Over the years I've had five .22 pistols: a Colt Huntsman, A S&W K-17, A S&W stainless Kit Gun, a Ruger MK II Bullbarrel and an M-41. Of the four,the M-41 with 5" barrel is my favorite. At least it is the most accurate(for me) and I think that is why I like it so much. Now, I'm not a collector but I've always found a good .22 handgun to be one of those things I just don't want to be without. The M-41 fits the bill.
The Huntsman just wasn't all that accurate. After several years with it my groups looked more like something out of the muzzle of a 410. It had to go, even if it was a distant relative of the fabled Woodsman which was held in high esteem by Ernest Hemingway (who acidentally shot himself with one IIRC!)
The Kit Gun was next. Still on a Hemingway kick I pictured it as being carried in my tacklebox,ready to dispatch a threatening rattler at the streamside. It was compact and mechanically a neat little firearm but I couldn't hit a Necco wafer with it(but I could hit a Necco wafer with a shooting buddy's cheapy .25 ACP Tanfoglio!) I gave it to my mother and afte shepassedaway it came back to meand I traded it for the Ruger, because everyone had a Ruger, my Uncle had one even my shooting buddy with the dinkyTanfoglio had one, and they loved them. Besides it was rumored that Navy Seals used silenced versions in Viet Nam---how cool is that?
My groups improved to teacup size and I was happy with it unitl the first time I tried to take it down it for a good cleaning
The Ruger left and was replaced with a M-17.
One of the best scores I ever shot on a PCC was with an old PD inventories Model 14. My service revolver at the time was a Python, and I never even came close to what I'd been able to do with that worn old M-14. What better model .22 LR,I reasoned, than the .22LR version of the M-14?I shot the M-17 a lot.
I was never as good with it as that old M-14 but I had a lot of fun plinking until I got tired of it's "revolver-ness"as St Thomas Aquinas would say. Don't get me wrong, I like revolvers,but .22 revolvers in accentuate the things I dislike about revolvers. For example, loading six itty bitty bullets, shooting them, and then ejecting six itty bitty empties. A magazine was far more efficient and if the brass was reloadable (and valuable) I'd truly enjoy having them deposited neatly in the palm of my hand but empty.22s are (unless you've got some kind of hobby you need itty bitty pieces of metal for) worthless garbage which are only good for dulling the shooting range's lawn mower. Reluctantly the K-17 went as well, but I was backto not having .22 handgun.
Then, one afternoon at a local sporting goods store I saw a M-41 in the used section.
It was one of those things where you pick it up and everything feels perfect---the grips filled my hand, the sight picture with the massive Keng rear site looked incredibly well defined. The clerk who handed me the piece and smiled, saying "This will shoot better than you've ever imagined. A Model 41 just naturally makes you look good."
So, I guess that's what credit cards are for,eh?
I took an assortment of .22LR ammo I had collected expressly for testing .22LRs. They all jammed with disturbing regularity (even my "go to" Winchester Western Super-X hollow points, of which I was still ignorant that high velocity ammo is not the M-41's forte) until I tried CCI Standard Velocity.
It was like the magic.
Now I can breakNecco wafers like nobody's business. That M-41 is the .22LR that I've kept.
Do you have an M-41 story?
The Huntsman just wasn't all that accurate. After several years with it my groups looked more like something out of the muzzle of a 410. It had to go, even if it was a distant relative of the fabled Woodsman which was held in high esteem by Ernest Hemingway (who acidentally shot himself with one IIRC!)
The Kit Gun was next. Still on a Hemingway kick I pictured it as being carried in my tacklebox,ready to dispatch a threatening rattler at the streamside. It was compact and mechanically a neat little firearm but I couldn't hit a Necco wafer with it(but I could hit a Necco wafer with a shooting buddy's cheapy .25 ACP Tanfoglio!) I gave it to my mother and afte shepassedaway it came back to meand I traded it for the Ruger, because everyone had a Ruger, my Uncle had one even my shooting buddy with the dinkyTanfoglio had one, and they loved them. Besides it was rumored that Navy Seals used silenced versions in Viet Nam---how cool is that?
My groups improved to teacup size and I was happy with it unitl the first time I tried to take it down it for a good cleaning
The Ruger left and was replaced with a M-17.One of the best scores I ever shot on a PCC was with an old PD inventories Model 14. My service revolver at the time was a Python, and I never even came close to what I'd been able to do with that worn old M-14. What better model .22 LR,I reasoned, than the .22LR version of the M-14?I shot the M-17 a lot.
I was never as good with it as that old M-14 but I had a lot of fun plinking until I got tired of it's "revolver-ness"as St Thomas Aquinas would say. Don't get me wrong, I like revolvers,but .22 revolvers in accentuate the things I dislike about revolvers. For example, loading six itty bitty bullets, shooting them, and then ejecting six itty bitty empties. A magazine was far more efficient and if the brass was reloadable (and valuable) I'd truly enjoy having them deposited neatly in the palm of my hand but empty.22s are (unless you've got some kind of hobby you need itty bitty pieces of metal for) worthless garbage which are only good for dulling the shooting range's lawn mower. Reluctantly the K-17 went as well, but I was backto not having .22 handgun.
Then, one afternoon at a local sporting goods store I saw a M-41 in the used section.
It was one of those things where you pick it up and everything feels perfect---the grips filled my hand, the sight picture with the massive Keng rear site looked incredibly well defined. The clerk who handed me the piece and smiled, saying "This will shoot better than you've ever imagined. A Model 41 just naturally makes you look good."
So, I guess that's what credit cards are for,eh?
I took an assortment of .22LR ammo I had collected expressly for testing .22LRs. They all jammed with disturbing regularity (even my "go to" Winchester Western Super-X hollow points, of which I was still ignorant that high velocity ammo is not the M-41's forte) until I tried CCI Standard Velocity.
It was like the magic.
Now I can breakNecco wafers like nobody's business. That M-41 is the .22LR that I've kept.
Do you have an M-41 story?
