Smith made these until springtime of 2015 – considered by many to by a “poor man’s” Model 41. The Model 41 is a full up competition gun – pricey at $1599 – “semi” mass produced but hand fitted – essentially what would be considered a performance center gun and Smith holds to incredibly tight tolerances with the Model 41 – with the correct ammo ( Ely match grade or better @ $15.00 for 50 – Damn! )- if you’re not putting everything into one hole in the paper at 25 plus yards it is not the pistols fault!
A gently used Model 41 – priced north of 1200 dollars!! – from S&W’s website the current production Model 41 – ” The Smith & Wesson Model 41 is the top of the line in rimfire pistols. Used by national level competitors for acute precision in competition . . . ” Folks I don’t believe we will ever have one of these ” found in a closet ” and reviewed on the site – LMAO!! The Model 41 is an all carbon steel gun – weighs more out of the box – by over six oumces – than my RIA 1911 !! Talk about a stable platform for 22 rim fire . . .
And if you aren’t happy with just an ordinary, mediocre Model 41 – S&W does make a Performance Center Model 41 – now if anyone out here simply can’t decide what little trinket to grab me for Christmas . . . .
Back to reality . . .
Smith went in a little different direction with the model 22A-1. A really decent price point and very acceptable accuracy – not a true target or competition pistol – I will show you the mag release and mag well in a minute and you will understand why – but a really good plinker!! When they stopped production the MSRP was around $329 dollars and the used market has a bunch out there and they tend to run in the $200 to $300 range.
Simple to breakdown – lock the slide back – push the button in that’s in front of the trigger guard and the barrel comes right off.
Hammer fired – alloy frame – the steel barrel – chamber end in top pic – steel barrel in an alloy “housing” – complete with rail – ready for a red dot or scope if the target sights don’t float your boat.
Another look at the sights
A peek under the slide . . .
Let’s take a look at the mag well and the magazine . . .
No tapered magazine – no beveled mag well – changing magazines in a real hurry – gotta shave .048 seconds- hurry hurry / quick quick – is time consuming at best – but S&W did put a button on the side of the magazine to make it a lot easier to load those itty bitty 22 shells . . .
The other issue concerning “competition use ” is the location of the magazine release – if you really get a grip on it – you can inadvertently drop the magazine – oops!!
Shown here with a Ruger 22/45 to give you an idea of size
So Bruce, do you think I should pick one up if I ran across one in decent shape and reasonably priced?
Absolutely – they are just fun little guns to shoot – S&W made them in several different finishes ( 5?) and a 4 inch, 5.5 inch, and a 7.5 inch and by the ten of thousands – they are out there and not anything you would consider rare or collectable – but really neat- me personally I would start getting twitchy at anything over $150 or so – I am not a cheap bastard! – I am fiscally conservative! – so don’t even go there !!! – LOL
And the more things change – sometimes it seems the more they remain the same
Type 14 Nambu pistol from the TokyoKokura Arsenal
I think these grips from Altamont would look pretty good on a Model22A-1 . . .
As always . . .
Have Fun! – Run the Gun! – and remember – Fish Heads are Cheap!!
Guns, Fun, Food and More 