I just picked up a 1971 Mod 41. It appears to be in great shape. I took it to the range today, and put about 200 rounds of CCI Std. Vel. through it.

This 41 came with 2 mags, and sometimes the slide would lock to the rear on each mag, and just as often, if would not.

Any clues?

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one of the resurrected

Is the gun clean? Hold the slide back see if the slide release moves freely. If not clean & lube. Possibly the magazine springs are weak or the magazines need to be disassembled and cleaned & lubed.

Check the Slide Stop & Ejector Assembly, you might have to bend it a bit.

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Dom

Clean it thoroughly. Remove the slide scub under, over and around. Smith 41's and most all 22 autos get very dirty after a relatively short time. 22 ammo is dirty by design, so a regular cleaning is necessary. Also, sometimes a slight limp wrist or 'coming off the gun' too soon after firing it can cause the same problem......or a combination of both.

Thanks all. I'll take her apart, and give a good cleaning.

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one of the resurrected

Also try a different magazine. The button on the side of the magazine pushes the magazine release up as the the last round is loaded into the chamber.
A weak magazine spring will enough power to do this.

J. Lippold

If you are still left with the same problem after trying all the other fixes previously mentioned, some people have inadvertently held the slide stop down by the way they grip the pistol. You can check to see if the slide locks every time pulling the slide to the rear with an empty magazine in the pistol. If the pistol is clean and it functions fine with the empty magazine, check to see if any part of your hand could come in contact with the slide stop during firing.

Good luck, Steve

When this happens, the button engages the Slide Stop & Ejector Assembly like I mention previously, it might have to be tweaked a bit. I had this happen to my 422 which functions the same. I tried all of the fixes above, but none worked. I called S&W and the guy said to bend the assembly but I actually replaced it and it fixed the problem and has not failed since.

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Dom

Not to change the thread here, but I have a 6946 that has the same problem where it fails to lock back about 50% of the time, on all five of my mags. It has been well cleaned, and I have sent it back once for some work to correct it, and it did not. If the slide does not lock back on empty mag, it will also not lock back if I pull it back at that specific time, until I drop the mag and reseat it. Then it will function fine.
Do I understand the post to be that the magazine release button could be the problem or are you referring to the follower in the mag? All my mags are factory, they all work fine in my 469, and they all appear to be the same type.
Also, how would you bend the Slide Stop & Ejector Assembly?

A lot of people will blame their magazine springs, but I have found in several instances, that the magazine follower has just as much to do with a slide locking back, if not more, than the spring. Along with that there is several instances where I have had my thumb resting on the slide stop with just enough weight to stop it from coming up at the right time to catch. Then combine the occasional limp wristing in there (we all do it every once in a while) and the slide not locking back can happen. Also, since the OP was about a .22, I have found that .22 ammo can be hit or miss on firing, cyclying and locking back the slide. It seems that each gun likes a certain brand and type of ammo. You should find out which type of ammo works best in your Mod 41 and go from there.
On a side note, since there are so many things that can cause the slide not to lock back, as long as it isn't doing it consistently after every time the ammo is out (especially on a range gun), I usually don't worry too much about it.

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J.D. Roy