Model 41 -46 magazine question

moosedog

moosedog

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I have not owned a model 41 or 46 in about 10 years and just found a nice model 46 that I ordered. It only has one original magazine so I need to pick up a few more.
I see original new factory mags for sale but some of the purchaser reviews talk of problems with fitting in older guns?
Anyone have experience with recent new factory S&W 41 magazines in older guns?
Thanks in advance.
 
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I have an M41 from 1971 that I bought recently from a forum member. It came with 2 vintage magazines that I ran about 200 rounds through with zero failures.

Wanting a few more but not crazy about paying the going price, I decided to just buy a couple new factory mags for about $25 ea and give them a try. Knowing how finicky the 41’s can be, I didn’t have high hopes.

I’ve now run over 1,200 rounds thru it using all 4 of the magazines (old and new) equally for the last 1,000 rounds. To my pleasant surprise, I have yet to have a single failure. This has been my only experience with a 41 so take it FWIW. I’ve been shooting the Federal Auto Match Target Grade ammo exclusively (just because i have a ton of it and can’t find anything else).

Here’s my M41. I just purchased another 5” M41 vintage 1965 that I hope I have similar luck with. Good luck with yours!

75aec5e1e8b879bfb358bf5384f8524b.jpg
 
My experience:

I would strongly advise that of your M41/46 is a vintage model definitely get a used old style magazine with the metal follower off of ebay, Gunbroker, Numrich, etc. . Most of the time the new ones made for S&W are cheap, thin, crappy and will not fit or work properly. Been there - done that!

Put a pencil in your teeth, growl, pay the high price of the vintage magazine and you will be much happier in the long run! Even most of the Guys up in the Factory will tell you the new mag's won't work in the older guns. Yea - once in a blue moon you can get lucky.

I purchased 3 brand new ones 5 years ago for my late 1970's M41. None fit or worked out of the package. I fiddle futzed with one and sort of got it to fit but it would not feed reliably. Got rid of them and bought 4 vintage Mag's. Yea - they were 3 times the price but they all work flawlessly!
 
My 1979 mod 41 works with any mag I have put in it, original 10rd metal follower, 10rd plastic, and 12rd orange plastic. Never had any issues except when I use the highly regarded CCI std velocity, then it jams. I just use high velocity CCI and a heavier recoil spring.
I have owned this pistol since 1980, and shot it a LOT with the HV shells, never replaced a single part in all those years except the recoil spring about once a year.

I just read your post again, and realized you are talking about a mod 46. The model 46 does not have the same slide as a 41, the rails are smaller, and are prone to breaking, so I will have to advise you against using HV ammo. Years ago, I had a mod 46, and it did break the slide rail on one side. I had a hard time finding a slide 35 years ago and I would say it would be very hard to find a 46 slide today.
 
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You guys got me fired up about magazines, and as we have been doing a lot more .22 shooting lately, I thought I needed some more magazines. Well, a friend wanted to go to a little gun show yesterday, and there was an old guy, like me, there with a bunch of magazines. Long story short, I scored two .41 magazines that had the same font on the base as mine; and three Hi Standard Mags for my Victor, one new, never used!! How lucky is that!
 
I saw where GrabAGun had some 41 mags for sale. I normally like to buy them from Brownells since they have a good return policy.

It was not too long ago where there were comments about mags not inserting into the pistols. A person contacted S&W and they told them to squeeze them in a vice to make them fit. I learned about this over at rimfire central , S&W Model 41 folder. Just an FYI if you get some magazines that are tight at the bottom. Some people did what S&W suggested and the magazines were fine after that. I suspect that S&W farms out the magazine production.
 
I have an early 70’s 41, I got it with one magazine with a metal follower. I bought 5 new style magazines on eBay (ten rounders with the plastic followers) They all work fine and I have put 10k rounds through the pistol. I think the original mag is slightly better finished but they all work well.
 
chief38 said:
...I would strongly advise that of your M41/46 is a vintage model definitely get a used old style magazine...
Click to expand...
I think some of us don't quite know what "vintage" model 41, and what "old style" magazine. Mine is a s/n A137xxx which makes it 1970~71, and came to me in somewhat distressed shape, with two magazines, one with a plastic follower, one metal. Both seem to work, and neither is flimsy, weighing just under 2 oz each. There are used M41 mags on the market with metal, black plastic, and orange (12 rd?) plastic followers. Some unmarked, some with a S&W logo, and the list goes on. 1970 makes it a not-so-early example, in view it went on the market over a decade before that date.
 

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