Sad day for me and my 22.

Had to throw the towel in on my S&W 41, after  5 weeks of bullseye and only a handfull of rounds without an alibi I contacted S&W with my trouble and got an instant reply and a shipping tag. But Im sure I wont see it back for awhile but just the same a target gun that doesnt work isnt any fun. So back to the old buckmark, it works well but the trigger is not even close, but it will fire without malfunctions. Have any of you sent a firearm in for repair recently? How long was yours gone for. Thanks..

S&W has had my gun "in our repair room waiting to be evaluated." for just over a week. I had to email for a status update as I had not heard anything since it arrived at their facility.

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Beeser, had a similar problem with a 9mm mp9. 3 rd group at 15 feet met their criteria for accuracy. Shotgun pattern at 50' wasn't even evaluated. Good luck on your search.

Beeser, what's going on with your 41?  I've had some pretty good luck in the past with them. 

I fixed one for a guy at my club. Big problem was grease -- the slide was "slow." Cleaned and oiled, works perfectly.

Also, mine really likes waxed ammo. I use some paste reloading wax on heads of rounds that don't come waxed.

While not target guns I had to send 2 S&W handguns back for repair. A 639 that would fire when I used the hammer drop lever and a M-60 that the whole cylinder would come out when ejecting empties. Got both back within a week and fixed perfectly. This was several years ago so I don't know if things have changed since then.

I have shot my M-41 for 7 years now and have had 1 alibi only because the round didn't have any priming compound in the rim. Otherwise it's been flawless. Had Alex Hamilton reline my original barrel and it was the best thing I have done, the rest of the pistol is all stock.


Virgil

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beeser wrote:Sent my 41 into S&W for repair against the advice of many here and it came back about 6 weeks later in the same condition it was sent to them.  Perhaps others will provide names of gunsmiths more qualified for the task.

Alex Hamilton comes highly recommended for rimfire work.
http://tenring.com/

I'd send that 41 to a gunsmith that does bullseye guns.  KC offers some stuff for M41s.  I recently traded for a backup 41 that seems to work and shoot good but the trigger has a little creep in it.   Got a plan in my head to get it to KC this winter and have him do everything he thinks it needs.  Running Clark barrels and Herrett grips on both my 41s.   They are "A" prefix guns with the cocked indicator.  Means they are not new production guns.

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Beeser, my best guess would be a leaded up chamber.  Can you drop a round into the chamber and have it fall all the way to the rim without any kind of pressure?  If not get a 25 cal brush and scrub the chamber until you can do that with a live round.  Another thing to look at is the bolt.  Is it loose in the slide?  I can guarantee that the slide stop / ejector needs to be modified.  Those are some of the most common problems with a 41.

KC is on the money here. Of any smith out there I'm sure he's seen more 41's than anyone else. Marine Corps Team used shoot 41's extensively and he was their smith.
Jon

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Do we have a thread or link or something on how to adjust the Model 41 ejector so it doesn't do stovepipes that jam the case under the barrel extension?

I'm not willing to just chop the thing off.

Pretty sure it doesn't happen with the CCI SV, but I remember the SK Rifle Match I have doing it, especially if it's cooler than 70° F...

Do not a lot of 41s suffer from too much hammer spring?  Even with the lightest recoil spring my 41 still won't cycle any but the peppier ammos.  Is it possible to alter the slide-hammer geometry?  Yes the slide runs free and clean.

SK will not cycle my 41 and is weak in most others.

Jack, I do not know of anyone that makes a lighter hammer / mainspring for a 41.  the only other option would be to start cutting coils.  And I don't recommend that at all.

Mine always chamber ok but will not eject,the extractor pulls out fired brass and as new round chambers the action closes on the fired brass,it gets stuck right next to chamber facing the muzzle. And I'd you touch the safety at all with your thumb it will not fire. Tried local gs. He recommended sending it in. Hopefully they will sort it out.

I've had several guns sent back to S&W.  Only once I was not happy with their results.  I wrote it down and explained the problems and what I wanted with the original letter.  They made it right on the one I was not happy with with a return to the custom shop.  As with most places they are poor with correspondence.  I got a call from my local FFL that the gun had come in on Tuesday and I got notice from S&W that they were complete and sending it back on Wedensday.  Other than little or no communication I think they do good work.  In my humble opinion I think your issue may be ammo and or magazine related.  I'm not a paid gunsmith nor do I play one on TV.

Motorcycle_Dan... Thanks for the info, On mine I also thought ammo so I rounded up and tried cci standards, eley target, aguilia standads, and fed auto match after that I tried some mags that had been proven to work in other 41's with no luck.

The Smith and Wesson sight provides a list of armorers once you put in your zip code.
Yiogo

kc.crawford.7 wrote:Beeser, my best guess would be a leaded up chamber.  Can you drop a round into the chamber and have it fall all the way to the rim without any kind of pressure?  If not get a 25 cal brush and scrub the chamber until you can do that with a live round.  Another thing to look at is the bolt.  Is it loose in the slide?  I can guarantee that the slide stop / ejector needs to be modified.  Those are some of the most common problems with a 41.

A few other things to look for with 41's if your chamber is clear and allows a shell to drop in freely.

Check the bolt face and where it contacts the barrel and make sure both faces are clean and free of debris that could stop the bolt face from closing all the way. Sometimes  unburnt powder is hard to see and will build up here causing light firing pin strikes by not allowing the bolt to close all the way. Also debris under the extractor or in extractor spring will cause the extractor not to grab the rim properly and it will either slide over rim or loose the cartridge rim while cycling as will debris in the extractor groove in the barrel or a extractor spring that is weak and needs replacing. Those small flakes of 22 powder are hard to see and wreck havoc by sticking in places one wouldn't think to look for them. If the gun has been disassembled  go back and make sure the contact areas where the barrel contacts the frame and locks in place are spotless and the barrel is seating properly and is square with the bolt.

I shoot my M-41 wet so that unburnt powder is soft and doesn't get a chance to harden in these two critical areas. A drop of oil on the extractor before EVERY match has kept my 41 running smooth for the 7 years I have had it with no ETF or FTE. Most of the 41 owners that I have helped  have had simple problems that are easily corrected and didn't need to be sent back to S&W. Sometimes things that are plainly obvious are unintentionally overlooked.

YMMV


Virgil

I have a sticker on my range box. It says, "Friends don't let friends shoot S&W 41s".

Russ OR wrote: "Friends don't let friends shoot S&W 41s".

Now, now....
I haven't entered this, because you could write a couple volumes of info on tuning .22s ..
Each one suffers it's own ailments.
Properly set up, a 41 is a very formidable target pistol..I don't think much of the barrels, but the platform is great..Getting an out of the box shooter is absolute luck..
Someone mentioned an ejector.. some set too low, or are too narrow, or both and need a spot of tig to correct and make solid direct contact with the case..Extractors and their timing (cam out)  are very important. The little .22 only has a rim surface of approx. .022 to hold on to.
Jerry