This weekend my mother gave me my grandfather's old Winchester model 41 rifle, which is at least 70 years old (he inscribed the date on it when he got it, 3-14-36). It's a very solid bolt-action .22, and is in perfect condition. It hasn't been fired in at least 50 years though, so I'd like to have someone check it out just to make sure before I take it to the range.

I've been playing with it for the past few days and the thing is as solid as ever, the bolt action is completely smooth, the firing pin is intact and working, the chamber is solid, there is no rust anywhere, only a few nicks in the wood from use.. but my grandfather asked my mom to have it checked out before it was ever fired and now it's mine so I'd like to honor his wishes.

Do any of you know a good place/person/expert I could take it to to give it a quick run-down? Someone that'll know what they're talking about when it comes to older rifles? Any advice would be appreciated.


btw - I can't seem to find any info about it online, the only Winchester model 41 that I can come up with is a shotgun, but it was manufactured around the same time that this rifle would have been...

[Edited on October 15, 2006 at 9:58 PM. Reason : fggfg]

10/15/2006 9:55:50 PM

ogburn gun repair

located in same building as personal handgun, right off of tryon

10/15/2006 10:00:07 PM

^ he does a great job and is very reasonable.

10/15/2006 10:01:51 PM

excellent, thanks

10/15/2006 10:07:19 PM

i second that recomendation, he is very good

10/16/2006 2:36:35 AM

Sounds like you can just take it out and shoot it. Guns almost never wear out, and it seems like you describe it as being in excellent working shape.

10/16/2006 9:32:35 AM

It's still a good idea to have it checked, if only for peace of mind. If it were another fucking Ruger or Marlin, then yeah, I'd say to just shoot the damn thing. However, it's an OLD Winchester, and a heirloom at that.

It's not like .22LR is going to kaboom anything, but it can't hurt, right?

10/16/2006 1:02:00 PM

well, went there today (turns out that's the range I go to shoot at anyway, for some reason I never knew that's where ogburn was) and it checked out just fine, fired about 40 rounds and it was perfectly accurate at the max distance I could get at that range. I have an excellent little .22 now


oh and btw, I don't know what was going through my head on the original post, but it's a Remington model 41, not Winchester





[Edited on October 16, 2006 at 6:12 PM. Reason : pic]

10/16/2006 6:07:50 PM

http://www.gunandgame.com/forums/

10/16/2006 6:24:35 PM

dowhatnow?

10/16/2006 8:56:04 PM

OHHHHH Remington 41. It makes sense now.

Man, PDHSC had an awesome tricked-out 41 (lol...tricked out, the thing was at least 30 years old) with a globe front, iris aperture rear, and a thumbhole/varmint stock. I wish I'd had the $400 they were asking...

10/17/2006 12:38:37 AM

my dad's pissed that he can't find his springfield .303 that he modded out to wazooo any more...

10/17/2006 9:01:56 AM

I went to that shop yesterday, was amazed at their fully automatic rentals

10/17/2006 11:00:10 AM

A .303 Springfield? WTF?

10/17/2006 11:47:15 AM

yeah, i usually just go there to rent some of their pistols to make sure i'm a decent shot should i ever have to use one, but i'm thinking if i ever have some money to burn i'll go get an mp5 or something sweet like that

10/17/2006 11:56:17 AM

lol well that's what he called it last night.... coulda been and Enfield.... I'll ask him again later today....

10/17/2006 11:59:55 AM

Quote :

"A .303 Springfield? WTF?"

Probably a 1903 Springer, or a .303 Enfield...

I have that Remington Model 41 Targetmaster leaning up against my wall in the living room. I think I'm going to refinish it. It's pull-to-cock feature is something I'm not wild about, but my parents bought it for me, so I'll hang on to it.

What exactly are you trying to find out about it?

[Edited on October 17, 2006 at 12:02 PM. Reason : .]

10/17/2006 12:01:11 PM

Then again with the pull to cock style you can leave a bullet in the chamber all the time and just cock it when you're ready to shoot...tit for tat. How old is your targetmaster?


Also, I'd like to get a .22 cleaning kit to get the residue out of the barrel, I want to get an aluminum rod though so I don't nick the crown. I went by walmart yesterday and they didn't have anything, anyone know where I can get my hands on that and a silicon rag, a little oil, all that good stuff? The guys there at personal handgun didn't have what I needed.



[Edited on October 17, 2006 at 12:19 PM. Reason : fgdg]

10/17/2006 12:15:38 PM

PatchWorm.

10/17/2006 12:27:41 PM

Go by Dicks out at Triangle Town Center, they'll have smallbore cleaning kits, or universal ones, most cleaning rod diameters I've seen have been .22. Just pick one of those up.

I'm not sure, I didn't date it. I'm sure I could find out online, though.

Quick google gives me this:

Quote :

"Remington introduced the Model 41 Targetmaster in 1936 to replace the model 33. The 41 was available in two grades, P and A. The P grade had a 27 inch round barrel, one piece American walnut pistol grip stock with a beaver-tail forend, a shotgun style buttplate, hooded front sight and a Remington receiver mounted peep rear sight. Model 41 P grade rifles retailed in 1936 for $6.00. The A grade rifle was the same as the P grade except that the front sight was a white metal bead and the rear sight was a step adjustable sporting type. Model 41 A grade rifles retailed in 1936 for $5.25. Remington discontinued Model 41 production after 306,880 rifles had been produced in December of 1939 when they introduced the Model 510 Targetmaster to replace it. Blue book values for Model 41 A and P grades are in the $85.00 to $150.00 range depending on condition with P grade versions being worth $25 more on average than A grade models."

10/17/2006 12:30:40 PM

What would you use to refinish it? The wood in mine is in excellent condition, but I'd like to give it a good once-over for posterity.

10/17/2006 12:37:59 PM

why don't you just ask the teacher if you can take the test early?

10/17/2006 12:39:08 PM

yeah, i think i should ask him if i can take it early.

10/17/2006 12:40:18 PM

If the wood's nice, leave it alone, it should be fine. A bit of pledge would help it shine, if that's what you're after.

I'm going to refinish the the whole thing, probably with Duracoat, when I do my Ishapore Enfield.

10/17/2006 12:45:06 PM

pledge also makes it sliiiiiick...eh i guess i'll leave it alone. i s'pose it's not going anywhere any time soon


also, where's a good place around here to shoot? I'm looking for something a little more interesting than an indoor range, but I really don't know anything about shooting in the Raleigh area. I'm trying to get good at shooting left-handed (damaged my right eye) so moving targets would be nice, but I'm not big on hunting for the sake of shooting a gun. suggestions?

[Edited on October 17, 2006 at 1:02 PM. Reason : sdfsf]

10/17/2006 12:51:19 PM

A thread I made about my M48.

I'd say a couple of coats of boiled linseed oil, followed by a couple coats of Formby's Tung Oil Finish, and maybe some light sanding with 400~600 grit, ought to do nicely.

If you want to go to an outdoor range, Range One in Bunnlevel (link) is pretty nice. FETC's overall the best indoor range in the area (goes out to 100yd).

I don't know where you would be able to do anything but trap/skeet for moving targets, though.

[Edited on October 17, 2006 at 2:41 PM. Reason : .]

10/17/2006 2:38:50 PM