Brand new model 41 as of late May. Returned to S&W in July when trigger guard got stuck in open position. Received after 8 weeks, and it worked beautifully for two field strips. Open her up today, and trigger guard is again immovable. So, back to S&W she goes.



The mechanism that simply releases the barrel can't possibly present an engineering problem that's this difficult to resolve, one would have thought.


Any suggestions about strategies for getting a long term solution to this problem?

Stew, why is the trigger guard open and will not close? Do you keep taking the barrel off the frame? To clean?
Solution: shoot the gun, and do not open the trigger guard! Problem solved.

__________________
Mike 2796
SoFo Bunch member

Good idea! However, in this case I had to remove the slide--and before that, the barrel--in order to replace the slide lock which S&W was supposed to replace on the previous work order but didn't b/c the part is out of stock. So, I found one on Bullseye forums, got it, and installed it myself.



I know, I know: "Stop locking the slide"!

there is a little block that can drop down as if to lock barrel, take a little brass punch or screw driver and flip that back up. Not sure I am describing this right

Yes, you're describing it right. Unfortunately, it's not in the locked-down position. It's in the open position. The trigger guard moves it slightly, but something is interfering with its being closed. This seems to be a fairly common problem, which makes one wonder why S&W can't seem to solve it. But I digress.

Perhaps some of the silliest advice that I’ve read here - .22 semi-auto pistols in general need regular cleaning to operate effectively and the Mod 41 in particular is prone to feed and ejection failures if not cleaned properly on a regular basis.

One of the beauties of the Mod 41 is how easy it is (should be) to field strip and clean. I clean mine after every shoot (@150 - 200 rounds). The trigger guard was incredibly stiff when new, both opening and closing, but it freed up quite quickly with use and is now easy to open and stays closed positively when closed.

I assumed the poster was joking, but maybe not. In any case, I agree about the need for cleaning the 41 and the ease of doing so when it's functioning properly. I have an older 41 form 1979 that strips perfectly, but definitely needs to be cleaned at the 200 round mark if not before.



Thanks.