DoomGoober
Member
- Joined
- Oct 14, 2010
- Messages
- 82
I usually shoot a P226 9mm. I love that it makes a good carry gun and a decent target pistol. It feels like the best of both worlds.
So, I surprised myself by buying a S&W 41 using my year end bonus. Pulling the thing out of the box, I was surprised by how much of a hunk of metal and wood it was (being designed in '47, there's no polymers on this thing.) It comes wrapped in a piece of butcher paper like a dead fish. The butcher paper was soaked through with oil in some places.
The grips are target flared (including a little overlap in the bottom that prevents you from slapping a mag in -- you have to daintily push it in with your finger.)
Field stripping is relatively easy, with the trigger guard acting as a takedown lock. I cleaned the gun and oiled the many contacting surfaces. Overall, cleaning and oiling takes longer than a 226 as there are simply more surfaces. Putting the trigger guard takedown back into position is really weird -- sometimes it just flips into position, sometimes the whole things locks up and is nearly impossible to move. I haven't figured out what I'm doing wrong.
I hopped over to a local outdoor range. Unfortunately, there were some new shooters shooting at about 20 ft, so I shot from the same range.
Wow, that trigger is light. I embarrassingly fired a round into the bottom of my target before I was truly aimed. It was an overcast day and the sights are impossible to see without good light (the front sight is a dull metal, the rear sight dull metal with scallops designed to reduce reflection.)
Honestly, the only way I could even see the front sight was to raise it slightly above the rear sight and aim low to compensate. I'll have to try shooting indoors with lights next time.
I fed 50 rounds of Aguila Hyper-Velocity into it with no problems. I switched to some Federal American Eagle and FTE'd about every third shot: some stovepipes, some sort of double feeds. Some normal Aguila ammo had the same problem. CCI Velocitor had similar problems -- the last shot actually jammed the shell into the chamber. I couldn't remove it with pliers or screwdriver so I had to return home and push a cleaning rod through it.
The S&W trigger is amazing -- it has no creep no over travel. Just think about shooting and start squeezing and you've got a round downrange. You won't even really feel it move. The reset is obviously pretty short as well. If you physically look at the trigger, it looks like it's already all the way back!
It's a little heavy, so holding it steady can be a problem and the sights are very hard to see. And it's sort of picky about ammo.
Overall, I still prefer shooting my P226. In some ways, the Model 41 feels too much like shooting a rifle -- all the odds are stacked in the shooter's favor. I know, that sounds stupid, but I like my guns to be a little more challenging.
I feel bad having such a wonderful tool in my safe and not appreciating it as much as I should, but who can account for taste?
So, I surprised myself by buying a S&W 41 using my year end bonus. Pulling the thing out of the box, I was surprised by how much of a hunk of metal and wood it was (being designed in '47, there's no polymers on this thing.) It comes wrapped in a piece of butcher paper like a dead fish. The butcher paper was soaked through with oil in some places.
The grips are target flared (including a little overlap in the bottom that prevents you from slapping a mag in -- you have to daintily push it in with your finger.)
Field stripping is relatively easy, with the trigger guard acting as a takedown lock. I cleaned the gun and oiled the many contacting surfaces. Overall, cleaning and oiling takes longer than a 226 as there are simply more surfaces. Putting the trigger guard takedown back into position is really weird -- sometimes it just flips into position, sometimes the whole things locks up and is nearly impossible to move. I haven't figured out what I'm doing wrong.
I hopped over to a local outdoor range. Unfortunately, there were some new shooters shooting at about 20 ft, so I shot from the same range.
Wow, that trigger is light. I embarrassingly fired a round into the bottom of my target before I was truly aimed. It was an overcast day and the sights are impossible to see without good light (the front sight is a dull metal, the rear sight dull metal with scallops designed to reduce reflection.)
Honestly, the only way I could even see the front sight was to raise it slightly above the rear sight and aim low to compensate. I'll have to try shooting indoors with lights next time.
I fed 50 rounds of Aguila Hyper-Velocity into it with no problems. I switched to some Federal American Eagle and FTE'd about every third shot: some stovepipes, some sort of double feeds. Some normal Aguila ammo had the same problem. CCI Velocitor had similar problems -- the last shot actually jammed the shell into the chamber. I couldn't remove it with pliers or screwdriver so I had to return home and push a cleaning rod through it.
The S&W trigger is amazing -- it has no creep no over travel. Just think about shooting and start squeezing and you've got a round downrange. You won't even really feel it move. The reset is obviously pretty short as well. If you physically look at the trigger, it looks like it's already all the way back!
It's a little heavy, so holding it steady can be a problem and the sights are very hard to see. And it's sort of picky about ammo.
Overall, I still prefer shooting my P226. In some ways, the Model 41 feels too much like shooting a rifle -- all the odds are stacked in the shooter's favor. I know, that sounds stupid, but I like my guns to be a little more challenging.
I feel bad having such a wonderful tool in my safe and not appreciating it as much as I should, but who can account for taste?
