Model 41 Safety

[Hondo44]

My 41 is an early 70s vintage. The manual safety is a bear to disengage. I bought the gun new so I know that no one has worked on it. I have cleaned and oiled it but no help.

Is this the nature of the beast on the Model 41 or does it need better fitting?

 

[sceva]

It's the nature of the beast. My 73 vintage one also has a very stiff safety.

Remember; these were meant as match pistols. Quick manipulation of the safety was not a concern but having a positive safety was.

 

[chief38]

The M41 Safety can be adjusted. All you need to do is remove the screw and smooth out the stamped detent SLIGHTLY! If you go too far you will wind up with a safety that is dangerously weak. Prior to any metal work, try cleaning and oiling it - it might be all you need to do.

The M41 Safety rarely gets used, therefore it never really gets the chance to smooth out and wear in. Because the M41 is used for Target Shooting 99.5% of the time, after the pistol is loaded and charged, we tend to run out the Magazine without having to lay the pistol down. That said - of course it should be functional and not need two hands to operate!

 

[Old Navy]

My new 41 built in Feb is same way, so keep living with I would say.

 

[monsai52]

My 1958 vintage 41 is the same.

Best regards,

 

[Hondo44]

Thank you all for your shared experiences!

Chief 38 I gave that a try, and here's what i discovered at least on my safety:

The spring and retaining screw have very easy access on the outside of the frame just by removing the grip. I quickly realized my detent was so low already, the spring is actually riding on the safety lever surface outside of the detent milled curve for about 180 degrees in addition to contacting the detent in the center of the curve (in my case). And since the 1/2 round shaped curve of the rear end of the spring is too large for the milled out curve of the detent in the safety lever, it drags.

Loosening the screw solved the problem, and is as far as one needs to go since the grip captures the screw and if it works itself out, it can't be lost. Or leave out the screw and spring. My safety has enough friction that it doesn't need the spring because the lever's pin also serves as the hammer pivot and a snug fit especially with the hammer spring tension on the hammer.

However for a more professional cure I will grind off about 1/32" of the springs rear semi circle and it will fit the milled curve on the safety lever w/o rubbing. Id would work as designed with the screw fully tightened but with contact only on the detent.

The screw hole in the spring is actually elongated horizontally from the factory (bluing is intact) for some adjustment so when pushed to the front as far as possible and tightened with the screw, it relieves a little tension but not enough in my case.

 

[chief38]

Thank you all for your shared experiences!

Chief 38 I gave that a try, and here's what i discovered at least on my safety:

The spring and retaining screw have very easy access on the outside of the frame just by removing the grip. I quickly realized my detent was so low already, the spring is actually riding on the safety lever surface outside of the detent milled curve for about 180 degrees in addition to contacting the detent in the center of the curve (in my case). And since the 1/2 round shaped curve of the rear end of the spring is too large for the milled out curve of the detent in the safety lever, it drags.

Loosening the screw solved the problem, and is as far as one needs to go since the grip captures the screw and if it works itself out, it can't be lost. Or leave out the screw and spring. My safety has enough friction that it doesn't need the spring because the lever's pin also serves as the hammer pivot and a snug fit especially with the hammer spring tension on the hammer.

However for a more professional cure I will grind off about 1/32" of the springs rear semi circle and it will fit the milled curve on the safety lever w/o rubbing. Id would work as designed with the screw fully tightened but with contact only on the detent.

The screw hole in the spring is actually elongated horizontally from the factory (bluing is intact) for some adjustment so when pushed to the front as far as possible and tightened with the screw, it relieves a little tension but not enough in my case.

Tight safety's on the M41 are relatively the norm and not the exception. I loosened mine up years ago and it's still a positive engagement but you don't need a hammer to operate it. Smoothing out the detent does help. I would not personally like the screw to be loose. The other thing you could do is take an Arkansas Stone and take the sharp edge off of the tiny little operating lever which always seems to dig into the side of your thumb. That in itself makes the situation even worse and it seems harder than it is being so small and so sharp! By smoothing it up a little and removing the razor sharp edge, it "seems" a little easier to operate. If you are careful and just work the edge with a fine AK Stone, bluing loss will not be noticeable.