points first. 

I’m looking for suggestions, do I keep the SW-41 or trade it in for something else?

I think you need both to test properly. Don't forget Nelson when making your choice.

If you get it worked over by a 41 gunsmith, it'll be fine. After I did, mine is 100%. I fired 400 CCI SV through it without any issues. 

I have Marvels, too. The 1911 platform is easier to work on.

I 've had five 41s and four have been unreliable. The one that is reliable was built in the 70s. However, my two Marvels have been great. Using CCI SV in the 41s and Marvels the accuracy has been better with the 41s.

I have found Smith 41s to be like people: very picky about what they like. I still have the one that I started with, and it will shoot white box Winchester and Aguila standard velocity into a .27" hole at 50 feet with my eyes aiming it off a bench. That same distance, in the same shooting session, it shot CCI SV into a groups 5" wide and 7" tall. Others that have passed through my hands liked CCI SV very much, sort of, and not at all.

I DO have to say, every one of them needed a lower-power recoil spring to be 100% reliable.

Let your gun talk.

Try different ammos. When one shoots well, try a lighter recoil spring. If that doesn't do it, send it off to a smith.

My $0.02

96wa6 wrote:I have found Smith 41s to be like people: very picky about what they like. I still have the one that I started with, and it will shoot white box Winchester and Aguila standard velocity into a .27" hole at 50 feet with my eyes aiming it off a bunch. That same distance, in the same shooting session, it shot CCI SV into a groups 5" wide and 7" tall. Others that have passed through my hands liked CCI SV very much, sort of, and not at all.

I DO have to say, every one of them needed a lower-power recoil spring to be 100% reliable.

Let your gun talk.

Try different ammos. When one shoots well, try a lighter recoil spring. If that doesn't do it, send it off to a smith.

My $0.02

I have a Wolff recoil spring kit and have been shooting it with a 7lb recoil spring. I will try the 6.5 lb and 6.0 lb springs to see if that helps.

For the 41, buy a Flex Hone and the associated oil from Brownells. Polish the chamber only until the ammo will fall in and out when the barrel is turned upside down. Then swap the extractor with a volquartsen. i have 3 barrels 7", 5.5" and 5" Clark. All were finicky and now all reliable. All are super accurate.

Also: I tested 23 different ammo types and the most accurate in all are (in order):
1. Eley Tenex Flat Nose
2. Lapua Center-X
3. RWS Special Match

Excellent Ammos - Much Cheaper:
1. Wold Match Extra
2. CCI Suppressor
3. All other Lapua's
4. CCI Standard

I hope this helps

I have sent decent 1911 to Marvel Travis Frerking (FCW), I got a combi-rib and had them customize the rear sight.... Used FCW, GSG mags. GSG worked the best. lock open is perfect.

I have a 41 with 2 Clark barrels and the orig 5.5 bull. Nill Grips. Perfect. I got a VQ extractor, it's flawless. I also use a buffer and a Wolff spring kit to tune for different ammo. Absolutely no issues.

My wife and I both have a LGI Trailside, essentially a 208/212/215 modernization. I prefer the nitride finish over blue, ours are steel frames, solid, don't jam or FTE/FTF either. Both love CCI SV, Eley club/ target, Rem Tgt. I added a nylon plug at the rear of the recoil sling port (hole punched credit card). protects the trigger guard with no ill effects. Same on moth, a 4.5 and a 6inch BBL. We use LGI weights, triggers, x-esse parts are easy to get. The 6 inch has a Larrys rib mount (to barrel weight interface) works great...

All are great guns. Mdl 41 is my fave, then Hammerli, then Marvel. Marvel is great eye practice gun for 1911 practice. I loan it to instructor candidates that need to pass...

My '77 stock 41 reliability issues disappeared with the installation of a VQ extractor. It was awful previously. Now it will shoot anything reliably after a 5 round “warm up.” Other 41 users making the extractor change have mentioned the same with their's. Accuracy changes with different loads. Seems to like cci Blazer. Go figure.

I have a 41 that was tuned by KC.  Functions fine with older CCI SV, but the occasional FTE with the newer CCI SV unless I add a drop of oil to the first cartridge in the magazine.  It's my layman's view that there are variances in production runs.  I also think this will get worse as manufacturers rush to meet the increased demand.  Bottom line (as others have said) try different ammo.  Of course, not a very useful solution with the current shortages.

New Volquartsen extractor appears to have fixed my M41 extraction issues.

hengehold wrote:When I got it the thing would Fail to eject (stovepipe) about every 10-20 rds. I changed the recoil spring and now it only has the FTE about every 100rds. 

I’m looking for suggestions, do I keep the SW-41 or trade it in for something else?

When you have a handgun that costs north of $1500 that has consistent FTL and FTE problems changing ammunition from that recommended by the manufacturer is a workaround and not even worth the energy to discuss. Changing to a different barrel is nonsense since the gun doesn't work in the first place. I'm sending my 2 month old Model 41 back to S&W with photographs of stovepipes, failures to load and even a cartridge that had to be pried out (giving a whole new meaning to FTE) and instructions to fix the ** thing or send me a check. I'm tired of reading... "it's magazines," swap out injectors (ever deal of Volquartsen on a handgun they couldn't deliver as per the contract?), or the "well it's this" or maybe "that." 

I'm embarrassed for S&W. They are an American company, putting our a *h%t product. The Model 41 should be a model of American handgun engineering and it is crap and expensive crap. But people have been buying them for years, I was one of them. I give products two chances, the first when I buy it and use it; the second when something has to be fixed to being it up to the level they advertised, like it sends a projectile into space. When I need a third is when I take a different kind of action. I suggest others take the same attitude and maybe S&W will become the company it once was.

Rant over.