Smith & Wesson 41 pistol -- one opinion.

Greetings fellow shooters,

I want to give anyone reading this a heads-up about the Smith and Wesson model 41 pistol. I bought one of them new and for $1200, it does not perform anywhere near what it should. I'm getting stovepipes, failure to extract, and failure to go into battery. I've tried a few different brands of ammo, and it's very fussy about ammo. Only two brands that I have tried so far work at all. It won't even function with some brands. The reliability is very poor.

The sights also came crooked from the factory ( I bought it through gunbroker ), and even though I sent the pistol back to the factory, they simply said "could not duplicate problem" and sent it back.

Guys, I thought I was doing the right thing by buying an American made product, but the engineering is poor and this pistol is not a quality product. I'm hearing other reports of people having the same issues, too. For what it costs, this pistol should be a lot better. It's not even as good as a stock Ruger MKII. Please learn from my mistake, and others' mistakes, and avoid this pistol.

If anyone knows a good gunsmith I can send this to to get it working, please send me a message.

I am so frustrated with this pistol. And I might not buy any more S&W products again. This thing is a disgrace to American made products. European engineering must be better, because I don't hear about people having this type of trouble with Pardinis and Hammerlis. I used to always "buy American," but items like this one make me reconsider.

I have the Performance Center version, and I have to say that I agree.

I'm using a red dot, so the sights aren't an issue, but I've already sent it back once because the safety was flopping around and engaging itself.

KC Crawford was nice enough to give me the fix via email, and from what I've seen he's the guy to seek, although the last time I corresponded with him, he wasn't taking on any new work.

Good luck.

https://kcskustomcreations.com/

(No affiliation)

What really stinks is I deliberately bought this instead of a Hammerli because it is American made.

I had the same issues with my brand new performance center model 41. Sent it off to Clark Custom Guns for their reliability package. It came back and works great now.

CO1Mtn wrote:What really stinks is I deliberately bought this instead of a Hammerli because it is American made.

Hammerli isn’t made in China  
Jon

Pinetree wrote:I have the Performance Center version, and I have to say that I agree.

I'm using a red dot, so the sights aren't an issue, but I've already sent it back once because the safety was flopping around and engaging itself.

KC Crawford was nice enough to give me the fix via email, and from what I've seen he's the guy to seek, although the last time I corresponded with him, he wasn't taking on any new work.

Good luck.

https://kcskustomcreations.com/

(No affiliation)

I am getting back the 41 I sent to KC for a re-line and tune-up today.  I am looking forward to seeing how it runs.  His reputation with any bullseye pistol, including the 41, is beyond reproach.

Unfortunately he is going in for his first surgery today and will be out of "the game" for the next 6-8 months.  Our thoughts and well-wishes to him for swift recovery!

Yeah yeah, I get it, they're made in Switzerland or Germany or someplace in Europe. The thing is, I try to support American businesses when I can. Apparently though, Smith & Wesson doesn't want to support its shooters by producing quality products. It's something I felt compelled to warn other shooters about. I care about this sport and I don't like it when people get ripped off.

I got 14 rimfire points with a Nelson conversion, and right now it's outperforming the S&W 41. I'm talking to Larry about building me a 6" Nelson. If anyone has any feedback about that, I'm all ears. 

Thank you for the ideas. I hope KC recovers soon. I won't bother him with any pistol questions until he's fully recovered.

In my recent experience, European and Asian countries are engineering things better these recent few decades. It's an unfortunate thing but a reality. I bought a Toyota vehicle because they last longer than Ford/GMC. I bought a Japanese made scope because Leupold closed their custom shop and the Japanese scope was better. I suppose I should have bought the European made pistol.

Well in a few minutes I'm going to be heading into work, where all the 20-year-olds spend half the day playing with their cell phones instead of working whenever the boss isn't around. No wonder we're getting beat.

I have a 6" Nelson and all I can say if you like extra weight that would be the way to go. Far as I'm concerned Nelsons are accurate and very reliable. Go with the nelson if that is what you like. 

I have never been impressed with the m41. Never owned one or shot one just seen them have more issues far as reliability and accuracy than its worth. 

GW

brdrgrd wrote:I had the same issues with my brand new performance center model 41. Sent it off to Clark Custom Guns for their reliability package. It came back and works great now.

I have done the same thing and have not had a FTF or FTE that was not clearly ammo related in many 1000's of rounds. 

The Clark boys know the model 41.

Try polishing the chamber with a cleaning rod & patch with lapping compound.

CCI STANDARD velocity

+ 1 for CCI Standard Velocity. I also put a little oil on the last round placed in the magazine.

I had a 41 that I bought from Jim Rose. He did something to it and it would swallow anything. He wouldn't tell me what he did but it ran well. Of course it shot better than I could shoot it. The only thing I didn't like was that it was a little too barrel heavy.

I shot a 41 for years before I switched over to a conversion.  I sent mine to Clark while still new and never had any problems at all over thousands of rounds.  CCI and TenX ran flawlessly.
Phil

My A series Model 41 is fine with CCI SV, though it was worked on by KC Crawford before I bought it.  I hear so many issues with new Model 41 and Victory pistols.  Granted, most people don't post when things are good but still more than I'd expect.  And this isn't just a covid thing.  It's reasonable to expect a target pistol to be a bit fussy, but these aren''t Pardinis.

In my (ever so humble) opinion, a M41 needs its chamber to be squeaky clean.

I run a Hoppes pull through bore snake after every practice or match.

I think it goes back to "buy once, cry once." It's better to spend for a used Pardini than a model 41.

Bad mouthing all 41s based on one?  Really?

I suspect - I don’t know - a possible moral of the story here is to NOT (I certainly do not) anticipate any late-model 41 (anything for that matter) will perform up to par with the same item mfr’ed in the 60’s and 70’s …

I’m taking both mine out tomorrow to test several different ammo lots in each and I’ll have to see whether or not they are “A” or another letter designation …

A Pardini is still on my bucket list, tho!  

Larry, would Jim Rose be receptive to me contacting him and asking for his assistance?

KCoop wrote:Try polishing the chamber with a cleaning rod & patch with lapping compound.

What grit do you recommend?

Jack H wrote:Bad mouthing all 41s based on one?  Really?

Actually, a few more than one. Recommended reading

https://www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=306

It's the Model 41 blog.

Question not directed at me but, I opted for the finest I could get (which was jewelers rouge)

Comparison chart https://www.kemet.co.uk/blog/lapping/clover-lapping-compound-comparision-chart

CO1Mtn wrote:Larry, would Jim Rose be receptive to me contacting him and asking for his assistance?

Sadly, Jim Rose left us back in 2017.

Reading some of the stuff on rimfirecentral just seems to reinforce the OP's point.

I know that I am less than thrilled with my PC M41, but I'm sticking with it for the time being.