I recently purchased a new, un-fired Model 41 that has lived on a shelf since it was made in the late 90s. It was dry as a bone when I got it, so I broke it down and cleaned and lubed it as best I could (a Prolix dip is in the near future), but hadn't had a chance to shoot it until this past weekend.

Well, I was able to sneak out for a couple hours Saturday and get the new 41 out to the range.

I have to say ...that is just about the sweetest pistol I've ever fired. It's a very close match to my Dad's old High Standard Citation (which he had done considerable trigger work to). The trigger isn't quite as light as his, but was very light, and extremely crisp.

I started out with a box of .22 SV ammo that was available at the range store (I forget the brand). The very first round out of the 1st magazine failed to feed properly and I had to cycle it out. After that I didn't have any more failures to feed; though I did have a couple failures to fire. I figured out after my 3rd magazine that simply releasing the slide forward left the gun un-cocked. I'm used to my 1911 which is a matter of insert fresh mag, send the slide home, and continue firing. With the 41 I learned that when I change magazines, I need to release the slide by pulling it all the way to the rear and letting it go home; otherwise the gun was not cocked. ...easy enough, and perhaps it's in the manual, I didn't read the whole thing. lol

Otherwise the ammo from the store there shot very well, but consistently low, so I moved the sight up a couple clicks and kept at it.

I took a few different boxes of ammo to the range with me as well, 2 boxes of Remington .22 target that my Dad had left, so I have no idea how long they had been on the shelf. The first box of Remington shot beautifully, but the 2nd box had 3 mis-fires (same ammo, but of unknown date & origin). Each of the 3 I pulled out had a clear hammer strike; they just failed to fire.

Next was a box of Federal bulk pack ammo, some of which my Dad had sorted by weight & OD; he needn't have bothered. While the Federal all fed without problem, it was all over the place (relative to the other ammo).

This was at the 7 yrd. sighting range at Angeles Crest, so take my groups with a grain of salt. (I will add, though, the guy to my left was painful to watch shoot ...seriously painful).



The target above is actually upside-down here as I had just flipped it to shoot level with the (now top, formerly bottom) target and wanted to take a photo before I continued to shoot. The lower target shows where I was at sighting in (and with the bulk pack). The upper target (with the tighter group) shows 20 rds of the good Remington ammo ...you can see a few outliers here as well. ...I'm woefully out of practice.

Eventually I raised the sights another 2 clicks to get consistent bulls-eye at 7 yrds, then headed over to the steell range for some fun out to 100 yrds. Unlike my .45s, you can't hear the ding with the .22, you just have to look for the tell-tale puff of dust which indicates a miss. ...there were very few puffs of dust, even at 100 yrds.

It's really, really hard to miss with this gun; and when I do, I know exactly whose fault it is!!!

Thanks for the info and pics. Best of luck.

That's a good looking m41 you have there. I suspect you will have many great years with that pistol for sure. Most of find that the CCI SV ammo seems to work the very best in these guns as a suggestion. Enjoy

Would be my last gun to let go, has all that you strive for: feel, accuracy and extraordinary trigger.

Love the 41. I've had several, including a couple that were issued to me. This one is a 1980 era one that's had a BoMar rear sight added.
Bob

THAT IS A NICE LOOKIN' 41. CCI IS MY BRAND OF CHOICE IN .22LR AMMO, ALSO. MY GUNS AND I BOTH LIKE THE SV, BUT I FIND THE MINI MAGS SHOOT A BIT CLEANER…….

__________________
'Nam 1968-69.DAV,VFW,NRA Inst.

Very nice 41 and some good shooting. What else do they let you fire at the range? That looks to be a mighty large shell casing just to the left of your targets. Enjoy.

Thanks everyone. I have a couple bricks of CCI SV on order.

That range actually goes up to .50 BMG and has steel out to 600 yards.

I was very happy after my first trip out and have a feeling things will only get better with practice.

Nice looking gun Bob, they could be twins, except yours looks to have real walnut grips instead of the laminate ones (I actually don't mind the lam grips at all).

Nice 41. Now everything else will just be kinda ho hum.

Nice looking 41 and good shooting!

That's a pretty cool ammo can as well !

I'll take 6 - full ones

Nice pistol, welcome to the club, I just got mine a few weeks ago, shoots great.

One of my daughters shooting a heavy barrel 41 with Herrett's stocks. She's turning into a pretty good bullseye shooter. The other one likes DA with a K-frame Smith.
Bob

Your daughter is a very attractive young lady. Reminds me of both my girls. Wish mine were into the shooting sports like yours are. Mine are married now and gone of course but see them fairly often.

Nice when your kids want to shoot with you. Looks like she is having fun.

Nice gun, I have 2 late models, 2012s, they both are cocked and ready to fire when I release the slide I don't have to pull it back. I don't know if this is a difference between newer and older ones as mine are the only ones I've used.

Performance Center 41 with a nice timed-fire string.
Bob

I love those stocks on your pistol. I intend to call S&W to see if they have any for sale.
Bob

I have a pair of very similar stocks on my M46 right now which you can buy from Altemont. They are done in the cherry finish like those shown on the performance centre gun.

Thanks!
Bob

That is some very nice shooting Bob.

Nice gun (and shooting), I love the skeletal front sight on the PC 41.

The model 41 is a handgun that shoots like a rifle. I recall shooting 50 rds at 50 meters with my 41 with the 5.5 barrel. The 2 inch bull was nearly completely shot out with cheap at the time, .22 lr CCI blazer ammo, I believe something like $8.00 / 500 rd bricks. With match ammo 1 inch groups would be the baseline at that range. In my opinion the model 41 was and is the best handgun they manufactured.

Welcome to the club, my 41 was made in 1980 and still shoots great! Wish I had the Bomar rear sights though.

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Nice looking gun, congrats!

I shot NRA Bullseye (indoor 50' and outdoor 25/50 yds) for about 10 years and a 5.5" HB 41 was my rimfire gun for most of it. I settled on CCI-SV as my match ammo. While I could wring out a little more accuracy with high-$ match ammo, the CCI-SV was capable of all-day x-ring accuracy out the 50 yds and it didn't break the bank. I still have the gun and thankfully, a few cases of CCI-SV. My kids are starting to shoot and maybe the Bullseye bug will bite them.

Thanks for the report, I got my 1967 model 41 on a very lucky friday the 13th. I have yet to get to the range as I am waiting for ammo for my 629 6". I will post pictures when I do go. Scott

You are very Welcome Bob. Glad I could help.