Anyone Here Own A S&W 22 Victory? Do You Like It?

[yanici]

I'm considering purchasing a S&W 22 Victory pistol. All the reviews online look pretty good but I trust the forum member's views more. What is your opinion on the reliability and the trigger pull? Are there any glitches to look for? Thanks for any info.

Of course, I'll probably have to wait 'til hell freezes over before one becomes available.

 

[Palladin]

not a Victory, but I grabbed a SW 22A off a member here about 2yrs ago. awesome shooter. those seem to be on GB quite a bit

 

[yanici]

not a Victory, but I grabbed a SW 22A off a member here about 2yrs ago. awesome shooter. those seem to be on GB quite a bit

I'm not really looking for that model but thanks for the reply.

 

[MarkT]

I don't own one but I have shot one and it is a nice pistol. I actually tried to find 1 a couple months ago but was unsuccessful and ended up buying a Browning Buck Mark which Is also a good choice for a 22.

 

[Andykap]

I have one. It’s good stock, but so much better with a tandemkross trigger upgrade.

 

[gscott]

I have one and really like it . Its trigger is desent and its accurate.

 

[EMTDAD]

SW22 Victory issue

so finally got to get out to the range to try out the new gun. Gun seemed real nice.. no problems with the Rem Bucket ammo I had on hand. one thing that was annoying me was that the manual safety kicked on after every shot. A quick Google search says this is a problem with the safety lever...

www.northeastshooters.com

 

[gscott]

Just a follow up . I've had no problems with the saftey on mine

 

[thorin]

I like mine, it was reasonably priced and no malfunctions and trigger is decent

 

[Freddy B]

Out of curiosity, why the Victory instead of a Mark IV? If you like the easy breakdown, the Ruger design is better because there's no screw involved.

 

[roccoracer]

I have with out 500 rounds thru it. It is the best .22 auto I have owned. I have had several Ruger MK3's and although very good I like the Smith more. It is very easy to take apart and do a thorough cleaning with tons of after market goodies.

 

[yanici]

Out of curiosity, why the Victory instead of a Mark IV? If you like the easy breakdown, the Ruger design is better because there's no screw involved.

The break-down to clean is definitely easier with the Ruger IV. But, my research tells me that the Victory has a better trigger out of the box. I do not want to do any mods to this gun because it will be used primarily as a training tool. The price is a bit lighter with the Victory also.

 

[92G]

I have a very early production one. tons of rounds fired. I love mine. I replaced the rear sight with a tandemkross “shadow mount” low profile RMR adapter. I removed the front sight. The takedown screw is a debatable design Since it loosens under fire. I fixed that issue with an o-ring. People who suggest loctite are pretty clueless since it’s a rimfire and needs cleaning to run correctly so I’m not dealing with loctite every time I field strip. The mags were a little pricy but seem cheaper now. The gun runs very smooth and mine has been extremely reliable for a rimfire. No light strikes at all. I See no reason to mess with the trigger as it’s very short and crisp.

im waiting on a few rimfire suppressors (NFA Jail) and my victory 22 will be the host along w my volquartsen scorpion Mkiii. If contemplating the victory 22 just buy it...great pistol.

 

[yanici]

I'm convinced. I've posted a WTB but you'd probably have to be crazy to want to sell one if you have one. Maybe I'll pester Carl at FS or give Collectors a call to see if they can order one.

 

[92G]

I'm convinced. I've posted a WTB but you'd probably have to be crazy to want to sell one if you have one. Maybe I'll pester Carl at FS or give Collectors a call to see if they can order one.

They are available. grabagun has the non threaded version in stock. I’m sure one of the Littleton FFLs like @CrackPot could get you one too.

 

[Freddy B]

The break-down to clean is definitely easier with the Ruger IV. But, my research tells me that the Victory has a better trigger out of the box. I do not want to do any mods to this gun because it will be used primarily as a training tool. The price is a bit lighter with the Victory also.

You are correct the trigger on the Mark IV wasn't great out of the box. But once I had the VQ trigger kit installed, it became an amazing shooter.

 

[mothybee]

Love mine, only problem out of the box was failure to eject. Slight bend of the ejector cured that. No problem since.. Don't know what they're getting for them now but, at $299 great 22 semi-auto pistol.

 

[CrackPot]

I have a victory, threaded, suppressed and it runs flawlessly.
I have a mark iv tactical, threaded, suppressed and it runs flawlessly.

The victory is a little beefier than the mark iv tactical but comparable to the mark iv target in terms of weight/balance. I dont find the triggers to be noticeably better than one another and neither of them is above average.

Not sure my use cases help with your question or not, but I do have one and like it

 

[BigAl23]

The break-down to clean is definitely easier with the Ruger IV. But, my research tells me that the Victory has a better trigger out of the box. I do not want to do any mods to this gun because it will be used primarily as a training tool. The price is a bit lighter with the Victory also.

I have fired the Victory but couldn't tell you if the trigger was better than the Ruger MKIV that I had. I will tell you the Victory is not even close to being as reliable as the MKIV.
We had .22 shoots at our club and I have seen a lot of problems with the Victory....especially when my partner was one of them and cost me a win. I know there are four people in my club that have them and all had issues. One member got rid of his for a MKIV.
I did sell mine because I wasn't doing the shoots any more.

 

[Andykap]

I have the Victory and so far never had an issue with it. I find it to be very accurate stock but so far I have upgraded the trigger, grip and now a Volquarsten barrel. I shoot bully competition with it and my scores are really good. If there are must have upgrades, it should be the trigger and grip.
I do not have the MKIV but the MKii, that I had nothing but issues with, I recently change the upper to a Tactical Solution upper and it performs brilliantly. It is so good that Imay use it in my Bullseye comp.

 

[GBD202011]

I'm considering purchasing a S&W 22 Victory pistol. All the reviews online look pretty good but I trust the forum member's views more. What is your opinion on the reliability and the trigger pull? Are there any glitches to look for? Thanks for any info.

Of course, I'll probably have to wait 'til hell freezes over before one becomes available.

I do have a Smith & Wesson Performance Center 22 caliber Victory that I purchased new from the factory. It did take a little longer than usual to break-in. Also, when I got it the safety would engage prematurely. After I sent it back to S&W they basically said that they did not see the problem. However, I had a number of friends at my club fire it and the same thing happened to them. I finally found a gunsmith that corrected the problem. Ever since the premature engagement of the safety had been resolved it is been out of this world crazy good.

 

[yanici]

Thank you for all the replies. Most of them were positive.

 

[Broc]

Resurrection ...

Looking at buying a Victory 22.

I am thinking of going with the regular model, not the performance center.

But I have a few questions:

1. How does it handle subsonic and standard velocity CCI ammo? Does it cycle alright?

2. Are you aware of any .22 ammo this gun doesn't like?

3. If I end up going for the Performance Center gun, I think I read it has an adjustable trigger.
Any experience?
Do you know how light you can get it?

I am thinking about it for Steel Challenge. I want a break from center fire ammo and have way too much .22 ammo.

 

[1919FAN]

Resurrection ...

Looking at buying a Victory 22.

I am thinking of going with the regular model, not the performance center.

But I have a few questions:

1. How does it handle subsonic and standard velocity CCI ammo? Does it cycle alright?

2. Are you aware of any .22 ammo this gun doesn't like?

3. If I end up going for the Performance Center gun, I think I read it has an adjustable trigger.
Any experience?
Do you know how light you can get it?

I am thinking about it for Steel Challenge. I want a break from center fire ammo and have way too much .22 ammo.

Hey Broc shoot me a PM

 

[Broc]

Hey Broc shoot me a PM

PM sent.

 

[wmassregulators]

my daughter and I have a pair of them for steel challenge, they have been great little guns

 

[RankAmateur]

Resurrection ...

Looking at buying a Victory 22.

I am thinking of going with the regular model, not the performance center.

But I have a few questions:

1. How does it handle subsonic and standard velocity CCI ammo? Does it cycle alright?

2. Are you aware of any .22 ammo this gun doesn't like?

3. If I end up going for the Performance Center gun, I think I read it has an adjustable trigger.
Any experience?
Do you know how light you can get it?

I am thinking about it for Steel Challenge. I want a break from center fire ammo and have way too much .22 ammo.

Have 2 of them, one is Performance Center. Did Tandemcross trigger, Halo, hammer, and safety replacement on the non-PC one. Also added red dots, and Volquartsen laminate target grips to both. Both required adjustment of the ejector to run reliably. Since that was done, both have been flawless and great fun. Much prefer the Tandemcross trigger.

I've run Aguila SE, Remington, CCI standard and minimags, Norma, and even Golden turds though them without issue. Mine prefer 40 gr CCI for accuracy. Hope that helps.

 

[Broc]

Have 2 of them, one is Performance Center. Did Tandemcross trigger, Halo, hammer, and safety replacement on the non-PC one. Also added red dots, and Volquartsen laminate target grips to both. Both required adjustment of the ejector to run reliably. Since that was done, both have been flawless and great fun. Much prefer the Tandemcross trigger.

I've run Aguila SE, Remington, CCI standard and minimags, Norma, and even Golden turds though them without issue. Mine prefer 40 gr CCI for accuracy. Hope that helps.

Good stuff thank you.

I read about that ejector issue. Looks like people either replace it with a Volquartsen ejector or bend it a little.

Is that what you did?

 

[RankAmateur]

Good stuff thank you.

I read about that ejector issue. Looks like people either replace it with a Volquartsen ejector or bend it a little.

Is that what you did?

Ejector is integral to the receiver on the Victory, so is not replaceable without welding or replacing the entire receiver. VERY easy to simply bend the ejector tab tip in (toward the center line of the barrel) by 1 or 2 mm, and "bob's your uncle".

I also have the Volquartsen Scorpion, and it is easily a better gun, BUT, I'm hard pressed to not pick the Volquartsen/Tandemcross upgraded Victory in terms of being more fun. I think I had lower expectations of the S&W, so when it runs almost as well as the Scorpion, I get a kick out of it (grin).

 

[Broc]

Ejector is integral to the receiver on the Victory, so is not replaceable without welding or replacing the entire receiver. VERY easy to simply bend the ejector tab tip in (toward the center line of the barrel) by 1 or 2 mm, and "bob's your uncle".

I also have the Volquartsen Scorpion, and it is easily a better gun, BUT, I'm hard pressed to not pick the Volquartsen/Tandemcross upgraded Victory in terms of being more fun. I think I had lower expectations of the S&W, so when it runs almost as well as the Scorpion, I get a kick out of it (grin).

Sorry. I was thinking of the extractor.

Good info. Thank you.