A few months ago, a seller located in my general area offered an older Model 41, with both 7 3/8" and 5 1/2" barrels, muzzle brake, cap, both rods (one steel, one aluminum), two magazines, all in the original box for the rather good price of $1000. Especially good when you consider there's no tax, delivery charges or transfer fees. Already the owner of 3 Model 41's, I needed this like I needed another hole in the head but at the price I couldn't resist. I did notice that the muzzle brake wasn't sitting flush but figured it couldn't be a hard fix and it wasn't.
The threads on both the muzzle brake and the two mounting rods were boogered - a term anyone who works on guns knows well. Using both tap and die of the proper size, along with some oil quickly resolved that issue. So, off to the range to try out the new-to-me gun!
Well, the range time proved disappointing. The gun had the classic Model 41 accuracy and wonderful trigger, but suffered from both failure to feed and properly eject issues many Model 41 owners are familiar with. Two types of ammo suffered the same problems, tried and true CCI Standard Velocity ammo and a box of Ely I had sitting around, with the Ely being the worse of the two. Regardless, neither of the ammo worked well and I went home disappointed.
An order was placed for a Wolff Model 41 spring kit, and upon it's arrival, the Model 41 was disassembled for a thorough cleaning and oiling. The 6 pound Wolff spring was installed, along with a Volquartsen extractor I had lying around. I suspect this was the first time the gun had ever been cleaned, as it was pretty cruddy. With a now clean and mildly altered Model 41, I returned to the range. First mag - zero problems. Second mag - zero problems. Third mag - a failure to fire! Uh-oh.
CCI standard velocity ammo is my go to preference for my Model 41's and I had never experienced a problem until this round. It showed a very well struck firing pin impression in the rim, so I turned it around, re-chambered the round and pulled the trigger again - CLICK! The round is now somewhere in the bottom of my range bag waiting for disassembly. It either lacks the primer material in the rim, or was loaded with no powder. Primer material is my suspicion. Out of the thousands of CCI I have fired over the years, it is my first ammo related failure, so there are no complaints on my end. As for the Model 41, it feeds, fires and functions like S&W intended it to! Now I have to decide whether I really need 4 Model 41's or if one of them needs to find a new home.
The threads on both the muzzle brake and the two mounting rods were boogered - a term anyone who works on guns knows well. Using both tap and die of the proper size, along with some oil quickly resolved that issue. So, off to the range to try out the new-to-me gun!
Well, the range time proved disappointing. The gun had the classic Model 41 accuracy and wonderful trigger, but suffered from both failure to feed and properly eject issues many Model 41 owners are familiar with. Two types of ammo suffered the same problems, tried and true CCI Standard Velocity ammo and a box of Ely I had sitting around, with the Ely being the worse of the two. Regardless, neither of the ammo worked well and I went home disappointed.
An order was placed for a Wolff Model 41 spring kit, and upon it's arrival, the Model 41 was disassembled for a thorough cleaning and oiling. The 6 pound Wolff spring was installed, along with a Volquartsen extractor I had lying around. I suspect this was the first time the gun had ever been cleaned, as it was pretty cruddy. With a now clean and mildly altered Model 41, I returned to the range. First mag - zero problems. Second mag - zero problems. Third mag - a failure to fire! Uh-oh.
CCI standard velocity ammo is my go to preference for my Model 41's and I had never experienced a problem until this round. It showed a very well struck firing pin impression in the rim, so I turned it around, re-chambered the round and pulled the trigger again - CLICK! The round is now somewhere in the bottom of my range bag waiting for disassembly. It either lacks the primer material in the rim, or was loaded with no powder. Primer material is my suspicion. Out of the thousands of CCI I have fired over the years, it is my first ammo related failure, so there are no complaints on my end. As for the Model 41, it feeds, fires and functions like S&W intended it to! Now I have to decide whether I really need 4 Model 41's or if one of them needs to find a new home.
