Smith & Wesson Model 41

I need to buy ammunition for my S&W Model 41. Does anyone have any recommendations on ammo that works best (along with which ammo to stay away from)?

I bought a box of Federal "Target Grade Performance .22 Long Rifle ammo", 40 grain Solid, Muzzle Velocity 1200 fps. Out of about 30 shots, the only problem was one bullet that didn't want to feed properly from the magazine into the gun. On the second attempt, it worked fine.

The purpose of the ammo is target shooting, and while I'd like something "good", it doesn't have to be the most expensive ammo that's made for expert competition.

(I would have entered this as a reply to an existing thread on the gun, but I couldn't find any recent threads.)

......this used to be my old gun, purchased in the early 1980's from a friend. I sold it to a relative a few years ago, and bought it back from him after he bought a different Model 41. I'm hoping I can find ammunition that works in this gun, and also in an old "High Standard" .22 target gun that I just bought.

Voodoochile said:

.......Sorry for high jacking this but had to say that I kick myself for never keeping that one........

Click to expand...

I deliberately titled this thread only "Smith & Wesson Model 41" so anybody could say anything about that gun, so you're not "hijacking" this thread.

I've got several more questions I want to ask about the Model 41, and will also post them here, but not until after I go to the local range, and get used to it again.

(Maybe your father in law still has the gun, and you can buy it?)

At this point in time, I have no desire to experiment; too many other things going on, including two other new-to-me guns that I know very little about. I just want to find ammo that works reliably, and hopefully is reasonably accurate, for an "affordable" price... in that order.

I did find CCI Standard Velocity 22 LR RN 40 grain ammo in stock for $3.65 for 50 rounds (equals 7.5 cents per round). They have 10 boxes, 500 rounds, in stock.

Here's mine:

The point of asking the question wasn't so much to learn all the different kinds of ammo that might or might not work, but rather to find what people who use this gun usually shoot. Hopefully this won't be something like what 'Valkman' described, or some ammo I used long ago that seemed to 'jam' far too often.

As for accuracy, here's a comparison of .22 LR ammo:
http://www.accurateshooter.com/guns-of-week/22lr-rimfire-ammo-comparison-test/

My gut feeling is that if I select any ammo that rates better than half an inch at 50 yards, it should be just fine for my practicing/learning with the Model 41 at 15 yards, what I usually shoot.

If my thinking is reasonable, then I'm back to finding which ammunition doesn't excessively dirty up the gun, and works smoothly without jamming.

Maybe someone here knows the answer to something I used to wonder about. My gun (and most others I have seen) has a 7" barrel. I know it also was available with a 5" barrel, and I know of one gun set up that way.

What might the reasons be for selecting one over the other? Is the short barrel to make it easier to carry around, or because of some competition rule? I would have thought the longer barrel would improve accuracy, even if only because of the increased distance between front and rear sights. To me, a longer barrel seems like something useful if all you're concerned about is accuracy.