Shootgood
Member
I am currently shooting a model 41 .22 and love it and am considering purchasing a Clark match barrel. I was wondering if anyone is currently using a Clark barrel and if the improvement in accuracy was noticeable. I
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Clark model 41 barrel opinions
- Thread starter Shootgood
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4barrel
Member
What 50 yard group will it shoot now? You would have to put it in a Ransom Rest and know how to set it up and run different kinds of ammo at 50 yards to get the best group. If it shot 1 1/2'' at 50 yards <it could> It would be hard to spend the money for me. Almost any stock gun can be tightened to make a difference. The 41 is target out of the box. I have shot some Clark Rugers with the logo on the slide but have never seen a Clark 41. If you go that direction I would like know the outcome and photos of the test target. I see a lot of Clark pistols in my area and own a few as I am a 4 hour drive from the shop.
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Shootgood
Member
Thank you for the reply. I typically shoot with the target in the middle of the indoor range and all are usually in the small dime size ten ring..the grouping tends to open up farther back some but I'm not sure if it's my eyes or the cheap blazer ammo or the barrel. I am not using a scope or rest.
I had a Clark barrel, bought new in 1999, for use in 2700 Bullseye matches.
Very accurate barrel! 10 shot groups off a bench were often an inch at 50 yds, using a scope. At 25 yds, even cheap ammo was boringly consistent at 1/2" to 3/4".
Also, it greatly improved the reliability.
But, I later switched to a Pardini, and never looked back at the M41.
Jim
Very accurate barrel! 10 shot groups off a bench were often an inch at 50 yds, using a scope. At 25 yds, even cheap ammo was boringly consistent at 1/2" to 3/4".
Also, it greatly improved the reliability.
But, I later switched to a Pardini, and never looked back at the M41.
Jim
4barrel
Member
I had a Clark barrel, bought new in 1999, for use in 2700 Bullseye matches.
Very accurate barrel! 10 shot groups off a bench were often an inch at 50 yds, using a scope. At 25 yds, even cheap ammo was boringly consistent at 1/2" to 3/4".
Also, it greatly improved the reliability.
But, I later switched to a Pardini, and never looked back at the M41.
Jim
What were the best 4 types of ammo for the 50 yard test? Was the barrel a drop in? How do you rest your barrel? What scope?
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Hi,
The barrel did great with Eley Tenex (no surprise), RWS rifle match, and (the then new) SK Standard. Remington Target (20 yrs old stuff) was also good, but you could almost feel the flyer with the recoil. The big surprise was how well Aguila standard velocity performed! Back then, the boxes were marked "ELEY PRIMED". Lapua was also great, but back then was very hard to find. Fiocchi Match was terrible. CCI was pretty good, but I saved that for the standard barrel.
The barrel is a drop-in, but the trigger guard did lock up a bit stiffer.
For testing, I used a Salyer red dot sight (as used in matches), and also a 4x Tasco rifle scope. The red dot was fine for 25 yd tests. In fact, they weren't even tests, as tight one hole groups were totally predictable. The scope proved itself for the 50 yd line. I shot off three sandbags, one under my wrist and two up front. I tried using a two hand grip, but recall getting good results holding the scope tube with my offhand, similar to the old NRA silhouette field pistol hold. I had to use a bulky jacket under my elbow to help with that hold.
The toughest part was holding my head just right without getting a crook in my neck!
One very interesting thing...the barrel came with a set of instructions written by Jim Clark. He described how S&W made interchangable breech blocks to fit to the slide. There were three types. One had the rim counterbore centered, one had it slightly to the left, and one had it slightly to the right. Apparently you could use these to adjust the alignment with the bore and fine tune the overall reliability of the M41.
I wonder how many S&W collectors have accounted for this in their collection?
Jim
OIF2
Member
I have one coming in tomorrow...I'll report back my impressions when I get it. I intend to use it in bullseye.
Bob
Bob
gwpercle
Member
Along with the barrel have Clark Custom do a Target Trigger job on your model 41....Now That will put a smile on your face and a song in your heart ... SWEET !!!
Gary
Gary
N_Frame.SquareButt
SWCA Member
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I have a Clark barrel for my 41. It is accurate with the right ammo. Did a test with it along with a HS Victor and a Ruger Mk2 Govt Target model. All three on a Ransom Rest at 25 yds. Had a variety of ammo (Eley Tenex, Fed Gold Medal Match, Rem Target and even threw in some Thunderbolts and Rem Golden bullets bulk pack. Funny thing is the Smith and HS were both ammo sensitive. Shot good with on brand but horrible with others. The Ruger shot everything pretty good and ended up with the best groups of the day with the Rem Golden bullets.
CrankyThunder
Member
I have a couple clark barrels...........
I have a couple clark barrels and quite honestly, I am not sure if they are more accurate then the S&W barrels that I own.
What makes the clark barrels so valuable is that they do not have the tab that holds the rear sight, thus the classic model 41 jam, with the brass stuck between the slide and the breach, is almost eliminated. That and the weaver mount directly to the barrel too.
Regards,
Crankster
I have a couple clark barrels and quite honestly, I am not sure if they are more accurate then the S&W barrels that I own.
What makes the clark barrels so valuable is that they do not have the tab that holds the rear sight, thus the classic model 41 jam, with the brass stuck between the slide and the breach, is almost eliminated. That and the weaver mount directly to the barrel too.
Regards,
Crankster
