S&W Model 41 missfires

sharp shooter

sharp shooter

CGN frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
83   0   0
Location
Essex county (Ontario)
I have a Model 41. The gun is very clean (I clean it always). Some Elley ammo, but not all missfires about 1 out of 10. I don't care because Elley is too expensive for me. I buy CCI standard target. Good cheap and accurate. No missfires. Now heres the problem - I find that my gun shoots the Remington standard target the best (most accurate), but, every 1 out of 10 missfires. Whats the problem???
 
sharp shooter said:
I have a Model 41. The gun is very clean (I clean it always). Some Elley ammo, but not all missfires about 1 out of 10. I don't care because Elley is too expensive for me. I buy CCI standard target. Good cheap and accurate. No missfires. Now heres the problem - I find that my gun shoots the Remington standard target the best (most accurate), but, every 1 out of 10 missfires. Whats the problem???
Click to expand...

That Remington ammo is not held in high regard and likely the quality of the ammo and not the Model 41 causing the misfires. Go through some other ammo brands and find one more suitable.



.
 
By "misfire" do you mean it fails to ignite the cartridge, or fails to extract it after firing?

The Model 41 is quite famous for failing to reliably cycle most brands of standard velocity ammunition. CCI standard is recommended, even by Smith & Wesson. I've been able to use Eley and all other brands by putting a drop of oil on the top round in the magazine each time (try it, it works), but CCI is the most reliable without that kind of trickery.

Unfortunately, as you have discovered, most reliable doesn't necessarily mean most accurate.

If the problem is in fact that the cartridge doesn't fire, is there evidence of a good firing pin strike afterwards? I suspect that the gun is just barely cycling with the other brands (Eley should be extremely reliable for ignition) and is stopping just short of completely closing the chamber when stripping some rounds out of the magazine. As a result, the cartridge seats into the chamber with the hammer strike rather than igniting. Does the firing pin impression on the cartridge that didn't fire look faint? Does the cartridge fire with a second strike?
 
My 41, hates Remington.(80% misfire)

Will shoot Winchester Xpert bulk back, CCI, Federal value pack ( 1 misfire /500 rounds)


Buy different brands and try them.

Your gun is OK.

Mine is 12 years old.
 
Smith 41's are like that. Extremely particular about what ammo they like. No two of 'em will shoot the same ammo well either. Price of the ammo makes no difference. You absolutely have to try a box of as many brands as you can to find the ammo your pistol both cycles and shoots well. You do end up with a bunch of part boxes. Other .22's will shoot that stuff.
High velocity ammo is an option too. Won't bother you pistol at all. Lots of U.S. guys use 41's for hunting small game. They scope/red dot 'em as well. Believe NRA target shooting, Stateside, allows optics.
Mine refuses to have anything to do with Eley or any pricey ammo. Only shoots Remington Target(old stuff I got before Remington's QC went bad) and old IVI Standard velocity.
"...a drop of oil on the top round in the magazine..." Don't. Oil in the chamber causes weird pressures.
"...Mine is 12 years old..." Had mine for about 25 years or more. Herrett's National Target grips work well on it. Puts the balance into your hand vs muzzle heavy. Expensive to buy now though. $78US. Bought mine at a gun show, long ago, for $20, as I recall.
 
Missfire (for my 41) - No ignition.

The remingtons have good imprints on the rims. I have a couple of targets on my fridge from the remingtons and they have large holes in them with a few strays. I have tried with the CCI's and they are accurate but I can't get those big holes in the targets. The Eley pistol match - Awsome groups but too much money. I've tried some federals but not enough to make a statement about them and my gun. I usually only shoot the gun in the winter because I have time. Anywhere I can get a good deal on Eley? I live in Essex county and Manfred is the only guy that carries them. He is a little steep on some things but an amazing gun smith.
 
What I meant by misfires was I have had failures to ignite the round once it was successfully chambered. I would usually try them again by rotating to a different place on the rim but no luck. Usually, I end up throwing out 3 or 4 Remington Thunderbolts in each box of 50.
Other than that, my 41 was quite reliable. With other brands of ammo I tried, and even with those dreadful Thunderbolts, my 41 would always, eject and chamber the next round if it went off in the first place. No failures to feed or failures to eject I can recall.
Great target gun. Try a box of each brand through your's to see what it likes.
 
sharp shooter said:
Missfire (for my 41) - No ignition.

The remingtons have good imprints on the rims. I have a couple of targets on my fridge from the remingtons and they have large holes in them with a few strays. I have tried with the CCI's and they are accurate but I can't get those big holes in the targets. The Eley pistol match - Awsome groups but too much money. I've tried some federals but not enough to make a statement about them and my gun. I usually only shoot the gun in the winter because I have time. Anywhere I can get a good deal on Eley? I live in Essex county and Manfred is the only guy that carries them. He is a little steep on some things but an amazing gun smith.
Click to expand...

Ah, okay. When you said you had misfires with Eley as well as the Remington I questioned if it could be the ammunition.

In terms of pricing, Eley took a huge price jump this year here in Ottawa and I presume everywhere, and I just shoot Sport, which is the cheapest. I'm think I'm going to switch to the Federal Gold Medal Target bulk packs.
 
I spent 6 months trying different ammunition in my 41 before I found a round this beautiful little gun would fire and eject consistently.......and with my luck it had to be a little more expensive......My 41 has decided it likes lapua ammunition, no it loves it. This is the first ammunition I've found that I know the gun will cycle without fuss. Interestingly, lapua coats these rounds with some kind of lubricant which makes them quite slippery. I'm guessing this lubrication has something to do with the guns sudden reliability. One thing though....after loading a few mags you can't help but get that lubricant on your hands so keep a rag handy to ensure your grips stay dry. As for the high velocity ammo....I tried some during my trial phase.....it didnt work well in my 41 and you could tell the gun was taking abuse it didnt seem to like.
 
I usually have about 1 in 100 or less that do not go off using any one of my Ruger handguns. And it does not matter what the ammo brand is the misfires always happen and it is definitely the fault of the ammo.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom