Hello folks. My name is Lance. I am fairly new to this forum. I do not currently own a 22LR pistol. I already own quality 22LR rifles. My rifle club has a high power and small bore handgun silhouette range. Both are handguns only. I have been shooting my 22lr rifle at the smallbore range for the past five years and would like to invest in a quality rim fire handgun. I am familiar with the condenders, exemplars, and so on. I am currently interested in two guns. Here they are. Please tell me which you would rather use for small bore handgun silhouette. Thank you all. Talk soon.

Option #1 Smith & Wesson Model 41 22LR 7" barrel

Option #2 Smith & Wesson Model 617 22LR 6" barrel

CONSIDERING Option #3 Thomson center contender 22LR

Lance,
I have not shot the Smith 617, but it looks good, if you have large hands. As for the model 41, have a few, that are fantastic for precision but picky on ammo to cycle reliably. I also have several TC's sort of my preference for SB silhouette only because of the versatility for scope mounting./

Mary

Innocent wrote:Lance,
I have not shot the Smith 617, but it looks good, if you have large hands. As for the model 41, have a few, that are fantastic for precision but picky on ammo to cycle reliably. I also have several TC's sort of my preference for SB silhouette only because of the versatility for scope mounting./

Mary

Hello Mary,
Thank you for the information. I have small hands so maybe the 617 is not for me. I live in a rural area and the dealers only stock the junk that they can sell fast for low price. Its hard to get my hands on either of the guns listed. Do you shoot SB silhouette with your model 41's? How does it perform? I am not really a fan of scopes on handguns as my eyes are pretty good and i can use irons sights pretty well. I do know that you can get some pretty extreme iron sights for the contender.

You can shoot SBHP with anything. You'll be happier in the long run with a Contender. With a Contender set up you can shoot small bore, pistol cartridge and long range. I'm no pistol shooter but I LOVE my Contenders....

Lance,
Yes I have shot two of my 41's in SB sil, both in irons and scoped. I still fall back to the contenders though for pistol silhouette. Not really sure why, just seems to like shooting them in this silhouette more. I guess it is just the consistency in reliable ammo for the 41's that holds me back with them, although there are at least two other 41's at the local matches.

Mary

Innocent wrote:Lance,
Yes I have shot two of my 41's in SB sil, both in irons and scoped. I still fall back to the contenders though for pistol silhouette. Not really sure why, just seems to like shooting them in this silhouette more. I guess it is just the consistency in reliable ammo for the 41's that holds me back with them, although there are at least two other 41's at the local matches.

Mary

That makes me feel a little better about shooting a model 41 on the SB silhouette range. Do you own a 7" barreled model 41 and a 5.5"? I might be going and buying a 7" new model 41 from a dealer tomorrow but still cant get the 5.5" out of my head. Any advise on model 41 barrel length? I appreciate your guidance. Talk soon.

Lance

How about both! The 7" barrel has better sighting radius for irons(as your eyes age!), 5.5 is fun to shoot. I have several of the 41's with various barrel lengths.

Mary

Innocent wrote:How about both! The 7" barrel has better sighting radius for irons(as your eyes age!), 5.5 is fun to shoot. I have several of the 41's with various barrel lengths.

Mary

Alright. Is it safe to say, If I am going to shoot irons, start out with the 7" barrel, and if I decided to put a holographic red dot on, then buy the 5.5" later down the road? Pricey little pistols. I sure hope they are worth the expense.

Yes, they are pricey but if you watch you can find them reasonably, but they are worth it.

Mary

Innocent wrote:Yes, they are pricey but if you watch you can find them reasonably, but they are worth it.

Mary

OK. I am looking at a new one asking price is $1200 + 6% tax. I am going to call the shop tomorrow and offer $1200 total with tax out the door with cash and JUST MAYBE, they might budge. If they say no, do you feel the model 41 is worth $1,275 new production. I checked the serial number with smith and it was made about six months ago.Your a really big help.

Lance

cedestech wrote:You can shoot SBHP with anything. You'll be happier in the long run with a Contender. With a Contender set up you can shoot small bore, pistol cartridge and long range. I'm no pistol shooter but I LOVE my Contenders....

Thank you. I like the looks of the contenders but they just feel awkward in my hands. I might budge sooner or later. I am sure they are great pistols. I like to call them pistol rifles.

Lance,
You don't say what part of the country you are in. Here in FL you can find 90% S&W 41's for around 850 at the shows. They do go up depending on the age and condition of box etc. $1200 is full MSRP, and you should be able to find one cheaper if you are in a high traffic area. Although I see that you are looking at 8+% tax so you are apparently in an area where MSRP is accepted.
My response to that is I have never seen them go down in price, and they do not depreciate drastically like a vehicle!

Mary

Innocent wrote:Lance,
You don't say what part of the country you are in. Here in FL you can find 90% S&W 41's for around 850 at the shows. They do go up depending on the age and condition of box etc. $1200 is full MSRP, and you should be able to find one cheaper if you are in a high traffic area. Although I see that you are looking at 8+% tax so you are apparently in an area where MSRP is accepted.
My response to that is I have never seen them go down in price, and they do not depreciate drastically like a vehicle!

Mary

Thanks again. I am in the state of Pennsylvania. Our local tax rate is 6%. Retail of a new model 41 is a little over $1300. I went and looked at the new one I found the other day and found a few things i was not happy with.

1. Under the trigger guard where it locks up in the groove. There is a gap when the trigger guard is locked in to place. It should be tight and no gap right?
2. the cheap production line serations on the frame are not even like they should be.

Please take pictures if these things I am seeing are normal with this pistol so i can go back and buy.

Lance,
no gap. send me an email tekakatahi@juno.com
I do not post pictures of my guns.

Mary

Innocent wrote:Lance,
no gap. send me an email tekakatahi@juno.com
I do not post pictures of my guns.

Mary

OK. Thank you Mary. I will be in touch.

Lance