S&W M41 magazine problems

Hello;
I bought five new factory S&W magazines for my "NOS" 2001 M41 pistol. NRA Bullseye.
Mag #1 won't go in all the way without giving it a mild push in for the last 1/4", when it is in, it won't eject.
Mags #'s 2 & 3 are _really_ resisting being pushed in the last 1/4 in. and I don't want to force the issue.
Magazines #'s 4 & 5 work fine.
I'm assuming given mags #'s 4-5 working fine that it's a magazine problem.
Anybody share a solution?
Thanks, Ron

Yes - and I an not being rude or antagonistic either. Get rid of the new magazines and buy vintage ones with the metal follower. A few years back I too bought 3 brand new production magazines and none of them worked properly. Two of them would not even fit in the gun! After calling S&W customer service, they told me the old vintage guns rarely work with new prediction magazines. They offered to send me new ones but they also told me it was very unlikely they would work any better. They actually suggested that I get some original vintage magazines aftermarket. Well, I did and they all work 100%. They are very pricy however they will last a lifetime or two and never give you any grief!

So that is what the Factory rep. told me and that is what I did. I am now passing down the info and hopefully you will do the same. The new production magazines are cheap tinny versions and while they may work OK in new production pistols, they rarely work in older models according to that Factory rep. and myself as someone who has tried.

Ron,
Obviously you are keeping magazines 4 & 5

In regards to magazine 1, I would insert and eject it half a dozen times so that the bluing will rub off the high spot and grab a file and fix it. Probably take less than 5 minutes

When it comes to magazines 2 & 3 it is hard to say not knowing how much force "really_ resisting" actually equates to . . . I would probably fix them since I already owned them and they are now used anyway. You could always return them as Defective to the Dealer they were purchased from

Model 41 magazines are currently available though they are not shown on the Factory website. You could buy a few and return the ones that do not function. You will probably be able to acquire 4-5 "NEW" magazines for the price of a single example of the "vintage ones with the metal follower"


In regards to the chief38's comments, I would want to know what defines these "new prediction magazines" . . . What year delineates New from Old production? What did the person actually say? And more importantly, Who was this Person?


Sure buying 50 year old magazines that have been inserted and removed thousands of times would probably get you magazines that work, after all any high spots have already worn themselves away or been polished off, so a tight magazine well would not be an issue.

I would also like to ask chief38 what are "new production pistols"? Ron, your model 41 being 2001 production sounds pretty new to me.


We have more than three dozen model 41 Magazines for the three Model 41s that my Family owns.

All of the magazines we have work in all of the pistols we own.

All three of our pistols are older A series guns with the cocking indicator. Two of the Model 41s have been shot with the 12 round magazines that came out in the 1990s exclusively for decades now. All of those 12 round magazines were purchased NEW. No older mags have been near those pistols for ages. Two of these pistols are serial numbered less than 300 apart, I do not have access to the third serial number tonight

This may shock you, but not one member of my Family has Ever Owned a Model 41 Magazine with a metal follower and we have been able to send many tens of thousands of 22LR bullets out to attack paper

OK! Problem solved.
I took the stocks off and spent a little time observing the mechanics of the mag sliding in and not out. It wasn't the mag release button, or anything at the top, it was the bottom of the mag. When the slots for the buttons that are used to push the follower down are stamped out, it puckers the metal at the very bottom of the slot so that it rubs against the inside of the magazine well. Some puckers appear to be worst (mags #2 & 3) than others (mag #1).
I put the suspect mags on a diamond stone and rubbed the pucker out. Sacrificed a little bluing but now the mags drop like they were greased with butter.
Thanks, Ron

I ran into problems couple years ago with new mags. It was the “cut” in magazine was different than old style. The mag release can be adjusted to solve problem if not the foot. I’ve bought around 20 new mags back when there was a panic on them. I’ve got several 41s and all work well, got 2 or 3 still in package.

Thanks for getting back to us, trinorbsa! Your solution is a new one for me and I'll catalog it in my brain matter. I have not personally had troubles with newer mags in older 41's, but I've read plenty about it. In other threads on the site, squeezing the recalcitrant magazine in a vice was recommended. Seems pretty harsh to me. Good to see you got to root cause and developed a fix. Thanks for sharing it with us!

I had the same problem with one and just took a punch and struck the offending metal to bend it back in on both sides of magazine . It took very. Little force . I used dykem to find the rub spots.

Model 41 mags

trinorbsa said:

Hello;
I bought five new factory S&W magazines for my "NOS" 2001 M41 pistol. NRA Bullseye.
Mag #1 won't go in all the way without giving it a mild push in for the last 1/4", when it is in, it won't eject.
Mags #'s 2 & 3 are _really_ resisting being pushed in the last 1/4 in. and I don't want to force the issue.
Magazines #'s 4 & 5 work fine.
I'm assuming given mags #'s 4-5 working fine that it's a magazine problem.
Anybody share a solution?
Thanks, Ron

Click to expand...

Started shooting Bullseye piston in 1980 with a model 41. Since then I have collected a few with the newest being an A300000 serial number. Reciently purchased #3065 , a 1957 vintage 41 for less than a new one . NEVER had a magazine problem with any. Have number 14 on the way, a 1959 model that cost me $750. Smith and Wesson quality is gone to pot .

I have 8 mags now, none have steel followers but all work fine. I’ve cut the follower in 4 to make them hold 12 rds and added a base pad to one and will do another. I’m shooting my 41 in 2 gun matches and need the extra ammo sometimes to save a reload. I was having issues with the magazine safety not allowing the gun to fire so I’ve removed it.

I know many won't want to pay the high prices for used vintage magazines in good condition but there are a bunch of advantages, the main one is that they are just better constricted with heavier metal and they will last pretty much forever with minimal care.

Most of the new magazines work fine. You may have tweek one every now and then but that is true of just about every brand. As one who has purchased Smiths for about 45 years from most era , I saw many problems in years past . The idea that these mass produced items were less problematic in the past is false in my opinion . The exception is likely the prewar smiths. Now those are usually good but I just picked up a 1921 1905 4th change that was unmodified and has some ratchet teeth that are oversized resulting in a rough action. Those have been oversized since produced 100 years ago so maybe my theory is bunk and there have always been qc problems. I think so.

The first defect free, highest quality weapon was Cain's rock. All the weapon build quality since then has been sliding down hill.

But, 5 years ago I bought 5 S&W M41 mags from MidwayUSA. All of them worked flawlessly in either of my M41 pistols.