THE BEST .22 HANDGUNS
IV part
SMITH & WESSON MODEL 41
Introduced around 1957 after ten
years of development for US National Match Course competition, the first
S&W's .22 caliber semi-automatic pistol, Model 41, is also suitable for
target shooting or other recreational purposes. The Smith & Wesson Model 41
is a well-balanced and built-to-last pistol that dates from a time when
handguns were made of wood and metal. This iconic .22LR target pistol of is a
beautiful piece of classic American craftsmanship which have been in production
for over 60 years and is one of the most accurate self-loaders ever produced by
Smith & Wesson. The Smith & Wesson Model 41 set the fashion for rimfire target pistols with a grip angle and controls duplicating that of the .45 service pistol and many gunmakers such as High Standard and Browning Buck Mark soon followed suit with upright handles on their very popular successful models. The Model 41 is an old-school wood and steel pistol designed to be used by national level competitors for acute precision in the competition. Unlike Ruger Mark series, the higher-end S&W Model 41 was dedicated to target shooting world to whom it has been a mainstay for more than 60 years.
The S&W Model 41 is one of
the finest production rimfire pistol ever made with a benefit of being a more
up-to-date design than most of its contemporaries. Typically, it is a
blowback single-action semi-automatic pistol with a fixed barrel and with
.the forward part of the slide running under it. A pistol designed for
competition features a stainless steel frame and slide along with a
five-and-half-inch barrel adding an extra weight of 41 ounces. Considering the
overall length of 10.5 inches and weight of 41 ounces, unloaded, nobody would
ever mistake the S&W 41 as a carry gun, though that features made it a very
stable and accurate shooting platform.
The single action trigger pull has light, crisp 2.7 to 3-pound factory trigger pull matched with an over-travel user-adjustable trigger stop screw made a perfect example of the pistols designed to accomplished an acute precision in the competition. As a match grade target pistol, the Model 41 is equipped with premium iron sights, fully adjustable BoMar style target rear sight with undercut Patridge blade front sight.
Other standard features include a
slide release and frame-mounted manual safety which is never used in
competition, of course. All of aforementioned .22 pistols are feed from
10-round magazines, and the Model 41 is no exception with magazine release
button located on the left side of the frame at the bottom of the trigger
guard. Similarly, the top of the line of rimfire pistols, Smith & Wesson
M41 tends to be finicky about ammunition, so it's recommended that shooter has
a list of ammo the gun will function close to 100% with.
Compared to other semi-automatics
chambered in .22 LR, this competition pistol is quite expensive, but nothing
comes close to quality, accuracy, trigger pull, and overall feel. There are
many variants of this venerable handgun such as Model 46 selected by the U.S.
Air Force for basic marksmanship training during the Vietnam era, or the new
Model 41 PC with an integral Picatinny Rail mount for accessories and unique
skeletonized and removable front blade sight. As a final word, the time-proven
Model 41 design has been around for more than sixty years and is considered one
of the best .22 target pistols ever manufactured.
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