pared to shooting a handgun in the Isosceles or Weaver stance, but it remains an essential skill. And if you can hit a target with one hand, think how much easier it will be to do it with two! As for those who always have to have a handgun skill rooted to something in the“ tactical” world, why assume you’ ll get to use both hands and arms during a violent confl ict? Even for the professional, there are often circumstances during a criminal or violent attack where the non-dominant hand is needed to protect an innocent bystander or family member, if not access an avenue of escape such as to open a door, remove an obstacle or start and drive a motor vehicle, all while engaging the threat one handed with the dominant hand. Developing skill at one-hand shooting of a handgun does not detract from the skills needed when using both hands to stabilize and fi re a defensive handgun. In fact, it can only add to those skills, so owning and practicing with a traditional small-caliber target pistol like the Smith & Wesson Model 41 can be benefi cial even for the fi rearms martial artist. The Physical Facts The Smith & Wesson Model 41 is a typical blowback single-action semi-auto. The barrel is fi xed, with the forward part of the slide running under it. Barrel length on the test pistol is 7 inches. The gun, empty, weighs 42 ounces. The left side of the frame features two control levers: the forward tab is the slide release, as the slide will lock open after the last round has been fi red. The manual safety is found at the left rear of the frame, and is moved up to place the pistol on safe. The safety lever is never used in competition, of course. The grips are laminated hardwood with a prominent thumbrest on both sides and a checkered panel below each. The magazine release is a pushbutton located just aft of the junction where the trigger guard meets the frame on the left side. The iron sights are what you would expect to fi nd on a premium level, match grade target pistol. The front sight is an undercut Patridge blade front sight while the rear sight is a fully adjustable BoMar style with a large serrated, slightly backward-sloping rear blade. The top of the barrel is serrated in a milled fl at that runs the length of the upper surface from the back of the front sight to the rear. The top of the slide is also drilled and tapped to ease installation of optional optical sighting systems as indicated by the four screws near the middle and rear of the slide.( A feature I would have appreciated many years ago and one that many will appreciate today.) One of the advantages of this premium grade design is the fact it is so easy to change barrels. Just pull the trigger guard down, release the barrel lock. Removal of both the barrel and slide is straightforward from that point on. Reassembly with the original or a substitute barrel assembly simply requires locating the slide and barrel in the proper location and closing the trigger guard. Additional features of the sample Model 41 include an adjustable trigger stop. A hex wrench is provided with the pistol, Pulling the trigger guard down reveals a set screw that
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GUNS & AMMO
allows adjustment of the trigger travel. Of course, any operator performing this adjustment should make sure the gun and chamber are empty and the magazine is removed from the pistol. Turning this adjustment screw counter-clockwise decreases trigger travel while turning the adjustment screw clockwise increases trigger travel. Shooting The Model 41 It takes a far more skilled shooter than I am to discover the gun’ s limits. Fortunately for our test purposes I had a hidden stash of good. 22 target-grade ammo, because of the recent rush on ammunition has made it diffi cult to locate any. My best group at 50 feet was achieved with CCI Green Tag, and it was 10 rounds that measured just 15 ⁄ 8 inches, which I thought was spectacular performance for me on a dimly lit indoor range. With that success, I set a new target all the way to end of the indoor range at 25 yards. I was rewarded with a best group of 10 rounds that measured an even 2 inches. Five of those 10 were well within an inch at the lower portions of the 9- and 10-rings of the bullseye target. Again, the ammo was CCI Green Tag. I also used Remington’ s. 22 Standard Velocity Target ammo in this test but I never achieved any performance close to these groups in terms of tightness. The same could be said for some older Federal Standard Velocity Target ammo I found stashed away in one of my hidden ammo cans. The Remington Standard Velocity Target ammo averaged 994 fps out of the sample Model 41, while the Federal Target averaged 1071 fps. The CCI Green Tag had a consistently lower standard deviation during my chronograph testing and that may help explain why I was able to get my best groups with it. The CCI Green Tag ammo averaged 980 fps out of the test Model 41 pistol. The only problems I encountered during all of my testing of the sample Model 41 involved three instances where the trigger failed to reset, and they all happened within the fi rst 50 rounds of testing. I had to clear the pistol and cycle the slide to reset the trigger in each instance. What I think happened is the adjustment was just too tight for a brand new gun as the problem disappeared after the third instance and was never again experienced during the remainder of the 300 rounds I fi red during testing. Conclusion Having owned and used a Model 41 of my own for more than two decades, I can’ t say I’ m unbiased as to the performance of this design. It is one I heartily endorse and the reason is for its performance. The design has changed slightly over the years. For one thing, the loaded chamber indicator found at the back of the slide on my personal pistol is not found on the test sample. It was a nice feature but not one that is absolutely required. Accuracy performance, however, is the same if not improved and for those who still seek to improve and develop their one hand shooting skills it’ s hard to beat the Smith & Wesson Model 41; especially so if you have the opportunity to work on those skills during a winter indoor league.