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Brand new Smith and Wesson Model 41 disappointment

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41 - 60 of 153 Posts
#42 ·
New SW model 41

delta1970 said:
Good afternoon, I'm getting back into the rimfire game after a long break. So I started saving and today purchased a brand new smith and wesson model 41 for around $1,200. Got it home, field stripped it to clean out the factory grease, immediately noticed damage to the barrel on the right side of the feed ramp, with matching damage on the right side of the frame. Looks like the barrel was forced into the frame or something. I attached some pictures may have to zoom in a little. It looks cosmetic, would one send it in immediately or is worth trying to shoot it first. I have owned it for almost an hour!

Thanks,
Mike
Click to expand...
It
is what is happening in our country! Everything is going to crap. I have a 41 I bought many years ago and I am so proud of it. The workmanship, the quality and the shooting qualities are just the best. I could not imagine S and W letting this pistol deteriorate so quickly in its production. Send it back and ask for your money back.if you have owned it for an hour and you are unhappy...just wait to a year.
 
#44 ·
delta1970 said:
Good afternoon, I'm getting back into the rimfire game after a long break. So I started saving and today purchased a brand new smith and wesson model 41 for around $1,200. Got it home, field stripped it to clean out the factory grease, immediately noticed damage to the barrel on the right side of the feed ramp, with matching damage on the right side of the frame. Looks like the barrel was forced into the frame or something. I attached some pictures may have to zoom in a little. It looks cosmetic, would one send it in immediately or is worth trying to shoot it first. I have owned it for almost an hour!

Thanks,

Mike
Click to expand...
Thats terrible - send it back!

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk
 
#47 ·
The store where you purchased your 41 should be contacted first. They may be able to expedite a replacement since they also have an FFL. But, by all means it needs to go back to S&W. I gave my 41, build around 1959, to my oldest child. It’s been replaced by a Ruger MKII Slab-side and a Ruger MKI Target. Both shoot on par with the 41, but the 41 is far smoother with a better trigger, and Its dearly missed. I’ve smoothed up the triggers on both The MKI & II so they are both good replacements.
 
#48 ·
I have to agree Clark would fix it right. I have sent two S&w pistols back to factory for warranty service and both came back in worse shape ! I hope they fix your pistol with no problems. I have learned to work on my own guns with help from great people on here! But the kind of damage on your pistol I would want frame and barrel replaced and anything else that is wrong with it
 
#49 ·
I have said it before and I will continue to say it:

If you want a QUALITY made firearm, don't buy new.
New made firearms are NOT made with the same care they were even fifteen years ago.
While a used Model 41 will cost nearly the same, or maybe a bit more more, than a new one, you can be sure it is better made, and that is not the type of handgun that would have seen abuse.
 
#50 ·
Send it back...you will probably get a new Model 41

I agree with everyone that stated S&W does not have the level of qualified gunsmiths on hand these days. I have had to send my Model 41 to them several times for work and YES there is a very long wait time. The ugly part was when they tell you they don't have original machined parts anymore they use MIM replicas. I will say this about your Model 41, if it is new, it looks more like my 1967. Your's appears to have an extractor improperly installed and its beating the slot it fits into to death. Or, I have seen some very ugly FTE's where the empty case is pushed very hard onto that area. That metal is soft and it gets real ugly quickly when the gun misbehaves. Send it back and make them fix it for you. It isn't the price to pay for a plinker. If you finally get her fixed, it is a beautiful bullseye gun.
 
#53 · (Edited)
S&W Not what it used to be

In the past 8 years, Have purchased a couple 22 LR. Smith Revolvers that I was very disappointed with,
Lock up slop, !0 thousands clearance cylinder to forcing cone, over clocked barrel,
Bought a Ruger SP101 22 LR. recently, Needed trigger work, BUT, is another accurate workhorse, Which I think Ruger is known for,
My only complaint about the Rugers is the trigger,
The Smith's have much better triggers in my experience.
Paul
 
#55 ·
That's totally unacceptable!

I bought one a few years back for my wife ( when they were in short supply...paid $1300 or so)
We could not open the trigger gaurd! I contacted S&W, sent it back , it came back perfect.
You paid for performance center perfection. Accept nothing less!
 
#56 ·
delta1970 said:
I guess 90% of the people who buy these won't notice, I wish I didn't notice stuff like this, life would be less stressful!
Click to expand...
That I doubt. The people who wait on and buy a Model 41 tend to be quite discerning. They are not buying them for plinkers. They paid a premium price for a premium gun and want it to look and shoot that way.

My 41 looked and shot like a house on fire, BUT that was when is did not give alibis, as it was incredibly ammo sensitive. Once I found what it liked it was fine, but you never knew. All the primer indents looked identical, but only 1 or 2 brands were reliable. It was my only S&W which ever had any problems.
 
#57 ·
S&W Poor Quality, Fraudulent Advertising

This is the same company that touts their M&P line of pistols & rifles. No ones, nada, none, nobody's military OR police standardize their weapons on any S&W gun. To me that is fraudulent advertising.

Unlike SIG Sauer, Beretta, Colts Manufacturing, H&K, FN, and the other TRUE Military & Police weapons providers, S&W is using the term, kind of like, "Tactical", to make their product lines sound legitimate, not to mention that the S&W guns will be obsolete in a few years with no replacement parts, and replaced by firearms of equally or worse quality as what they offer today. S&W's quality has gone down the same road as their marketing.

I recently purchased a 7-shot 686 that was in great shape and manufactured before S&W's decline. I would love to find an old 617, but will "live with" my 1970's Hartford High Standard Victor that will shoot inside any group that any S&W 41 ever will.

I am hoping the new Colt Python is of equal or better quality & craftsmanship as their originals (of which I own two, one is still a virgin). Time will tell. I would have spent the $1,200 on the new Python, rather than a new 41.

That said, I will leave Ruger alone because their quality is a notch or two BELOW S&W's.
 
#58 ·
Sorry to hear about your 41. I've never felt that I was a lucky person, but I bought a 10-shot 617 revolver and the Performance Center Model 41 in 2019. Both are and have been flawless. I do recognize that a surprising number of people around here don't seem to be getting the quality S&W's they should be, which I find sad and troubling for an otherwise well thought of brand. I have 6 other Smith's, all also flawless...
 
#60 ·
I’m sorry and don’t mean to sound offensive to the OP but why in the world would you buy a new one in the first place?
Original...in the box...vintage 41s are all over the place and are magnificent pistols.
New ones....you couldn’t give me one.
Send it back.
Get your money back.
Then look for the oldest...highest condition one you can find and prepare to be amazed.
 
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