Cleaning, Complete Strip S&W Model 41

[blue68f100]

Bad as that thing was I would have thrown it in my ultrasonic cleaner with hopper #9 and come back in a week. You have your job cut out for you cleaning that one.

[Bullseye]

Try using a new hard bristled toothbrush and some Hoppes #9 solvent to scrub those deep recesses. Be sure to place some of the solvent into a separate container for dipping in the brush or you risk contaminating the whole bottle with residue. Afterward dispose of any leftover solvent in the container that had the toothbrush contact it. You could also use a brass scrub brush but again don't dip it into the solvent bottle. Everything should clean up well if you don't have any corrosion going on underneath all that powder residue.

R,
Bullseye

[juniour]

Well I glad to here others think it is as dirty as I thought it was. I was begining to wonder if I was nuts tearing it completely down. I run a small aftermarket Harley shop and I've been cleaning it and the parts in My solvent tank. It has a nylon brush that the solvent comes out of. And I been useing tooth brushes also. It has mineral spirits in it. Pretty convienent and I blow it dry with compressed air. There is some heavy buildup on some of the parts that I been plucking away at that with toothpicks. There is no corrosion that I've seen. It is going to clean up well. I did shoot it before I tore it down and it's very accurate. I put 30 out of 30 rounds all within about 6" circle at 25yrds. First time I ever shot it. It's kind of funny it's so dirty. My Father passed last year and it was His and I bought it off My Mom. He shot it a lot. I'm pretty sure he's the one that produced the dirt. I also got a 38 quart Sterilite tube Full of 22 Ammo with it. This is going to be fun. I will definately have finished pictures to post. I've just ben so busy with other stuff that I only get to clean a couple pieces a day. And yes I thought about the ultrasonic. My girlfriend is a Jeweler and has one but she'd put the hurt on Me if I got caught.
Juniour

[juniour]

Hi Again,
I've got the 41 cleaned up pretty good and am ready to reassemble after the complete dissasembly. I'm curious about what and if I should be lubricateing and whats the best to use. Should I assemble all the stuff in the Frame dry? Or give everything a light coat of oil? Or luricate specific components? What would you do?
Thanks, I'm looking forward to finishing this up so I can shoot it again.
Juniour

[ruger22]

When I detail strip and reassemble, I put a drop of oil on each pin any part rotates on, a drop in a firing pin channel, and use oil on a cotton swab to coat any springs (except no oil in magazines). I use Hoppe's gun oil. There are a hundred opinions on which lube is best.

On a slide, I use white lithium grease on any frame / slide contact points. Different opines here, too.

Main thing is to not over lube, with whatever lubes you use. That just collects crud all the worse, which accelerates wear.

[Bullseye]

The key is to not over lube or you'll end up with the same problem again later. Rimfires create a lot of blow back residue and too much lubricant will attract it. Put a few drops of a lightweight oil. like Rem Oil, on a clean cotton rag and wipe your parts and frame with the cloth. This will be all the oiling you need for the reassembly.

R,
Bullseye

[juniour]

Hi,
I'm still moving along getting this gun back together. Cleaned a few parts a second time as I found more dirt. My question is about the recoil buffer I bought to put in it. The buffer is square edged on both sides and where the slide would hit the buffer the slide has a fairly big radius on both sides. Should I knock the corners off the buffer so the slide will hit it on the flat surface instead of on the radius's on each side? Makes sense to Me. I hope I'm making sense. It just don't seem right the way it would contact as is. Hopefully if everything moves along I'll finally have pictures of the gun by the weekend.
Juniour

[Bullseye]

Your M-41 recoil buffer should look like this one -



The rounded side goes downward over the recoil spring, and the flat portion faces upward.



You're talking about the rounded corners of the slide assembly hitting the buffer's squared edges - don't worry about these and leave them. The big thing to check when installing a buffer is ensure that the slide can be manually opened far enough to set the bolt catch. Otherwise the bolt may fail to lock back under normal operation when the last shot is fired from the magazine. If you cannot manually set the mag catch, then slightly round the front outer edges of the buffer for more rearward clearance with the slide. A sharp razor knife works well here. Just shave off a 45° angle, approximately 1/8" wide, from each of the front corners.

R,
Bullseye

[juniour]

Thanks bullseye that exactly what I was talking about and thanks for the check for the slide catch will do.
Juniuor

[juniour]

I finally got it cleaned spotless. I had a few issues reassembleing but finally got it back together. Nice looking old gun I think. I believe it's around a 1968. It must have been taken apart before as the cam lock thing that holds the barrel locked in was in backwards. I reassembled it as it came apart but couldn't get the barrel back on till I found out that piece was backwards. Thanks for a picture in the Model 41 Maintenance section. I also had some trouble with the magazine disconnector spring. The original one was messed up so I ordered a new one. S&W sure don't do a nice job of bending there springs. The last coil didn't curve on around and it would not fit good at all. I tweaked it but ended up tweaking the original back into shape and it fit better then the new one. Now I have to clean the Magazines. I have 3 and 2 of them have the catch slot worn badly and I believe it comes from the Magazine dissconnector being disarmed. The dissconnector applies downward pressure on the magazine and pushes it against the catch. The magazine is held firmly this way. With the dissconnector disarmed it allows the magazine to bounce while being shot i'd guess and it really beat the slots. I wish I could buy just new magazine tubes as thats all I really need. Either way maybe I'll just buy 1 new magazine and clean the best one I have and down the round see if I can weld up the slots in the other 2. I just want to shoot it and am pretty sure this weekend is the time.
Thanks for the help this far guys and if there's any tips i'd sure like to here them.
Juniour

[Bullseye]

Nice Job. Looks like you have a nice old shooter there. That five and a half inch bull barrel will put them where you aim. I see you also have a set of Herrett's 45 Trainer grips mounted on the pistol.

Do you still have the magazine disconnector lever disabled? The whole reason I suggested a new spring was to reactivate that feature. Having the magazines stable in the frame has a definite advantage with feeding.

R,
Bullseye

[blue68f100]

That's a nice looking 41. You had an adventure on this one and learned a lot on the inner workings. I bet it's one nice shooter. Give a a range report after you have a chance to shoot it.

[juniour]

Yes Herret's grips they feel pretty good. I have the stock grips also. I did put the disconnector and spring back in original shape and I do see how the gun would benifit feeding wise and wear and tear on the magazine. I'll be shooting this weekend for sure.
Larry

[Coach1]

The pistol looks really great. But the real story when your adventure started was the state of the inside surfaces. Maybe you could get a photo before the range time.. sort of a before and after comparison. In any case, have a good time at the range.

[juniour]

Coach1, Yes in hind sight I do wish I'd a took some pic's of it clean. I can assure you it was cleaner then it was probably New. I didn't have much time earlier this week but got to run about 50 rounds thru it. It shot great. This is the second time only I ever shot this gun and this is My first 20 shots at about 20 yards. I like this gun. It will be with Me a while.
Juniour