was the 41 ever made in SS

[HH940]

I have a friend who just bought a model 41 SN A719868
the gun appeares to be SS.
Did S&W ever make a model in Stainless Steel?

 

[murphydog]

Welcome! Appears to have an aftermarket hard chrome or similar finish, as this model was never made in stainless steel.

 

[JohnHL]

It looks really cool!

Welcome to the Forum.

John

 

[Model52guy]

If it was,,,,, it would be a M641.

 

[wproct]

I like it.

 

[03Fatboy]

I'm guilty and admire a hard chrome 41!

 

[4T5GUY]

That 41 is interesting. I'm wondering a couple things.

It appears by the image that there's two different finishes. The slide looks bright and the frame is more dull. I have a few non-factory hard chromed handguns and some factory nickeled. The finish on all are intentionally consistent. It's interesting that, (apparently from the image,) that this 41 has two different looking ending finishes.

I'm also curious if those are letters/numbers in the area I magnified from your original image and attached.

Agreed that it's a different 41.

Jim

 

[wproct]

Two firearms that I have long wished to have in stainless steel. One is the Smith & Wesson model 41, the other is the Marlin 39A lever action rifle. A close second would be the same in hard chrome.

 

[Jim Watson]

It appears by the image that there's two different finishes. The slide looks bright and the frame is more dull. I have a few non-factory hard chromed handguns and some factory nickeled. The finish on all are intentionally consistent. It's interesting that, (apparently from the image,) that this 41 has two different looking ending finishes.

Strange, I see a lot of guns with the frame and slide not matching in aftermarket plating or blue. Good factory guns are more likely to be uniform. When it is an expensive custom gun, they should match, and so should the small parts.

 

[tlawler]

I like it!

 

[gmborkovic]

Hello Mr. murphydog, agree the 41 was never made in stainless steel
for commercial release. But, I bet some engineer took some SS bar stock down to the production line at the end of a Friday and had it run thru production. A quick change of cutters and cutting oil and a 41 SS popped out the end of production. Why, just as a hoot or to show the boss and the marketing staff. The job of the R&D staff was to come up with new saleable products. Farfetched? not in my thinking. Mike

 

[chief38]

Could also be Electroless Nickel - hard to really tell from the OP's picture.

 

[gmborkovic]

chief38, just curious. If you had the gun in hand, what are the telltale
signs you look for?

 

[fiasconva]

I saw a thread about a SS 41 on another forum a few days ago. From what one of the researches said, it was a Serial A model 41 and was only made one year , 1981. It wasn't popular and didn't sell so it was discontinued. How accurate this is only who knows.

 

[Aussie Collector]

I've seen quite a few "factory" stainless and "factory" nickel model 41s and 52s. Well the sellers all claimed and believed they were factory.

On closer inspection you find they are mostly hard chrome, with polished corners, polished stampings and sometimes putting and or scratches under the plating. Oh and plated trigger.
I have a "factory" nickel model 46, or that's what the seller told me. I bought it knowing it was a hard chrome done by a previous owner.

The 41 is one area i have spent 100s of hours researching and not seen anything that points to a factory stainless model 41.

The internet is great for researchers it's also great for Chinese whisper too. Read Wikipedia model 41 article it's full of some good info and also some big mistakes.

 

[Herman1963]

I own a hard chrome model 41 and have plans on getting my other 41's hard chrome.

Really like the one and have plans getting another and some barrels hard chromed

 

[CALREB]

Years ago, several guys I shot with and myself used a place in Orange Ca. Tech Plate. They gave a great deal if you did ten or more guns. The catch was you had to do the disassembly, remove sights etc. and all the parts were done together. So we devised a plan where each person did a specific type gun each time we did it. That way small parts didn't get mixed up. One time I did a longslide Springfield Custom, and a standard 5" and a PPC revolver and a couple Beretta barrels. Some did a few P/C 5906s. One guy did an 870 riot gun. Certain small parts were held out and some parts were marked with dimples (where it didnt show) to identify them. It was really cheap frames 30 or 40 , slides 20, barrels 10, small and medium parts 2-3 dollars each. I remember once I did 3 handguns and a bunch of other parts and it was a little over 300. About the price of 1 gun.


Here is my longslide like 22 plus years later. Custom made steel plates, also hard chromed, under the grips. Lever trigger to duplicate a PPC 9s trigger, somewhat. 60 OZ empty without a rib. Any little spots you might see is lint and old oil. Hard chrome is nice.

 

[4T5GUY]

It's most likely we won't hear back from the original poster. I hope I'm wrong though.

There was "a guy", (now passed,) who did a few custom S&W 41's. According to his working partner, (now passed,) hard chrome was the preferred choice not just for the look but for the durability. I was told to grease the rails on mine to keep everything purrfectly happy. I applied that suggestion to my other hard chromed, nickeled and all semi's since.

Jim

 

[KSDeputy]

Yes, I have a model 641 and enjoy shooting it.

 

[sceva]

It's most likely we won't hear back from the original poster. I hope I'm wrong though.

There was "a guy", (now passed,) who did a few custom S&W 41's. According to his working partner, (now passed,) hard chrome was the preferred choice not just for the look but for the durability. I was told to grease the rails on mine to keep everything purrfectly happy. I applied that suggestion to my other hard chromed, nickeled and all semi's since.

Jim

I always liked his hats; I believe his wife made them for him.