smith and wesson M41

[sparkeyu]

Im thinking about getting one, what do you guys think of them?
Thanks

 

[Jerry45Acp]

They are able to shoot tiny, tiny little groups if you are interested in such. Wonderful American craftsmanship.

 

[snorko]

Awesome guns. IMHO the best you can get without refinancing your house. Hard to find for less than $1,000.

 

[Twangbanger]

Depends on what you want it for, but I sure love mine and would not sell it. When I first got it 25 years ago, it had to go back for a "factory mulligan" because the slide wouldn't lock back after the last shot, but since then, it's been flawless. It's a heavy gun. I use mine for the .22 stage of bullseye matches, but it's a great plinking and teaching gun if you can justify the cost. And if you're into the rimfire steel challenge stuff, there's probably nothing better for that purpose, because it's front-heavy in a way that's reminiscent of a 2011 Limited gun with full dust cover (and has 10-shot mags, unlike most of the European styled .22 bullseye pistols). I eventually gave up on my European guns and went back to the Smith for everything, simply because it's versatile, familiar in style to my .45 and doesn't give me any problems. You will hear a lot of crap about ammo preferences, "don't use HV because it was designed to shoot standard velocity," etc. and other internet guff, but I've found it will shoot pretty much anything my other guns will shoot. The only thing I don't like about it, is that the rear sight is held in place by a tiny hex set screw, which will come loose regularly and mess up your horizontal zero if you don't give it some attention. Otherwise the sights are awesome. The trigger is a dream, and will eventually break-in to the 2.25-2.5 lb. range with time when set to the low end of the range (there's an internal adjustment which will allow you to vary this, a little bit...you can get it up above 3 lbs. if you need to, although I've heard that newer guns favor the upper end of that range from the factory - I wouldn't know).

The factory wood grips are actually quite good as-is, by the way.

 

[17 squirrel]

As a owner of two 41's and a few extra barrels. One I bought and the other was my Grandfathers. They are wonderful pistols to shoot. Some are finicky about certain ammo but once you get through that if you do have a problem you will enjoy shooting it and you will never get rid of it.
Myself I have never had any issues with the rear sights in either pistols I own. I bought mine in the middle 70's and my Grand father bought his in the late 60's.
I tent to shoot mine with the 5 1/2" barrel more than the 7" compensated barrel or the 5 1/2" barrel with the extended front sight. The 7" barrels are heavy.
Another S&W you would love is a Mod 52 ... 38 wadcutter pistol.

 

[davedolli]

I also have two, and they are fine pistols. I have never had a problem with either, and both are tack drivers. You can't go wrong with a model 41.

Dave

 

[sloughfoot]

I think the 5 1/2 is far more useful from bullseye competition to hunting to casual shooting. Mine is setup with a red dot over the irons. And like the other guy said, the factory wood is very, very good. I bought some aftermarket wood, but only shot it for a couple of matches before putting factory back on.

A great pistol. Finely made. I have thought about selling mine from time to time, but don't think I could bear to see it go.

 

[17 squirrel]

I have never found a pair of left handed grips that work for me with a 41.
My son is right handed and my grandfather had a few different sets and my kid uses a old pair of harret adj's that he likes.

 

[Leadeye]

Good guns, had mine for over 30 years, no issues.

 

[Mr. Habib]

Buy one. You won't be disappointed.

 

[sparkeyu]

Thanks everyone very helpfull

 

[Jim McKalip]

Be careful what you buy. The older ones had serious accuracy problems with any ammunition other than Remington and it wouldnt go bang reliably. This problem only showed up as Remington's quality went to Hell. If you wanted accuracy with any other ammunition, it took a new barrel and they are not easy to find or cheap. I was one of the unfortunates. The 41'sw made in Holton, ME are 100% ok. PM me if you need more info. I've been shooting the 41 off and on since 1960.

 

[17 squirrel]

Be careful what you buy. The older ones had serious accuracy problems with any ammunition other than Remington and it wouldnt go bang reliably. This problem only showed up as Remington's quality went to Hell. If you wanted accuracy with any other ammunition, it took a new barrel and they are not easy to find or cheap. I was one of the unfortunates. The 41'sw made in Holton, ME are 100% ok. PM me if you need more info. I've been shooting the 41 off and on since 1960.

What are you classifying as old ? Both of mine are pre 1978's. I bought my first one new in 75 and have actively been shooting it since then. I have not shot any Remington ammo in both of mine for years and years, I shoot nothing but Federal and Elly for matches and Fed auto match for practice. My pistols have always shot better than there owner.
I am assuming the junk guns you are talking about are 1984+ - pistols with some cast parts.
You know the only time I hear anything bad about these pistols is from the old guys. My younger brother owns one of these so called cast junk pistols and he have never had any issues at all with his pistol. And he shoots nothing but that evil high velocity stuff.

 

[Bigdog357]

Buy,buy,buy you won't regret it. Awesome tack driving pistols. With good ammo mine will put them thru the same hole time and time again.

 

[Mike Elzinga]

A 41 is one of my bucket list guns. Ive heard rumors about them being picky about bulk ammo, but when fed match ammo, that allegedly goes away. I recall seeing an old friend, a lifelong bullseye shooter, shooting off a table at rifle steel that was 150 yards out and ringing them enough that it got boring.

 

[Mr. Habib]

I've had two both from the mid '80s and still have one of them. They would both eat anything that I feed them. The only failures happened if they were recently cleaned and run wet. After a mag or two they would clear up and run like a sewing machine. The worst thing about owning one is that when you miss you can't blame the gun.

 

[Grelber]

What are you classifying as old ?

Good question, best I can tell by serial numbers, friction, and windage, mine was made in 1958.

Mine could use a little love (feed issues), anyone know a good 41 person in the Evansville area?

 

[17 squirrel]

I would look around on the smith-wessonforum.com and ask there.

 

[slipnotz]

Go to the handgun for sale section here, Snuffy33 has one for sale. Started listing it 3 days ago.

 

[sparkeyu]

you guys have been helpfull,saw the one in the clasifieds ,dont have enough posts,probably will look on gun broker