Brucear777
Member
I'm going to pick up my (NEW) Smith & Wesson Model 41 with a 7 inch barrel tomorrow what kind of ammo should I use I called Smith and Wesson and they said CCI Mini Mags. What do you-all shoot in your model 41.
Smith & Wesson Model 41
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CCI Blaser or Aguila super extra
EDIT My M41 pistols don't function with standard velocity ammo. I've cleaned the guns, lightly oiled the slide / frame and the jams and misfeeds begin with CCI Standard ammo. Both guns have buffers in them.
EDIT My M41 pistols don't function with standard velocity ammo. I've cleaned the guns, lightly oiled the slide / frame and the jams and misfeeds begin with CCI Standard ammo. Both guns have buffers in them.
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Mine runs great with MiniMags. CCI standard velocity is a bit more accurate but not enough to make up for the 3% failure rate I see with it.
I would recommend trying CII standard velocity first and stick with it if your gun is reliable with it. If it isn't try MiniMags. If a 22 will not work reliably with MiniMags it wont work well with anything else in my experience.
I would recommend trying CII standard velocity first and stick with it if your gun is reliable with it. If it isn't try MiniMags. If a 22 will not work reliably with MiniMags it wont work well with anything else in my experience.
I wouldn't use copper washed .22 ammo in it. High velocity ammo will wear the pistol unnecessarily and the residual copper in the barrel will erode accuracy and is hard to remove. Using a bore brush on a good barrel to get rid of the copper fouling will erode accuracy further. Stick to standard velocity lead ammo. Some folks are having luck with Aguila standard velocity ammo. There are plenty of less expensive brands of standard velocity around. CCI Standard Velocity ammo has been the "go to" ammo for S&W model 41's in the past, but recently there have been a lot of reports of duds. CCI has been good about refunds when the ammo is bad. Hopefully this leads to an improvement of the quality.
OIF2
Member
Standard velocity is the way to go. I use Eley mostly.
Bob
Bob
I can't understand why anyone would pay the price of a MOd 41, which is a top of the line competition gun, and then shoot anything but target grade standard velocity ammo. The gun was made to shoot small groups, give it the ability to do so.
Mine works well with anything I have tried in it but my default is CCI SV, since I shoot it offhand at 25 yards I am not going to gain anything from shooting anything more expensive. I have put many thousands of rounds through mine and it still shoots well.
MCorps0311
US Veteran
Don't be surprised if I post a S&W 41 here sometime this year. Every time I see one posted here I want one for myself.
I've shot CCI Mini Mags for many moons.
leinster lad
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Slide stop is the front of the trigger guard.......... and yes they snap.
Use a recoil buffer for piece of mind.
Use a recoil buffer for piece of mind.
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Because it doesn't work, at least in my gun.
Rather than keep beating my head against a wall trying to get my 41 to run well with standard velocity ammo I switched to Minimags which work great. Having to deal with the 3% failure rate was so frustrating I would have got rid of the gun and replaced it with a Ruger Mark IV if it had problems with MiniMags.
Not everyone that buys a M41 is a competition bullseye shooter. At the club I shoot at most of those guys tend to go with customized Rugers on the low end or something like a Hammerli on the high end. Even if used to shoot as small spinning targets or other plinking targets like I do having an accurate gun with a great trigger is really nice.
The MiniMags are not quite as accurate as the standard velocity stuff but it works and is reasonably priced for what you get. I did buy a recoil buffer but for all the warnings about the trigger guard breaking first hand reports of that happening are rare. I have never noticed any in this forum. And if it does S&W will fix it.
The OP mentioned S&W recommended MiniMags when he called. I always heard they recommended CCI standard velocity in the past. They must have got tired of people calling to complain about their M41s not working well.
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wetdog1911
Member
The M41 was designed around SV ammunition and that's all I've ever shot in mine for close to 30 years.
I can see a brick or 2 of mini mags to "run in" a new M41, much like breaking in a new 1911 and getting the internals to mate to one another. But, a steady diet just seems to go against the basic design of the pistol, beating it up for no good reason. That's what Rugers are for. ;-)
But, there is SV and there is SV. Even back in the early 90s (my 41 is 1990 vintage), with the 'black bullet' CCI SV in the 50rnd boxes, function was just Ok, but nothing to write home about. Accuracy was decent.
Then, a friend got me to try Wolf MT (rebranded SK Standard Plus). I had just figured it was Russian garbage till he clued me in. Everything seemed to improve by an order of magnitude, both function and accuracy, like night and day.
For the longest time I had just chalked it up to SK/Laupa's better QC, which, while true, I had ignored the lube, that greasy 'Wolf snot' that SK used. Lube is lube, right? Well, apparently not as my M41 shows a decided preference for the 'greasy kids stuff' over the dry wax lube like on CCI SV.
Ended up buying 2 cases of the Wolf back when and 50cal ammo cans to store it in. Use it in all my .22s and they all seem to run better and are more accurate with it.
Rob
I can see a brick or 2 of mini mags to "run in" a new M41, much like breaking in a new 1911 and getting the internals to mate to one another. But, a steady diet just seems to go against the basic design of the pistol, beating it up for no good reason. That's what Rugers are for. ;-)
But, there is SV and there is SV. Even back in the early 90s (my 41 is 1990 vintage), with the 'black bullet' CCI SV in the 50rnd boxes, function was just Ok, but nothing to write home about. Accuracy was decent.
Then, a friend got me to try Wolf MT (rebranded SK Standard Plus). I had just figured it was Russian garbage till he clued me in. Everything seemed to improve by an order of magnitude, both function and accuracy, like night and day.
For the longest time I had just chalked it up to SK/Laupa's better QC, which, while true, I had ignored the lube, that greasy 'Wolf snot' that SK used. Lube is lube, right? Well, apparently not as my M41 shows a decided preference for the 'greasy kids stuff' over the dry wax lube like on CCI SV.
Ended up buying 2 cases of the Wolf back when and 50cal ammo cans to store it in. Use it in all my .22s and they all seem to run better and are more accurate with it.
Rob
leinster lad
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Down here in sleepy Australia, at my club where I think there are less than 6 M41's, I have seen 1 trigger guard broken.
So yeh, hardly "unheard of"
$10 bucks for a recoil buffer is pretty cheap insurance in my mind !
Not an option down here
The Norseman
Member
S&W 41 22lr Ammo Debate
I believe a Standard Velocity 22lr should be used
in a S&W Model 41 22lr Target Pistol.
I have a 1979 S&W Model 41 22lr Target Pistol
that I have shot CCI Std Vel, but I have NOT had good
luck with that for Accuracy.
The Best accuracy I got is with the Federal High Velocity
Hollow Point Bullet 550 ct. Bulk Ammo, like you can buy
from Walmart.
I do have a Heavier Wolff Spring and Buffer in my Pistol
to protect the Interior Trigger Shelf.
Just my Experience. The Best to you and your Endeavors.
I believe a Standard Velocity 22lr should be used
in a S&W Model 41 22lr Target Pistol.
I have a 1979 S&W Model 41 22lr Target Pistol
that I have shot CCI Std Vel, but I have NOT had good
luck with that for Accuracy.
The Best accuracy I got is with the Federal High Velocity
Hollow Point Bullet 550 ct. Bulk Ammo, like you can buy
from Walmart.
I do have a Heavier Wolff Spring and Buffer in my Pistol
to protect the Interior Trigger Shelf.
Just my Experience. The Best to you and your Endeavors.
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Just very solid hint ... clean out the internals. Run dry mop through the barrel and another dry, slightly larger, mop on and in the breach.
Make sure all the mags (ff had been cleaned) are taken apart and completely dried. If you have the figure 8 follower, you may polish the follower on the side that rubs the last bullet. DRY INSIDE, DRY OUTSIDE, DRY !!!!!! If you purchased good, standard velocity or match ammo, it should already be lubedlubed.
Make sure all the mags (ff had been cleaned) are taken apart and completely dried. If you have the figure 8 follower, you may polish the follower on the side that rubs the last bullet. DRY INSIDE, DRY OUTSIDE, DRY !!!!!! If you purchased good, standard velocity or match ammo, it should already be lubedlubed.
The Norseman
Member
Be careful for what you ask for
Post Script: I am sorry for above post, CCI Std Vel (1070fps)
made a Liar out of me. Maybe different Lot Number?
But Fed 550ct Bulk was right in there too.
This Thread inspired me, so I dug my S&W 41 22lr from out of
the back of the Closet, and shot it yesterday afternoon.
Just got done cleaning it up a little and cleaning/drying out the
chamber
Sorry, I was so excited forgot to take pictures of target.
Post Script: I am sorry for above post, CCI Std Vel (1070fps)
made a Liar out of me. Maybe different Lot Number?
But Fed 550ct Bulk was right in there too.
This Thread inspired me, so I dug my S&W 41 22lr from out of
the back of the Closet, and shot it yesterday afternoon.
Just got done cleaning it up a little and cleaning/drying out the
chamber
Sorry, I was so excited forgot to take pictures of target.
Attachments
I too had E&E problems with my 41. I tried the plop test and even polished the chamber and the feed ramp. That didn't help. I saw several write ups about Volquartsen extractor and found one on ebay. I also ordered new springs from brownells. When I disassemble the weapon I had to dig the extractor spring out and found rust and crud in the extractor hole. That spring was deformed. I took an 1/8" new drill bit and hand turned it to clean out the hole and the new spring slides in and out easily. Both that spring and the main recoil spring was 1/4" shorted as compared to the new ones. I didn't like having to pay 29.95 for the extractor but since it's no longer in production I didn't have an option. I also deburred all the rails, oiled it up and took it to the range. 100 flawless rounds with no problems using standard velocity federal ammo from Walmart, the cheap stuff. I now know better how to keep it clean and what to check and clean more regularly. I hope this helps others cause it was no fun when spent rounds would no clear and it would not feed properly. My 41 is and 1989 model and works great now. Thanks!
