The pics are of my mid '70's Mod 41 no dash. I've owned it since new, never fired anything but std velocity, probably less than 2,000 rounds, never a malfunction or split case that I can think of.
It's been 4-5 years since I've shot it, so I broke it down to give it a thorough cleaning. That's when I saw the silver/gray stuff on the breech face. A thorough scrubbing with a tooth brush and Hoppe's #9 didn't change a thing, let it soak a while, nothing changed, carefully probed it with the tip of an Xacto knife, to see if it was raised like lead build up or lower like etching. It's not lead and it's rough and lower than the breech face.
Help - what the heck is this? Could it be the slide bolt battering the breech? I see some of the same thing, but not as extensive, on the bolt face.

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I have an early 70s Model 41 with 2-3k rounds through it and mine looks the same. Still a 1 hole gun at 50 feet with good ammo..and never misses a beat,so I'm not sure if that battering is anything to be alarmed about.

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My Daddy was a pistol..

Thanks for the reply, Breakaway. Nice to know I'm not alone. My gun was (and probably is now) a tack driver too, but I no longer am.
I just can't get that front sight to hold still like I used to.

There have been some threads on a similar phenomenon for revolvers, but they were center fire and caused by primer gas leaks.

Ameridaddy,

This is normal on a model 41. I have a small collection (6) of M41 barrels and all of them show the same breech face as yours. Scrub them with a toothbrush to get the powder/lead residue off and don't worry about it.

That's a known issue with older models... . +1 on the wear seeming normal. Mine looks the same way after scrubbing it recently.

I've got several 41/46s and it's the same on all of them. My guess (I'm no expert) that it is the result of the explosive reaction against the breech face after the cartridge is struck by the firing pin and the cartridge is being ejected.

Ditto. Mine looks the same. So do some of my Browning Buckmarks that have mileage on them. Clean it, lightly oil it, don't worry about it.