Smith model 41.

[TAB]

I've been looking for a 22 auto.


not many choices in CA on buying new.   SO I was wondering what your EXPs were with a model 41 7.5" barrel model.


( Yeah I know ruger makes the mark 3, but I will never buy another ruger)

[tombogan03884]

What about Browning Buckmark ? I realy like mine.

[Bill Stryker]

I have had a bull barrel M41 for 20 or so years. I love it. My M41 is so old that it came with 12 round magazines!

I had a bull barrel M41 provided by the US Government when I was on a pistol team at an Army Installation from 1973 to 1977.

Both M41s I used were and are both great. I shoot my M41 with all types of .22 ammo without the problems I have with my Mosquito which is very ammo sensitive. The government's M41 came with lots of free or low or no cost practice standard velocity ammo provided by the lowest bidder. It ate all the ammo I fed it with no problems -- you don't want an alibi in a bulls eye match. My experience with the M41 has been that it is very accurate and reliable, more accurate than I can hold. I do take good care to keep my guns clean and oiled after every range session to make sure my guns stay reliable.

If you can find one and can afford it buy it. You will not be sorry IMO. Near as I can tell M41s have always been low volume, high quality and hard to find. If you want an accurate reliable target pistol the M41 is the Cadillac that is hard to beat.

If you just want a plinker to blast ammo through on a Sunday afternoon and do not care about the accuracy there are cheaper, but not better, ways to go. I confess that I do do a lot of plinking with my M41 these days -- it is very satisfying to bounce pop cans with it.

[wisconsin]

TAB. I just purchased one this Jan. With the 7.5" barrel. I've been taking it to the range every week. Put 700 rds or so throught it. I'm going to use it for Bullseye. So far I like what I see. Fit ,finish and ease of stripping it for cleaning. Let me repeat It is sooo easy to strip it down that I do it eveytime after my range session. Sure beats my Ruger Mark 2 (pain in the ass to strip down). You must be aware of one thing though with the S&W 41. It really likes subsonic ammo, 1070 to 1080 fps there abouts. Others will give you a failure to feed. Sweet out of the box trigger pull about 3-3.5# with little or no creep in the trigger. And it is quite accurate. At my indoor range I can keep all rounds in a 3" circle, off hand with just the iron sights that came with it. S&W says it will out of the box shoot 1" or less at 25 yds with the right ammo. I will be doing some Ransom machine testing later on to see what is the most accurate round to use. Right now I'm just trying to get use to it. The Bullseye guys recommend, these ammo for it. CCI standard velocity, Federal Gold Match 711B, Winchester Super XT- 22 SV, Remington Sub Sonic, CCI Green Tag ( Recommended by S&W) but this is a little pricey for my taste, $15.99 per 100. I've tried all of these and they all work fine with no failures to feed or eject. I did start out using Federals 525 rds ( 1260 fps.) in a box from Wal-Mart but I had one too many failures to feed. I could go into the reasons why the S&W doesn't feed this velocity ammo,but unless your really interested it just a waste of time. Hope this helps. Oh! just in case your wondering. I'm very happy with it.

[m25operator]

I have owned a m41 for 20 years, it took a lot of looking to find one at the right price which I won't publish here as it was 20 years ago.Originally I had a 7.5" barrel which is good for sight radius, it shot well but then I purchased a 5" sport barrel that S&W only made for a short time. It shot really well, after discussing this with a seasoned bullseye shooter/gunsmith, he said they would routinely cut the 7.5" barrels down to 5" and the accuracy would increase. Not many people know the m41, the m52 and the 25-2 match guns had accuracy requirements before they left the factory. Not advertised or guaranteed, but they had to hold the 10 ring at 50 yards or they were not delivered. I cut my 7.5" barrel to 5" and mounted optics to both, they are deadly accurate beyond 50 meters. My personal pistol likes blue label Remington target ammo, but does good with Federal classic from WalMart when sorted for headspace. Some failures to ignite or eject does happen. In my opinion, The ruger or browning are capable of great accuracy, but are much harder to get it out of due to grip, sights and trigger pull. My m41 has a 2lb trigger and Herret 1911 angle grips, I chamfered the magwell for the Chevy sportsmans challenge for quicker magchanges.

[Sponsor]

[TAB]

TAB. I just purchased one this Jan. With the 7.5" barrel. I've been taking it to the range every week. Put 700 rds or so throught it. I'm going to use it for Bullseye. So far I like what I see. Fit ,finish and ease of stripping it for cleaning. Let me repeat It is sooo easy to strip it down that I do it eveytime after my range session. Sure beats my Ruger Mark 2 (pain in the ass to strip down). You must be aware of one thing though with the S&W 41. It really likes subsonic ammo, 1070 to 1080 fps there abouts. Others will give you a failure to feed. Sweet out of the box trigger pull about 3-3.5# with little or no creep in the trigger. And it is quite accurate. At my indoor range I can keep all rounds in a 3" circle, off hand with just the iron sights that came with it. S&W says it will out of the box shoot 1" or less at 25 yds with the right ammo. I will be doing some Ransom machine testing later on to see what is the most accurate round to use. Right now I'm just trying to get use to it. The Bullseye guys recommend, these ammo for it. CCI standard velocity, Federal Gold Match 711B, Winchester Super XT- 22 SV, Remington Sub Sonic, CCI Green Tag ( Recommended by S&W) but this is a little pricey for my taste, $15.99 per 100. I've tried all of these and they all work fine with no failures to feed or eject. I did start out using Federals 525 rds ( 1260 fps.) in a box from Wal-Mart but I had one too many failures to feed. I could go into the reasons why the S&W doesn't feed this velocity ammo,but unless your really interested it just a waste of time. Hope this helps. Oh! just in case your wondering. I'm very happy with it.

thanks for the feed back, thats what I have been hearing from people as well.  I've been debating on rather or not converting a 1911 over to just 22, but I can't bring myself to do it.   I'm not looking for a "free pistol", but I want something that I can head shot varrments at 25 yds or hit cans at 50 yds. 

[Ron J]

No experience with the 7.5" but I have a lot with my M41 w/5.5".  When I first got it back in '86, I couldn't break it down and had to send it back to S&W.  Since then, it's an amazing pistol and one of the most accurate pistols that I have ever shot.  I have an Aimpoint on mine which helps wring out accuracy.  One other point that is par with a lot (but not all) 41's is that it will only feed match ammo. 

The M41 is a great gun but you will get a lot more bang for your buck with the Browning. 

[Bill Stryker]

Only feed match ammo?

NOT SO for mine.

I just got back from the range. I put my usual 50 rounds through with  no problems at all. What ammo was I using? Some 30 year old Blazer High Speed junk I got a good deal on way back when I was teaching at an Army School. I thought I would try it and see if it would cause any problems. Nope. So let's see. Mine runs well with Remington Pistol Match, some old Army issue white box pistol match, Remington Thunderbolts, The Remington golden bullets and the gray lead bullets both HP and solids that are bulk packed and all High Speed, Federal Lightning, Remington Mohawk -- bet you haven't seen that one in a while -- Winchester Wildcat, Remington Standard Velocity, Federal bulk packed HP, and several more including the ever popular Tru-Test.

Mine runs. And, I like to shoot it because it is so accurate. Now ask me if I adjust my sights every time I try new ammo. No, I just shoot groups unless I am preparing for a bullseye match and will use the same ammo for the match. The Blazer stuff did just fine. I shot it all at 50 feet.

BTW I shoot the M41 one handed -- the way God intended before he sent LTC Cooper to remind us that we have two hands to hold on to our .45s.

[HAWKFISH]

( Yeah I know ruger makes the mark 3, but I will never buy another ruger).    TAB I couldn't agree more.. at least if we are talking .22 pistols. I bought a MKIII shot it one day and had problems, sent it to ruger over two months ago and still haven't got it back.  Anyway... the model 41's are pretty good from what I've seen or heard at the range. But, I'm with tombogan03884, have you thought about Browning Buckmarks. I have got one to replace my MKIII that Ruger still has. I love it! It is just as accurate if not more than the MKIII was and it is super easy to clean and maintain. Just a thought..