hi there
i'm having an issue. my 41 slide is locked & jammed closed & will not function.
went to range yesterday n fired 1 rnd (cci std vel) & that was it. 41 did not eject empty shell and was jammed closed ...opened trigger guard to try to remove barrel, but no luck(I know slide should be locked back before) but that was not an option in this situation.

any suggestions would be appreciated....I may just send the 41 to S & W
thks
snubby54

Hopefully the first thing you did was release the magazine from the gun. Look up the grip with a flashlight to see if there is a fragmented casing holding the slide to jam. By chance, did the safety accidently get activated? Just a thought. Am certain others will come along with some suggestions.

Sorry for your troubles. Having never experienced this, I would 'guess' your local gunsmith could gently tap on the breech face/slide from the muzzle end with a range rod to get the action open. If the round wasn't a squib the case might have swelled with firing enough to tie up the action, or a piece of it might have tied things up as mentioned above. Good luck in figuring things out.

__________________
Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

thanks guys for the reply....yes I remove magazine & checked all clear.
I did insert the cleaning rod & the case is empty. this jam happened after the 1 round was shot ...I also pulled trigger lock down n tried to hit muzzle with rubber mallet to loosen things up but no luck. slide still jammed ...I will let you know the sw outcome.... appreciate the responses.
hope fully SW can repair
Snubby54

Check to see if the recoil spring end is jammed between the guide rod and the slide. I have had the same occur on my M41 and a friend had it happen on a Marvel conversion. After these event we try to open the end of the spring to prevent it from happening again.

We both had to use a lot of percussive maintenance with a range rod and a hammer to overcome the jam. The guide rod will get scored by the spring while doing this, but can be dressed out or replaced.

Edit to add: I had to unscrew the spring through the front of the slide after I was able to disassemble the pistol. I counted the coils and measured the thickness to find an appropriate replacement in my collection of M41 springs. The spring was junk after removal. I don't remember any damage to the slide, just the guide rod having a deep score. I bought a new one from Numrich or Brownells but also cleaned up the old one. The old guide rod had a slight bevel on the end that I think allowed it to pinch the spring end. The replacement guide rod had a squarer profile.

I have had a casesing swell up on me and get stuck in the breech in the past which is what I suspect has happened to your gun as well. I wrapped mine up in a real good rag and locked in down in my vice. After a few blows with my deadblow hammer it came loose and allowed the slide to come back to the rear position again and spit out the old cartridge that was jamming it. You might wish to try squirting some oil on the slide area's 1st to help loosen it up as well.

So, did the fired case eject ? or is it stuck in the chamber.
are you sure?

How many rounds did you load into the magazine that was inserted just before you took that one shot ( which jammed the gun )

How many rounds are left in the magazine now ?

When the gun went "BANG" do you recall if the slide cycled ?
Did it chamber a new round ?
How many rounds are left in the magazine ?
Are you sure ?

Is there the possibility that there is a live round currently in the chamber?
are you sure ?

You mentioned that the fired case is still in the chamber?
are you sure ?

Okay, only if you are really really sure that there is no live round in the chamber........ here is what I would do.

Remember, there is not much holding the slide onto the frame, so there is not much that can cause the slide to jam.


Remove the magazine
Ensure that the safety is OFF ( i.e. the hammer WILL FALL if the trigger is pulled )


Remove the grips.
Have a look at the trigger bar and make sure that it moves freely.
There is a little tag on the top of the trigger bar that rides up into the slide.
This is to disconnect the trigger bar from the sear when the slide is out of battery.
Make sure that this has not somehow become jammed between the frame and the slide.
If that is Okay.....

Open the trigger guard
insert a 10" wooden dowel into the barrel from the crown end

I would not use a "cleaning" rod as they are usually aluminium, brass or carbon fibre, and do not exhibit much compressonal strength.
Wood is a much better choice and much less likely to damage the barrel.

Dowel will need to be slightly smaller in diameter than .22 ( 5mm would do ) as it has the be able to pass thru the .22 case and push against the inside of the rim of the case.
This will transfer any impact loading thru the case and directly to the face of the breech block / slide.

Make sure that the dowel is all the way to the bottom of the spent case.
Make sure, measure it, and make sure again.
If the dowel pushes on the neck of the case, it could fold it over and make the jam worse, or even damage the chamber.

Maybe also wrap some rag around the end of the barrel to protect it from damage if the dowel breaks and the hammer strikes the end of the barrel.

Hold the pistol firmly and securely, pointing vertical, with the rear of the frame resting on the bench, with the slide hanging just over the edge of the bench. You want the pistol frame to be solid and unable to move, but at the same time, you want the slide to be able to move back ( down ), clear of the bench.

Tap down on the dowel, gently at first, to try and get the slide to move down ( rearwards ) an 1/8" or so. More if it will, until the case is out of the chamber.
This should give enough clearance to be able to remove the barrel.
You may need to manually release the extractor from the rim of the case via a fine pick in thru the extractor slot in the barrel.

Once the barrel is off the slide, you should be able to figure out what is stopping the slide from moving freely.


Take it slowly and carefully. Use a magnifying glass and a good torch so you can really see and understand what is going on.

Good luck !!

ps, if all else fails, take it to a gun smith !

thank you for advice . I believe the hammer spring is the issue . I can dear it shaking when I shake the gun
blocking the slide from sliding open ...very unusual fault. i'm sending the m41 to S&W. this way they can inspect the action & tune the 41 up.

I now suspect its a broken spring which is causing the problem. Sending it back may be just the cure for it.

Be interested to hear the outcome of this failure.

I agree as I would like to know what happened as well.