OK, I ran a half box of that cheap Rem 22 bulk stuff thru my M41 and it gummed it up something fierce. So I went to field strip it to clean it up. I pulled the trigger guard down and nothing happened. Only done this once before but I thought the barrel almost fell off last time. I was able to detect the slighted movement in the barrel. I finally used a wooded dowel between the frame and the barrel just behind the chamber to get the barrel to pop off. Cleaned it up but now the barrel won't go back on. I am reluctant to use force. Am I missing something here? Help!

With slide locked back and magazine removed,it should be no problem.

The slide is locked back and the mag is removed. Looking at the lug on the bottom of the barrel, I can see where the front protrusion appears to fit a like recess in the frame. Now the rear of the lug has a notch in it that looks like it would fit the round protrusion pointed forward. Problem is, it looks like the round protrusion needs to either be spring loaded to back up so the lug would drop down or it needs to be cammed out of the way by the trigger guard. But the round protrusion doesn't seen to be moveable.

Well I got the barrel back on and it still out shoots me. Seems the round cylinder part that goes into the rear cutout of the lug pivots upward. I used a springhook to put it upward and it stayed up. I was then able to put the barrel back and close the guard. Question now is why did the pivoting latch not stay up?

The pivoting latch you describe is called a Pawl...it is forced into the notch of the barrel by a heavy spring and a cam nub on your trigger guard when you close it into the frame. The pawl is supposed to move freely (but can be bindy at times) and sometimes moves forward and gets in the way, as you found out. Normally you would lift the frame skyward like firing in the air, shake a little with the trigger guard open and the pawl will settle in its proper spot....using your method of hooking it also settles it where it should be. Your frame assembly is normal by most interpertations.

Can anyone provide a picture(s) with enough close up detail to see exactly how the spring holds the pawl?

Check out the photos on guntalk dash online dot com. Look under service and you will find a section and several subsections that have good photos of M41 maintenance. You can probably find what you are looking for there.