Thinking of getting a Model 41

[capp325]

Always liked the look and feel of that pistol. The only thing stopping me is its reputation as being "finicky" and "ammo sensitive". How big of an issue is this, really? Is it just a matter of trying several different ammo brands to find what it likes best? Or is there a risk of being stuck with a jam-o-matic no matter what you do?

 

[stubblejumper]

I was just shooting mine today. It hasn't failed to feed with the Federal Gold Medal or CCI Standard Velocity loads that I have tried.

 

[tjhaile]

Mine feeds reliably with almost any ammo I feed it. My suspicion is that many of the Model 41s that do have problems could benefit from the extractor tuning shown here:

http://guntalk-online.com/Model41maintenance.htm#extractor

 

[capp325]

Mine feeds reliably with almost any ammo I feed it. My suspicion is that many of the Model 41s that do have problems could benefit from the extractor tuning shown here:

http://guntalk-online.com/Model41maintenance.htm#extractor

Ouch...I'm not sure I'd want to "tune" my extractor by putting it in a vice like that!

 

[lakers1138]

FWIW, my 41 likes to eat the higher velocity ammunition. I regularly feed it Federal Champions 525 Bulk Pack ammo during routine practice shooting, and I get the occasional stovepipe jam, failure-to-pick-up a new round from the magazine, and FTE. I can never count on having a full magazine's worth of functionality with this ammo, hence I do not use it for anything of a competitive, time-sensitive nature (i.e. timed/rapid fire timing - where any problem can knock you out of the running).
When I load CCI Velocitor ammunition, all of the above problems go away. As an additional benefit, the extra 'oomph' of the CCI ammo knocks down several metal silhouette targets that the Federals merely wobble. An even greater benefit is the grouping factor. The CCI ammo groups shrink by 50% over the Federal groups for any given distance.
So why don't I shoot CCI all the time? Cost factor! The CCI ammo is 3 times the price of Federal ammo.

lakers1138

 

[sillymike]

- Most feeding issues with the 41, tend to be 'magazine' issues... as in, the problem will go away it the magazine lips are within specs (or you just buy a new magazine)
- You keep you gun clean.

 

[mule]

You should like the Model 41.

 

[tjhaile]

Ouch...I'm not sure I'd want to "tune" my extractor by putting it in a vice like that!

Take it to a gunsmith familiar with the 41 and he will likely use the same procedure if extractor work is required.