I have a 60s vintage model 41 pistol. I have owned it for 12 years. It has always performed better than I can. Last week, I started having trigger problems.
The trigger is suddenly a heavy pull, probably about 4 lbs, for the first shot then the second fires with barely a touch. This repeats for each subsequent shot.
I have taken the pistol down to the basic cleaning and used an air canister to blow out everything visible.
This problem came on suddenly.
Has anyone encountered this problem and found a fix?

I had something similar. The fix was a complete disassembly and clean. There is a tutorial on the net on how to disassemble. Check the link. After a thorough cleaning the pistol functions fine. It's not as difficult as you might think. If you follow the steps you won't have any issues. Reassembly is the reverse. You wouldn't believe how much gunk collects internally on these pistols.

Album Archive - S&W Model 41 Disassembly

You may have changed the adjustment on the trigger quite by accident as its the small screw just behind the trigger. By turning that you can go from around 2.5lbs up to around 4.5lbs I believe pull weight very quickly. Only adjust after a real good cleaning which should make a big difference for you.

???
M41 screw on trigger is just the trigger stop for over-travel.
Has nothing to do with trigger pressure.

Sounds more like a gummy oil issue or build up of crud.

ON mine it adjusts the trigger pull pressure from between 2-4.5lbs. I have measured it with a pull meter when I did it.

Never seen that type of adjustment on a Model 41, normally one has to drive out a pin and move a notched lever to a different notch to adjust the trigger weight. The over travel is a screw adjustment. Just a sample of the two I know about.

Are you referring to the S&W Model41 Barrie ?

If so, there is no way that adjusting that little screw near the base of the trigger guard can have any bearing at all on the weight of the trigger pull.
It is merely a trigger over travel stop.

This must be adjusted correctly as the trigger MUST have a small amount of "over travel" to operate correctly and reliably.
1mm is plenty.

The actual trigger pull weight is determined by the friction of the mating surfaces of the sear and hammer ( so therefore the strength of the hammer spring), the frictional drag of the trigger bar sliding in the frame and the tension of the trigger return spring.

The ONLY trigger weight "adjustment" in the Model41 is via the trigger return spring, adjusted by the position of a small ramp that sets the springs fulcrum point. This sets the point of where the trigger touches the spring, which effectively sets the tension on the spring.
(think of leverage)

Attached Images

	M41_ trig_adj_6b.JPG (53.0 KB, 62 views)
	S&W Model 41 Frame Disassembly 23.jpg (131.3 KB, 54 views)

It does make a difference on mine which is a 1st year issue.

Wow, that is one for the books !
Be great if we could document this.

It would appear that the very early production pieces were different?

Any chance of some photos of the area and the mechanism that the screw adjusts ??