Just bought a S&W 41

Having just gotten involved in BE. I was shooting a Ruger MKII with a DIY trigger job and a Tasco red dot. I was planning to buy a 1911 frame in the white and build it up for a marvel unit1. Last night on a local gun trading forum a 41 was posted by a pawn shop close by. I agonized over the idea of buying used and not knowing how it will shoot and building new. The cost of the 41 turned out to be hundreds less than the marvel build. Plus I love steel and wood like they made them back in the day.
It is drilled for a scope rail and I am going to mount one of the ultra dots. I haven't decided which yet. What is killing me is I will not be able to get to the range until Monday.

Nice toy man....enjoy it....Ive always like those 41's....

I had a similar agony between a Marvel vs. a used M-41. Ultimately, I got a 1978 vintage M-41 in very good shape. Unfortunately the barrel was not the best; it would shoot pretty decent at 25 but the groups at 50 were not linear. I sent it off to Ten Ring Precision (http://www.tenring.com/) and had Alex put a barrel liner in it. Now, it shoots well.

As you may find, CCI Standard Velocity (SV) is pretty much the only thing S&W recommends. At very least I have found that CCI SV is very consistent and reliable, although the groups are not quite as good as I would have hoped for. I've just now started to try other brands (Federal 711B) and have been very disappointed. I had to cut a couple coils off the main/hammer spring just to get it to cycle the slide enough to cock the hammer. Even then it would occasionally fail to eject, and sometimes remain stuck in the chamber. I think I'm dealing with multiple problems with the 711B. Anywho, be prepared to do some experimentation to find the right ammo to meet your needs.

But yes, the old M-41's are good ones. Enjoy!!

Grunt

There you had another 1978ish barrel that was bad. I am beginning to see a trend. I too sent a barrel to Alex for lining because my 5.5 1977ish barrel keyholed at 50 feet. And I heard of another one or two all the same era. My lined barrel is now fine, but still on the heavy side with a dot added.

My serial number shows an 80's production. Let's hope it does not have nay issues that are too costly. I plan on keeping it even if it does not become my BE .22. I will get that beautiful dark blue restored and maybe some exotic wood grips. If she does not turn out to be an athlete she will be a beauty queen.

I got a new S&W 41 a few years back. With my Cabela bucks, a gift certificate and a coupon for 100 off a $500 purchase my 41 cost a total of under $300 out the door. It has shot well for me but I have noticed that I get a flyer once in a while with the CCI SV lot number that I have. I know that everybody says that the CCI SV, Pistol Match and Green Tag are all the same and they very well might be. The thing I have noticed is that the bullets on the CCI SV the canilure around the bullets circumference isn't always a even depth all the way around where as the CCI Pistol Match the canilure is equal depth all the way round. I have noticed better scores with the Pistol Match where the SV I can call the shot and sometimes the bullet impact is off by several scoring rings. The best ammo my 41 shoots is RWS Rifle Match (1070 fps) but the cost is prohibitive for anything other that State Matches. Definately not for the once a week gallary matches. YMMV.




Here's an interesting site that I have used many times to compare different 22 ammo and have found it extremely useful for testing different brands in the 41.

http://www.flat5.net/22LR_velocities.html


Virgil

Jack H wrote:There you had another 1978ish barrel that was bad. I am beginning to see a trend. I too sent a barrel to Alex for lining because my 5.5 1977ish barrel keyholed at 50 feet. And I heard of another one or two all the same era. My lined barrel is now fine, but still on the heavy side with a dot added.

That is interesting Jack. FWIW, when I bought it the barrel was dirty and I couldn't really see the bore that well. But I took a gamble and bought it. After a thorough cleaning I found some pitting just beyond the chamber. Most of it was in the grooves, but there was a bit on a few lands too. It wasn't horribly inaccurate but this wasn't going to help me at all in SF.

Anyway, not sure if this pitting came from pure neglect, or if it was neglect combined with a bad run of barrels.

Grunt

One of my very favorite studies, has been the .22 target pistol..they are a science unto themselves. Below is a Model 41 in the works.. 99 % complete, it needs to be blued and the optics attached..
The 7.5 inch barrel cut down to 5.5 inch is a very popular and much requested modification. They certainly do have a pleasing feel, and seem to be the perfect balance for many shooters. This gun originally sported the 5.5 heavy, but was replaced for the customer with a new 7.5 which was cut to length and relined with a Lothar Walther 8 groove match barrel.
Barrels...I have dissected many.. The only match quality American made barrel ever, based on machining quality, and measurements, is the High Standard. 41 barrels are very poor, the lands are too wide, the leade is to abrupt, and far to tight with many as small as .214 bore diameter.
Extractors---hugely important in regard to function. The 41 is ill designed.. Much can written, and much tuning is necessary. One of my future endeavors is to experiment with a pinned extractor on the 41, similar to the latest Marvel Precision design.. which also sports a rifle style extractor groove at 45 degrees.. A major plus. I have done this to several Karts, and the results were good.
Ammo and reamers...a topic which can involve volumes of the written word.. Years ago, I acquired every brand I could put my hands on... Not to my surprise, no two are the same.. Many are very far apart. The one thing which is evident among them all, except Eley, is the smearing of primer compound inside the case wall(s). Eley is by far the most consistent with quality control in every aspect. I have pulled the bullets on many Eley, but never found a primer smear. I have spent many hours, days, weeks, testing ammo and barrels.. Eley Red box is unsurpassed. Some come close, but none ever match its performance.
For best results in accuracy, and function, is to have reamers specifically ground to compliment each ammo. I basically use one for Eley 10x and one for CCI..Standard which is requested by many to cut the cost of shooting Eley..Both reamers are ground to the specs of the ammo, not SAAMI..
I consider the Model 41 an excellent platform for Bullseye. The triggers are excellent and basically trouble free. When tuned properly, it will shoot with the best..
Good luck
Jerry

Got to shoot my 41 today. It was having a few failure to feeds and a couple of failure to extract. I juiced it up a bit and it was better. i think the magazine I have with it is pretty worn. I have ordered some and hope they will be in Monday.
Since I do not have a dot on it yet it was iron sights today. I tried shooting with just my distance glasses but could not focus on the front sight. So I shot without and corrective lenses at all just shooting glasses. I could focus on the front sight but it was an effort. I got better at it as I shot. I was using a strip of blue painters tape as my reference. I made some sight adjustment and got 4 of 5 on the tape with 1 just off. Elevation was harder to work with. a horizontal piece of tape was somehow harder to see. if that was possible. I think my eyes had just gotten tired. Once I put my regular glasses back on I realized how tired they were.
The only other issue was that the bolt pin kept trying to work it's way out.
Still easily the best and favorite pistol I have ever owned.

Bryan
Shoot on blank target backs. Pretend the whole target is a large "aim area". Just like sub-six. Only bigger. And do not try to perfect the sight picture too much without triggering at the same time