The little leaf spring on my 70's model 41 slide stop broke. I called S&W, the rep sent me one no charge, said it was replaceable. Anybody have experience with this? I have to assume there is a "slot" in the slide stop body with the base of the old spring in it, but even with a magnifying glass my eyes are having trouble seeing it. Do I need to take it to a gunsmith?

Thanks for your help!

Hello,
the photo shown your on the wrong side of the frame for a slide stop or slide stop spring.
The Slide stop spring is cut into the Slide stop, when you release it, this keeps the slide stop down away from entering the notch in the slide until the last round is Shot. This Small spring is Staked into a slot in the slide stop, up near the pivot end. It would be extremely difficult to remove the remnants of the old spring, and install the new one.
I would just completely replace the slide stop, the spring comes already installed. I made an attempt to Remove one of these springs from a bent slide stop, and failed miserably, losing the spring in the process.
So I would say give it to a gunsmith, who may or may not charge you much, but get a price first, and compare that to just buying a new slide stop all together.

Removed my earlier post....used wrong photo - triggerbar

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Ret. LE, FA Instr, S&W Armorer

Thanks for the help. That's what it looked like to me, that there is a thin shiny line that could be the base of the old spring, but it would not budge so I wasn't sure. I may take it to a gunsmith, but will take your suggestion to check the price of a new slide stop assembly first.

If smithfan4152 had trouble, would guess S&W is your best bet to replace the spring. Crimped in and probably requires a special tool to re-spread and re-crimp. If you decide to replace the SS, and S&W is out, let me know.

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TOMBECK