Going to shoot my Model 41 finally.

[Baltimoreed11754]

I've had this nice Model 41 for about 8 years now and its been mostly a safe queen after initially shooting it some. Found it at a neighbors moving sale. But over the last 3 months I've been shooting a monthly 2 gun .22 match and enjoying myself. My very accurate rifle is a CMMG dedicated.22 Seekins AR. But I've also been using a 1952 2nd series MT Woodsman with it's original iron sights. As my rifle has a red dot I think I want to try one on my pistol and start seriously running the 41. Maybe be more competitive. I'm not getting any younger. The sn is UBN56XX with a 5.5in bull barrel came with 2 mags and I bought 4 more S&W mags. I can't find a production date as none of the lists that I've seen show a UBN prefix. It has a Burris FF3 on it. I don't see any reason not to shoot it. Would appreciate a dob if anyone knows it.

 

[Bastogne71]

Model 41 production was halted in 1992. When it resumed in 1994, the model 41 was assigned serial numbers starting with UAAxxxx. However S&W did not assemble their guns in serial number order. To make it worse, they were pulled from the vault for shipping without regard to serial numbers. So this means that guns were shipped in kind of, sort of serial number order.
I'd estimate your model 41 was shipped in 1997. This is based on #UBT4898 that was shipped in July 2007. That's the closest number I have on my very short list of the "U" series.
I shoot my M41 better that a Colt Woodsman match target and the red dot makes a huge improvement in practical accuracy. Go shoot that M41!

 

[chief38]

I could not let any pistol sit unfired for that long - lol! Go for it! If initially you have a few misfeeds, failures to extract, etc. don't panic. The M41's are a finicky pistol but most of the time the kinks can be worked out. Do a search for some of the fixes here on the forum. I have posted a bunch of them myself. Most of the time once you've worked out the kinks, you are good to go!

Hopefully yours will be problem free. Most of the time the M41's like the CCI 40 grain Standard Velocity ammo - but like everything else, there are some rare exceptions.

 

[Crew Leader]

A friend collects several arms including the 41's. I have never owned a 41 until last week from his collection. It is an A s/n gun with the 5.5" bbl. This particular 41 he got from an online dealer 6 or 8 years ago and never fired it. It is literally mint with exception of the grips, which I will replace if I can ever find a set of grips that are nice. Being agog about this acquisition, I couldn't wait to fire it. I couldn't fire it 3 times without a stove pipe. We tried 15 different ammo's but to no avail. He had a recoil spring that had been clipped down somewhat and that fixed the issues. He also included a brand new unfired 7" bbl. Meanwhile, I contacted the Mothership and they are sending me a new recoil spring free of charge. I have also ordered the Wolf spring calibration kit so I don't have an altered spring in it. After we put the clipped spring in it, she ran flawlessly with all ammo we tried including CCI Standard Velocity, SK, Ely, Wolf Match target and some different HV ammos.

My goal here is to function correctly with the SV ammo, primarily the CCI SV stuff. It is sickening accurate when it runs correctly. Hopefully, the new spring will achieve this goal. The complete price of $800.00 should give me wiggle room for new grips, springs and whatever else it takes.

Don't ever give up on your 41. Keep them running and they will serve you very well!

I'm just searching for nice original grips now...

 

[Model 15-4ever]

The new production doesn't seem to run much better. A client purchased a new one, and every other shot, the thumb safety engaged on its own. He sent it to S&W for repair, and S&W returned it without a magazine.

I used to compete with a Model 41, always reliable. How does S&W manage to screw up a perfectly fine pistol? We know the answer...

 

[Greyman50]

Reason I picked up a HS Supermatic Citation. You Stole the 41 for the price you paid. Looked at shows for one years and years and all were over $1K, many looked " well worn" so didn't get one.

 

[cherrypointmarine]

I'm guilty of letting my 41 sit also . About 4-5 years ago I bought one , nib , and put it away . It dates to 1978-79 , so I thought I'd stash it . After reading on here about how great they are I took it out . Even with my 64yo eyes , my 41 is an awesome shooter . I go to the range every Tuesday and it's not often that my 41 isn't in my bag .

 

[Bald1]

I too let mine sit. About 8yrs ago I acquired several guns through an estate. When I was told there's a 41 among them, I immediately thought 41 magnum lol. I had little interest in the 41. It's a late 60s model with cocking indicator. Completely stock w/ extra S&W magazine. My intent was to immediately sell it. But I shot it first. Hands down the most accurate handgun I've ever seen. Every once in awhile I get the urge to sell or trade it. I pull it out of safe. Wipe it down. Then put it away again…… But some day I will sell it to fund a model 13 purchase. Maybe.

 

[Hair Trigger]

A friend collects several arms including the 41's. I have never owned a 41 until last week from his collection. It is an A s/n gun with the 5.5" bbl. This particular 41 he got from an online dealer 6 or 8 years ago and never fired it. It is literally mint with exception of the grips, which I will replace if I can ever find a set of grips that are nice.

I'm just searching for nice original grips now...

What's wrong with the grips now? Beat up, split, chipped? Can't help you with nice factory grips (mine aren't for sale), but the ones Altamont have for the M41 are very nice, made to the same pattern as the factory grips. I put a set on mine, just to doll it up a little and save the originals from wear.

I take my M41 every time I go to the range. I had a few issues with function when I first got it, but a complete strip and cleaning has it running great. I've been using Remington Golden Bullet and Thunderbolt ammo and not had a single issue since thoroughly cleaning the gun. It's a 1985 mfg., looked like it had hardly been used, except for the accumulated crud.

 

[wx7b]

You'll love it, my 1980 version was the second gun I bought in 1982, and one of the last sold. Great trigger, accurate and fun! bought a new 5.5 barrel and topped with a red dot. Keep cleaned and will treat you well.

 

[teletech]

Clark makes barrels that are already set up for optics and if you dispense with the tail for the rear sight you wind up with a gun that doesn't look as nice but is 200% more reliable than the best one with the tail.

In a Ransom Rest test of eight different stock barrels, I found that a 10-shot group at 25 yards could be from about 1.7" down to .4" depending on the particular barrel and ammo. All the 5" barrels were much poorer than any of the 7" barrels and Federal Automatch was a consistent performer, beating out much more expensive ammo. At 50-100 yards, the Automatch trailed some of the more expensive rounds in some barrels.
I also find the 5" barrels less reliable, could be the 7" has a longer dwell time.

 

[Larks]

I've had this nice Model 41 for about 8 years now and its been mostly a safe queen after initially shooting it some. Found it at a neighbors moving sale. But over the last 3 months I've been shooting a monthly 2 gun .22 match and enjoying myself. My very accurate rifle is a CMMG dedicated.22 Seekins AR. But I've also been using a 1952 2nd series MT Woodsman with it's original iron sights. As my rifle has a red dot I think I want to try one on my pistol and start seriously running the 41. Maybe be more competitive. I'm not getting any younger. The sn is UBN56XX with a 5.5in bull barrel came with 2 mags and I bought 4 more S&W mags. I can't find a production date as none of the lists that I've seen show a UBN prefix. It has a Burris FF3 on it. I don't see any reason not to shoot it. Would appreciate a dob if anyone knows it.

So how did it shoot?

 

[Baltimoreed11754]

Two more weeks -August 7th- is the zsa match [1st Sunday of the month]. I'll try to get some practice in between now and then.

 

[Oldsalt66]

Clark makes barrels that are already set up for optics and if you dispense with the tail for the rear sight you wind up with a gun that doesn't look as nice but is 200% more reliable than the best one with the tail.

In a Ransom Rest test of eight different stock barrels, I found that a 10-shot group at 25 yards could be from about 1.7" down to .4" depending on the particular barrel and ammo. All the 5" barrels were much poorer than any of the 7" barrels and Federal Automatch was a consistent performer, beating out much more expensive ammo. At 50-100 yards, the Automatch trailed some of the more expensive rounds in some barrels.
I also find the 5" barrels less reliable, could be the 7" has a longer dwell time.

Now you've confused me since I've had my heart set on acquiring a 5" barrel model 41.

BTW: I shoot everything I own regardless of cost or collectibility.

It's one of my life's goals to shoot every one of my firearms to extinction and to heck with the next owner.

 

[S2000]

I bought a new Model 41 in May of 2021. After about 200 rounds through it the mags started falling out. Had it sent out to S&W and they fixed that. After that I realized it also had a FTE problem. Twenty percent of time ended up stovepipe. Had it sent back a second time which took almost 4 months to get back. The repair ticket said they polished the bore.
Got it back yesterday and it shot 150 rounds of CCI SV, flawlessly. I expected it to shoot like that out of the box for the price I paid, instead 2 trips back to S&W and 5+ months out of service.

 

[AveragEd]

My new Model 41 was just returned from also having a FTE condition corrected. I haven't shot it yet but have every confidence in S&W's work. However, if it still suffers the same ailment, I'm told replacing the factory 7.5# recoil spring with a 7# one should correct the condition.

I'm having trouble finding a section of Picatinny rail to which I can mount an optical sight. I called S&W and was advised to contact the optic manufacturer who suggested contacting Smith & Wesson. Can you say "monkey in the middle?" But actually, that makes sense because S&W had to have some type of mounting system in mind when they decided upon the spacings for the mounting holes they added to those guns some time back.

I sent an email to them this morning but in the meantime, can anyone provide a suggestion?

Ed

 

[824tsv]

I used a Weaver #62 that I shortened for this optic. I use the rear 2 holes in my D&T barrel. You will need to get longer screws than the ones provided by Weaver. I bought the longer screws off eBay. I used red locktite because the blue locktite still allowed the screws to loosen up.

 

[teletech]

Now you've confused me since I've had my heart set on acquiring a 5" barrel model 41.

BTW: I shoot everything I own regardless of cost or collectibility.

It's one of my life's goals to shoot every one of my firearms to extinction and to heck with the next owner.

I don't know if this will help or further muddy the waters:
I've tried 5x 7" barrels and 4x 5" barrels and the 7" are universally more accurate from a rest and more reliable, *however*, the reduced sight radius of the 5" can be a help if not using a diopter with aging eyes because the two sight planes are closer together. That is to say I can't hold better than a couple inches at 25 yards while standing anyway so the easier to see sights help me more than the reduced theoretical accuracy hurts me IF I'm not wearing my shooting glasses with an iris.

If you really want an accurate 5" gun, Clark can make you a barrel with or without the tail or you could have someone catering to competition shooters drill and line a factory 5"

Interesting to note, there are at least two model of 5" field barrels. One has a partridge front sight and the other has a ramped front. The rear sights are the same.

I sympathize with the shoot-it-all point of view. Reminds me of this NIB P210 that was one of the very last Swiss guns as they were moving production to Germany... I mean formerly NIB...

 

[ggibson511960]

I own an ancient M-41 with a 7-1/2 in. barrel, ray gun compensator and cocking indicator. I pretty much concur with all the above comments with these observations based on my experience with one pistol. The safety is so difficult to manipulate that it is near useless, which I think S&W intended for a target pistol. Mine hasn't been cycled in years. Reliability is near perfect with higher intensity ammunition, but as soon as the mid-range target stuff goes in it fails to eject, feed everything. Why? The chamber is stupid tight for match accuracy as are many old S&W .22 LR chambers, i.e. M-17's. In a blowback action the recoil energy has to pry the empty from the chamber, compress the recoil spring, flip the empty out, cock the hammer and push a new round in. If the chamber is sticky, nothing will work. I'm sure that a careful reaming would help the problem with the risk of hurting accuracy. For me a bristle brush every 200 rounds or so solves the problem, not an issue on a target gun.

 

[Baltimoreed11754]

I found a rail in my stuff that worked but I had to remove the rear sight to make it fit. I would love an even longer rail to move my Burris FF3 all the way back in order to use it in my dropleg holster. Anybody know of a longer [to the rear] M41 picatiny rail?