I have 4 instances on 2.41.2 and 1 instance on 2.40.4
I live on the absolutely bleeding edge (i also use docker in prod - despite docker not being recommended for use in production!) so don’t take my word as norm but rather the exception.
Also, all the app are on their latest versions
Yes, its a good practice (tried and tested) to use 1 major version less for production. Also ensure you have updated to the latest minor version (to receive necessary patches!)