cleaning M41 mags

[Tom M]

I recently bought a pre-fired model 41. The gun itself is like new, but one of the mags is in desperate need of cleaning. Since it has a plastic follower, will immersing it in Hoppe's #9 for a few days hurt the plastic? I don't want to attempt to disassemble the mag.

 

[dant]

you can soak it in about anything, we happen to use 'kerosene' cheap and it works,,,,,flush it all out,spray it down with some oil and we blow out the excess with an air hose,good to go.....................

 

[RGPM1A]

Don't be afraid to take the magazines apart - its very simple. Just push the little tab in the bottom of the magazine (the floor plate) in and slide off the plate. Just keep your hand over the plate as its removed because the spring will come out like a joke snake in a can. Once taken apart clean with a 38 spl bore mop and some Hoppes no 9. Wipe out the 9 when done with a couple of cleaning patches and reassemble in reverse order. Will take all of 10 minutes at most per magazine. Simply soaking them in kerosene will work but they will often feel gritty when loaded unless you flush a lot of fresh kero through them while sliding the follower up and down and then blow out with compressed air like the other poster said..

 

[Tom M]

Thanks, dant. I figured as much, but thought I'd better ask.

RGPM1A - There's no "tab" in the floor plate of a Model 41 mag (.22 LR). They're different than the 9mm, or .45 mags. Thanks for trying to help, though. I appreciate it.

 

[RGPM1A]

Thanks, dant. I figured as much, but thought I'd better ask.

RGPM1A - There's no "tab" in the floor plate of a Model 41 mag (.22 LR). They're different than the 9mm, or .45 mags. Thanks for trying to help, though. I appreciate it.

The M41 magazines I have do. Photos attached. Are you using the right magazines in your gun?

 

[Tom M]

The M41 magazines I have do. Photos attached. Are you using the right magazines in your gun?

My mags look exactly like that, including the "lazy" ampersand in the S&W logo. No tab, though. My gun was made in 2001. Maybe they made a change before or after? I know for a fact that they're the mags that came with the gun.

 

[RGPM1A]

My mags look exactly like that, including the "lazy" ampersand in the S&W logo. No tab, though. My gun was made in 2001. Maybe they made a change before or after? I know for a fact that they're the mags that came with the gun.

Weird. Maybe they changed them. The last time I bought a magazine for my M41 was in May of 2000 though (the sales slip is in my hand right now). My gun and the original two magazines that came with it were made in 1982 and have black plastic followers.

Learn something new every day.

 

[cjw3]

I have one with a plastic follower and a single 5 cartridge counter on each side; no take down tab. There is also a small E stamped about in the middle on the front edge of it.

The other one I have has a metal follower and is marked with 5 and 10 cartridge counters and has the tab.

Disassembly of the one with the tab was straight forward enough. I am guessing on the other one that I will need to reach in through the groove and relieve the spring tension from the floorplate to get it off, if I am so inclined. A good blasting with GunScrubber or some such should work just as well.

The one with the metal follower works better stripping off the top round by slingshotting it. The other works fine with the slide release, but it's really better to use both hands here on any pistol. A little running start never hurts.

My Model 41 is a 1979/80. I'm starting to think the metal follower must be an older style.

 

[saturner1]

On my new mags I just finished drilling the hole in the floor plate with an 1/8 inch bit. Works great and makes it easy to disassemble.

 

[Tom M]

My Model 41 is a 1979/80. I'm starting to think the metal follower must be an older style.

I suspect you're correct. Plastic followers and eliminating the step to drill the floor plate would be cost cutting measures. I wish someone would make good quality replacement mags for these guns.

 

[RGPM1A]

I was just at the range and someone there had a newer M41 made last year. The magazines that came with it do not have the takedown hole in the floor plate.

The earliest M41 magazines did have a metal follower.

Drilling a hole like suggested by saturner 1 is a good idea. Would make cleaning the magazines a lot easier. Kind of makes you wonder why S&W left out the hole.

 

[Rawhyde]

I have a M41 that I bought new in 2005, so it has the newer style magazine. You can drill the hole, but it's plenty easy to reach in with a small screwdriver or pick to lift the spring off the floorplate then simply pull it off. I don't think it's worth the effort to drill the hole.

 

[Tom M]

I just drilled the holes in my floor plates. Took all of 5 minutes. Thanks to saturner1 for the idea.

 

[civil1977]

Here's a picture of a disassembled Model 41 magazine (top) and a much rarer Model 41-1 .22 Short magazine (bottom). Both have metal followers and disassembly holes in the baseplate and you can see the differences in the components that make up each magazine. The Model 41 magazine is 10 shot and the Model 41-1 magazine is 5 shot, hence the stainless steel rod to limit capacity.

 

[NE450No2]

Just get some Hornady One Shot Guncleaner/lube, and hose the magazine down. Let it soak for a while and hose it down again.

 

[Sharpi]

On my new mags I just finished drilling the hole in the floor plate with an 1/8 inch bit. Works great and makes it easy to disassemble.

Thanks! Just did the same thing to my 5 magazines. re-assembly is still a tad tedious. Not too bad with a drift, but a third hand would be handy. The OCD in me appreciates being able to disassemble, to fully clean

 

[chief38]

Not that you need to do it routinely, but when buying a used gun and every so often it's not a bad idea to disassemble a magazine and thoroughly clean it. It's not that difficult and it is the only REAL WAY to get all the crud out.