S&W Mod. 41 feeding problem

Tony C. · Post by **Tony C.** » Mon Nov 08, 2004 7:14 pm

Hi everyone, I recently purchase a 2nd. hand S&W Mod. 41 for using it during winter for the standard pistol match. however I'm having problem with its feeding. The pistol is in excellent condition and it came with 2 mag. One of the mag works well hardly had any problem with it, the other one alwayshad trouble with the first shot, when I load the mag with 5 rds. I always push the slide release and let the slide go forward to chamber the first rd. after the first shot was fired, about 50% of the time the slide will fail to pick up the next rd. from the mag and it close on an empty chamber, or the fired case will partially extract and stuck in the action, I guess thats a stovepipe. I went out and brought another mag. from S&W, same thing, 50% of the time fail to chamber the next rd. or stovepipe. what I can't understand is this happen 99% of the time when the first shot was fired, hardly ever during the 2nd. or 3rd. shots. If I clean the pistol it help a little but the problem still there.I also swap mag spring and follower, no difference, always one of the mag works well the other 2 not so good. I tried different ammo, not much difference, bullets with lot of lube on them seems to work slightly better, but problem remain. I gather the trouble is in the body of the mag itself, but looking at them I can't see any difference between them, lips look good, nothing is bent out of shape and why its always the first shot giving trouble? I never had this kind of problem with my Walther or High Standard pistol. this Mod. 41 shot well when it work and I would like to use it more often but it just not very reliable, I'm a little annoyed, any suggestions?

Rob · Post by **Rob** » Mon Nov 08, 2004 7:26 pm

I'm not sure if this will help but, I've allways replaced the recoil spring with the lightest Wolff recoil spring. The one that comes with the gun will handle high power ammo and we put soft ammo in our guns. Wolff has a nice website.

RJP · Post by **RJP** » Tue Nov 09, 2004 1:49 am

My Model 41 is now 24 years old. When I first got it, it would do the same thing, short stroke in recoil. I tried the lighter recoil springs and that helped. But, I finally had to have the chamber reemed slightly to faciliate extraction. This is not always the best thing to do as there will be some loss of accuracy.

First, clean your bore and slide very well, then try ammo that is slightly hotter than what you were using. There are many velocities now, from subsonic to high velocity 22 LR. CCI standard velocity has a good reputation in a Model 41. Then try the softer recoil springs. Lastly, and only if absolutely necessary, find a good bullseye gunsmith and let him take a look at the gun. Maybe the chamber just needs a slight polishing. Reeming the chamber is always a last resort and do not try doing it yourself.

Jimmy B. · Post by **Jimmy B.** » Tue Nov 09, 2004 3:04 am

Hi,
Your problem is not unique.
1) Check mag release for wear. Does mag have vertical play? Always press release button when inserting mag to eliminate this wear. A low mag will not allow good feeding.
2) Check extractor fit. Does it move out of case rim when slide is fully forward? Edge of extractor should match contour of relief cut in barrel to prevent disengagement with case rim.
3) Use lighter recoil spring (ie: Wolff) and proven ammo in your pistol (CCI SV?)
4) Not a lot of people are aware that SW makes three different breech blocks for the 41. These have the casehead cut either slightly left, slightly right or neutral in order to tune the alignment with the chamber. Contact Jim Clark at Clark Custom Guns for more on this.
5) Different lubes do help.
6) Keep this gun clean. It is very unforgiving in this respect.
7) You can always try a Clark custom barrel or reliability package. My Clark barrel is more reliable than the factory original.
8) How old is yours? Newer 41s have a different ejector profile with the notch that bumps the case out slightly more forward. Look at this if you have much stovepiping.
Don't give up!! : )

.22 pistolero · Post by **.22 pistolero** » Tue Nov 09, 2004 5:21 am

In my country the S&W 41 was considered a notorious malfunctioner. But you have got some good advices, I rekon. They might help some.
But I think you have to face the reality: The S&W 41 feeding problems are bound to reoccur.
Pity. It is otherwise a wellmade gun.

Tony C. · Post by **Tony C.** » Wed Nov 10, 2004 6:34 pm

Hello again everyone, Thanks for all the excellent info, I havn't thought of the re-coil spring can be the problem, since the failure confine to 2 of the 3 mag I had. Sometime I need someone else to point my nose at the right direction to see the light. I think I'll try a lighter spring first and go from there. Yes the Mod 41 is a very well made pistol, I like the all steel construction with no plastic or light alloy anywhere, gives it a solid front heavy feel, the factory grip fits my hand well and and shoot a lot better than my other pistols when it works.

Predictable Bob · Post by **Predictable Bob** » Tue Nov 16, 2004 4:06 pm

My brother used to shoot a model 46 (the cheaper version of the 41) and experienced feed problems for a while - we discovered it was bullet lube fouling up his mags !

All we did was strip the mags and clean them with petrol - he changed to a different make of ammo that didn't use a heavy lube and never had any more problems

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