III. Firearm Information by Type

C. Semi-Automatic Pistols

2. Models and Manufacturers

r. Smith & Wesson

4. Model 41

After having fired my instructor's Haemmerli for a few months, I decided to buy a precision .22LR pistol and I looked at a few company. I definitely wanted a very good gun since I was used to the quality of Haemmerli. Having discussed with several shooters and guns sellers, my choice narrowed to the Beretta 89, the Haemmerli 215/280 and the Smith and Wesson 41. I discarded the Beretta since several people told me that it was not as good as the other ones. Finally, I went for the S&W 41, recommended by my gun dealer. The 41 is the best .22LR made by S&W. Frankly, if you want to do some serious practice, don't even take a look at the other S&W .22LR (422, 622, 2206,...). These guns are good if you just want to do some occasional practise or if you are not sure you want to invest in a gun. If you want to do some serious shooting, they will not be good enough (too light, bad trigger, not precise).

The 41, on the contrary, is, in my opinion, a very good gun for smallbore competition. It has all the quality required: a very smooth trigger, great balance, very good weight (48 oz.). It comes in 5" or 7" barrel, blue finish, wooden grip, and, of course, adjustable sights. Compared to an Haemmerli, I think it is very close in quality and I strongly recommend this gun. About price, I don't know how much it can cost in the US (S&W told me 750$). In Switzerland it cost 1300Frs.

2. Model 41 - Further Information

The S&W 41 has been designed during the fifties as a NRA's bullseye gun, when the current ISU rimfire discipline did not exist. At that time, its strongest competitors was the High Standard (and the Walther Olympia on the European market).

Compared to European ISU rimfire competition models, the S&W 41 has the following characteristics:

• Its 5.5" barrel is at least as good as the ones of Haemmerlis, Walthers, Unique, Fiocchi, FAS, and so on. Its heavy weight makes it very adapted to the rapid (20 and 10 seconds) strings of that discipline. A 7" barrel model is also available.
• Its sights are excellent. The adjustments of the rear sight are fine and precise. Its front sight is wide and has no reflection. The rectangular "opening" of the rear sight has a good width. The only limitation is that there is neither possibility to adapt the width of this "opening", nor any possibility to change the front sight (for adaptation to various lighting conditions).
• Its trigger is very crisp and light, but it cannot be adjusted in position, course and weight as the European ISU competition models.
• The original grips of my model (in Goncalo Alvez) are very nice and work well. contrary to what some people think, they are NOT symmetrical. the two finger rests that they have are placed differently. One is aimed to help the thumb and the other one is here to help the finger trigger (and it is placed lower). Those grips are however not orthopedic. They are thin, less adapted to the hand's morphology, They cannot be sculpted for a prefect adaptation and they have no palm rest.
• the "handle" of the S&W 41 is almost vertical. It makes pointing mistakes easier and more difficult to correct. In this domain, it is clearly weaker than European competition guns. Even models with the magazine inside the grip, like the FAS SP-602, the Unique DES 69U or the Haemmerli 208 are better.
• The S&W41 is very easy and quick to field strip, clean and reassemble. No tool is needed, and a complete and careful cleaning takes around 10 minutes.
• The magazines have open sides and can contain up to 10 rounds. They are a weak point of this gun (at least of my gun). With more than 8 rounds my guns fails to feed systematically. One must also be very careful when one fills them, elsewhere rounds go in every position. Then one must empty the magazine completely before refilling it.
  Christian J. van den Branden Lambrecht notes that the only misfeeding problems he has experienced have been due to hot loads, and he has never noticed a correlation between misfeeding and number of rounds in the magazine.
• The S&W 41 is also very sensitive to the brand of ammunition used. Mine jams consistently with standard velocity ammunition, including match grade ammo, as soon as the temperature is under 15C. At low temperatures it works better with hotter rounds (for example PMC Zapper works flawlessly in mine).
• Finally, there is no facility to fix counterweights on the frame (or on the barrel).

I'll let people used to NRA's bullseye and metallic silhouette evaluate it for these disciplines. I'll limit myself to informal target shooting and to ISU rimfire.

The S&W 41 has clearly the potential to compete with European competition guns in ISU rimfire matches. Its accuracy is comparable, or even better than the one of any other gun involved in this discipline. It has an excellent trigger and excellent sights. Its drawback is that it cannot be adjusted as extensively as its competitors. It does also not come with a fully orthopedic grip. It is thus not as efficient for high level competitions as its adversaries. For local or regional matches it is however dubious that its simpler "user interface" do really limit the performances of target shooters.

For initiation to formal target shooting is id definitely good enough and by a serious margin. Its simplicity is, IMO, an advantage: the shooter can concentrate on basic shooting skills, without worrying about things like adjustment of the trigger's weight and course. The absence of these adjustments does also mean that the beginner won't be able to "jerk" them.

If the S&W 41 is a good gun for regional ISU competitions, there's no reason why it should not be a good gun for informal target shooting. In addition of all its shooting qualities, it will give its owner the satisfaction to have a very nice and well made gun.

People should however be warned that this gun has been tuned to work with standard velocity ammo. It's a precision tool, and extensive use of high speed ammo will at least shorten its lifetime and maybe damage it.