1960's M41, hoping the enablers will help me here

[MyTurn]

Love them! I have several. The one with a 7 3/8" barrel, blued-steel construction, Patridge sights and a muzzle brake is always an attention getter and great fun to shoot. Adjustable weights are nice, too.

 

[6string]

If S&W drops the M41 from production it will be no big loss.

The current product (made in Houlton, ME) is a sad imposter for the earlier Springfield-made model 41.

 

[Rick H.]

If S&W drops the M41 from production it will be no big loss.

The current product (made in Houlton, ME) is a sad imposter for the earlier Springfield-made model 41.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I had bought into the BS about older M-41's being the best to buy and ended up with a great paperweight that I spent money on trying to repair and ended selling at a loss. Not long after I bought a new PC M-41 that needed a new ejector, but has been stellar ever since. I can find no other fault with it. For me it is very accurate even compared to my two Ruger MKIV's that had Volquartsen work done on them.

Other than a very few firearms still on the market the M-41 was/is a throwback to a different time and shooting discipline. Today the market demands fast shooting, not terribly accurate handguns to hit relatively large reactive targets. The days of putting your shots into a small group at 25 or 50 yards one handed is almost gone save for a few die-hards, including myself, but I need two hands today. Old age catches up on everyone.

While we will never know what the warranty return rate of new M-41 pistols is, I do know that if one person buys one and has a problem with it he will jump on 5 or 6 shooting forums and expound about what a terrible pistol the M-41 is. Pretty soon this one person becomes multiple persons via different screen names and makes it sound like everyone is having problems that buys a M-41 and pretty soon potential customers are scared off and the product languishes on dealer shelves. When that happens the product, in this case the M-41, is discontinued due to lack of sales.

I for one am surprised the M-41 has lasted as long as it has with the plethora of negative comments made about new ones. How much negative press, true or not, can an item have before it ceases to be made through lack of sales? In many respects the internet killed this pistol via "don't buy new ones" comments. So thankfully this discussion will end in about 4 months when you won't be able to buy a new M-41 at any price. All of them will be old ones thereafter.

Personally I think the termination of the M-41 is a big loss to the shooting community as a whole, as there really is nothing to replace it save for some European made target pistols. Of course all of this is just my opinion.

Rick H.

 

[MyTurn]

Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I had bought into the BS about older M-41's being the best to buy and ended up with a great paperweight that I spent money on trying to repair and ended selling at a loss. Not long after I bought a new PC M-41 that needed a new ejector, but has been stellar ever since. I can find no other fault with it. For me it is very accurate even compared to my two Ruger MKIV's that had Volquartsen work done on them.

Other than a very few firearms still on the market the M-41 was/is a throwback to a different time and shooting discipline. Today the market demands fast shooting, not terribly accurate handguns to hit relatively large reactive targets. The days of putting your shots into a small group at 25 or 50 yards one handed is almost gone save for a few die-hards, including myself, but I need two hands today. Old age catches up on everyone.

While we will never know what the warranty return rate of new M-41 pistols is, I do know that if one person buys one and has a problem with it he will jump on 5 or 6 shooting forums and expound about what a terrible pistol the M-41 is. Pretty soon this one person becomes multiple persons via different screen names and makes it sound like everyone is having problems that buys a M-41 and pretty soon potential customers are scared off and the product languishes on dealer shelves. When that happens the product, in this case the M-41, is discontinued due to lack of sales.

I for one am surprised the M-41 has lasted as long as it has with the plethora of negative comments made about new ones. How much negative press, true or not, can an item have before it ceases to be made through lack of sales? In many respects the internet killed this pistol via "don't buy new ones" comments. So thankfully this discussion will end in about 4 months when you won't be able to buy a new M-41 at any price. All of them will be old ones thereafter.

Personally I think the termination of the M-41 is a big loss to the shooting community as a whole, as there really is nothing to replace it save for some European made target pistols. Of course all of this is just my opinion.

Rick H.

Not just your opinion!!

 

[T44spl]

Here's my breakdown of what you have. The box on ebay is about $75-$100, Olympic Weights are $400-$500, Herrett Grips $75-$100 so basically the gun was Free. You got a
shooter grade gun that is perfect for what these guns are made for - to be shot.
With the Discontinuation of the Model 41, I would have grabbed this gun. Magazines, I would try the new style magazines first to see if they feed and funcion well in your gun before shopping for the metal feed lip mags.