Model 41 Performance Center

[cbrobertson]

Appreciate any / all information that can be provided on the Performance Center Model 41 .22 target pistol.

Such as: How limited is the production?
Will this be the last of the 41's? (I was told it would be.)
I was told that 2 older ladies, with many years of
experience, were hand fitting all the Performance
Center 41's?

Thank you for any information that can be provided.

 

[leinster lad]

Appreciate any / all information that ...

I was told that 2 older ladies, with many years of
experience, were hand fitting all the Performance
Center 41's?
.

Plenty on here about S&W QC. Have a search.

Perhaps the old ladies need to get their glasses changed would be my experience.

( Great gun though )

 

[graydog]

Appreciate any / all information that can be provided on the Performance Center Model 41 .22 target pistol.

Such as: How limited is the production?
Will this be the last of the 41's? (I was told it would be.)
I was told that 2 older ladies, with many years of
experience, were hand fitting all the Performance
Center 41's?

Thank you for any information that can be provided.

Dob't believe everything you are told or read.

Graydog

 

[one eye joe]

DECADES OF BULLSEYE COMPETITION, HAVE DISPELLED THE NOTION FOR ME, THAT THE M41, WAS THE MOST DOMINANT PISTOL, ON THE RANGE.....

I SHOT A RUGER MK II, TARGET GOVERNMENT MODEL, STUFFED WITH VOLQUARTSEN TRIGGER PARTS, AND AN AIM-POINT, THAT WAS COMPETITIVE, WITH MOST ANY BRAND OF PISTOL ON THE LINE, SHORT OF THE OCCASIONAL PARDINI......

HOWEVER, I MUST ADMIT TO HAVING NO KNOWLEDGE, REGARDING THE PERFORMANCE OF THE NEW PC M41......

 

[Tom S.]

OP, I can't answer how long the 41's will be around, but they don't seem to be a gun that S&W makes very often, meaning they do a run, then may not make any for a while, maybe even years, depending on demand. I've not heard any rumors about their planned discontinuance, but who knows?

What I can say is I bought one almost 2 years ago (after looking for well over a month), and it is every bit as good a shooter as my older one, and better looking (IMHO). The fact that it has the integral rail mounting system was a plus, and the stocks, with the cut in S&W logo look great. I do not hesitate in the least to recommend them, and look at the two (if memory serves me correctly) people who had issues with them as anomalies rather than the norm.

 

[leinster lad]

For those of you who are not aware of the issues that I had, i'll give a quick run down.

Brand new M41 PC. CCI SV 40gr

Bullets were tumbling right from the very first shot.

Turned out to be a tight spot in the barrel, about an inch from the crown.

Took 1 year for a replacement barrel to arrive from S&W.

Replacement barrel would not even chamber a round and had to have the feed ramp and chamber "finished" by a local gun smith.

This was after the barrel was "fitted" by S&W !

Seems like they did not even LOOK at the replacement barrel, and clearly never tested even the function of the gun after it was fitted.

So yeh, QC is an issue.

Before you hand over your cash, have a COMPETENT person field strip and inspect.
Also ask the shop if you can test fire.
Put 50 rounds of CCI SV thru it
You might get an occasional Feed or extract issue, this will just be the tightness of the chamber.
It will wear in.

If test firing is all good, slap down your money and take her home !

 

[Barrie]

I noticed the Ruger had a sight glass on it and was being compared to the M41. I do not have a fancy sight glass on my 1958 M41 and can out preform most other products out there with my old gun. The new M41"s are just as good as the older ones in all ways and possibly even better in some ways. You only ever need just one in your lifetime I have found.

 

[graydog]

A few years ago a local dealer here got three of these guns to sell brand new. Every one had multiple issues. S&W finally got all of them to work but he told me in confidence that he wished he had never got them and sold them as there was hard feelings from all 3 people who purchased them from him.

Graydog

 

[Wise_A]

What do you want it for?

If it's just to have...sure, go for it.

If you want a shooter with a milled-in optics rail, pick up a used standard M41 and an aftermarket barrel to go with it. It's highly likely that you'll have enough left over, compared to the asking price of many new PC 41s, to ship the gun off for a trigger job.

Model 41s are great, but I think that the market is too strong for what the gun actually is. Prices on new ones are absurd.

PS--All that stuff you heard should be spread on your lawn come spring.

DECADES OF BULLSEYE COMPETITION, HAVE DISPELLED THE NOTION FOR ME, THAT THE M41, WAS THE MOST DOMINANT PISTOL, ON THE RANGE.....

I SHOT A RUGER MK II, TARGET GOVERNMENT MODEL, STUFFED WITH VOLQUARTSEN TRIGGER PARTS, AND AN AIM-POINT, THAT WAS COMPETITIVE, WITH MOST ANY BRAND OF PISTOL ON THE LINE, SHORT OF THE OCCASIONAL PARDINI......

That's because Bullseye isn't a particularly demanding sport when it comes to equipment. And even then, trigger and balance are far more important than anything else.

Going from a Ruger to a 41, Hammerli, Pardini, AW93, MP90, or Walther is only going to buy you, at most, three or four points on an NGC. About a 1% improvement.

Not to mention a lot of people doubt that the stock 41 guarantees X-ring accuracy at the 50-yard line.

The real reason big-money pistols are a thing to consider is because they engender confidence, and are just plain fun to own and shoot.

 

[Barrie]

My old M41's trigger goes down to around a 2.5lb pull which is really sweet. To me anything lower is a waste of time and effort as you can easily dial the trigger in yourself. I personally have Never seen any reason to do a trigger job on any M41 or M46 that I have fired. They come from the factory with a great trigger right out of the box. When you aim any M41 you know you have a great piece of equipment in your hand or hands. Most of them outshoot their owners by a long margin.

 

[Wise_A]

I personally have Never seen any reason to do a trigger job on any M41 or M46 that I have fired.

And some people have bigger wallets and more discriminating tastes...

 

[Barrie]

I agree if they like throwing money away on things like that on these particular guns as it certainly is NOT needed. They come with a great trigger right out of the box no matter what vintage of them.

 

[Wise_A]

*shrugs* Depends on what your definition of "needed" is. They come with pretty good triggers for a factory gun, but the two or three pistolsmiths that do worthwhile trigger jobs on the 41 produce really nice work.

Most people would be happy with them, and I don't think anybody really needs more than the box-stock 41 trigger, but if you can appreciate the difference a little custom care makes...

Hey, I don't "need" any of the nice stuff I did on my own pistol, but I know it's there, and it gives me the warm fuzzies knowing my pistol is just a smidge better.

 

[heinzjuergen]

M41 PC

I think that what you, I think, call picatinny does certainly not improve the looks of this very elegant pistol.
I bought my first M41 in 1976 from a local gun dealer and two years ago my second from the widow of a late friend; also a gun from the seventies. Both are superb pistols. I have them (shooting) compared with two different Hämmerlis, the Walther GSP and the new Feinwerkbau .22.Last Saturday I won a club-competition with one of them. Great guns, I love them.

 

[Barrie]

Congratulations on the Win Heinzjuergen. Its nice to hear you won on a M41. They do shoot with the best of them and on somedays even outshoot the very best of them all.

 

[n c rod]

Model 41

I am a long time fan of the MKll Ruger and with the help from the internet and YouTube I have tricked out several to shoot tiny groups. This process took years to become somewhat comfortable with the MKll. In the last couple years I have been consumed by the S&W 41 bug including pistols from the PC to the 60's and have had no real issues with any of my 41's. The thought of a better trigger has been tempting me lately. Volquartsen made the MKll triggers doable. How about the S&W41. Do I need a gunsmith? If so, would someone with firsthand experience recommend a gunsmith ? I have some experience with Clark Custom and their 41 barrels Thanks for any help.

 

[Barrie]

The M41 trigger is fully adjustable by yourself down to around 2.5lbs or up to around 4.5lbs pull weight if you prefer. Very easy to do yourself and rarely ever need a trip to a Gun Dr. for any kind of work. Even my old 73/8th" barrel I find to be fairly well balanced with NO extra weights on it at all.