S&W Victory .22

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MarkDido

MarkDido

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I had Ruger Mk II years ago but got rid of it. Now I'l itching to add a .22 pistol to my collection.
The Victory looks nice and has some really nice features that the Ruger doesn't

Anyone have any experience or opinions with this gun?
 
I like the fiber optic sights but I’m lukewarm on the rest of the pistol. I don’t like the small grips and had some function problems the last time I had it out. It appears to be picky about ammo. I had proper functioning with only one of the five brands I tried.

I like my MKII better.

If I were pistol shopping today, I would try something else instead of the Victory.
 
I like my Victory.
It has never failed me yet, and doesn't seem to be picky on the ammo.
A buddy of mine shot it and liked it so well he went out and bought one for himself.
Honestly, it's hard to miss with it, and if I have one complaint about this gun is that it shoots so easy, it's almost boring.
 
Bought my Victory year ago in January..I've put over 7-8000 round since..
First.. One of the easiest to take down for cleaning(New Ruger MK IV is as easy)
Second.. One of the best factory trigger on the market.. Mine's breaking at 3-1/4#.
Third.. Reliable with most ammo I've tried..Federal Automatch works really well.
Fourth..I'm getting sub 2 inch grouping at 25 yards ( from a rest)

The bad.. factory bores appear rough compared to others.. Remington Thunderbolts will lead up quickly (200-250 rounds) Keep the breach face clean or you will start getting misfires (400-500 rounds)

Good luck
 
I 2nd the Victory as well. When I was looking for a .22 for plinking and fun I also considered the Mark IV however the trigger sold me on the Victory. Absolutely love it!!
 
I would throw the Browning Buckmark out as something someone looking for a target .22 might consider. Nice balance and feel, and a sweet trigger from the factory.
 
Like my Victory better than my Buckmark. The Victory is my favorite 22lr pistol I've owned or shot.
 
I keep a fleet of .22LR target style pistols for my beginners/basic courses - let alone because I thoroughly enjoy shooting them myself. Ruger Mark series pistols 1-4 are among them, as are the Beretta NEOS, Buckmark, an old Woodsman, a Victory and a 41, a couple 22/45's, and a similar fleet of revolvers and combat style 22 pistols.

The Mark II is my favorite of all time, but I do upgrade the triggers. The Mark IV and Victory are effectively equals for takedown and accuracy, and a $9 spring kit makes the triggers comparable.

The Beretta's are the only ones I've consistently had trouble getting to run well, but once tuned up, all of these models run flawlessly. The things the Beretta has going for it are the itty bitty grip and ultra light weight feeling in hand.

I prefer the Mark IV over the Victory, but not so much I would recommend either preferentially. I grab a 41 when I head to a bullseye match, but my back up gun in the box has always been a Mark II.
 
I have a Victory and I love it. It is not picky on ammo and just a blast to shoot. Takedown is easy though it requires a tool. Not too big of a deal for me though. I would highly recommend it.
 
I have a Victory with threaded barrel. In addition to being a great suppressor host, it's an excellent shooter. Can't think of a single bad thing to say about it.
 
to you guys that own a victory I have read that some are having issues with the take-down screw coming loose while shooting anyone have that issue ?
 
Try and hold one. For me and medium sized glove hands, the grip felt way too small.
The Buckmark with the finger grooves feels awesome to me. I have a Ruger mk2. If I was buying today, it would be a Buckmark. I grew up with a Ruger, but with the new mk4 pricing, I think Ruger has lost their minds.
 
My only complaint about mine is the grip size. I have xl or xxl sized glove hands, depending on the brand and type of glove, and think the grip is absolutely tiny; but, that doesn't keep me from being able to shoot it comfortably or accurately do to the slightly unusual shape so S&W must actually know a thing or two about designing guns.
 
loosening while shooting is very common. some loc tite it(blue) or use a small lock washer. i currently have blue loctite on mine and remove the upper only every other range session.
 
Varminterror said:
I keep a fleet of .22LR target style pistols for my beginners/basic courses - let alone because I thoroughly enjoy shooting them myself. Ruger Mark series pistols 1-4 are among them, as are the Beretta NEOS, Buckmark, an old Woodsman, a Victory and a 41, a couple 22/45's, and a similar fleet of revolvers and combat style 22 pistols.

The Mark II is my favorite of all time, but I do upgrade the triggers. The Mark IV and Victory are effectively equals for takedown and accuracy, and a $9 spring kit makes the triggers comparable.

The Beretta's are the only ones I've consistently had trouble getting to run well, but once tuned up, all of these models run flawlessly. The things the Beretta has going for it are the itty bitty grip and ultra light weight feeling in hand.

I prefer the Mark IV over the Victory, but not so much I would recommend either preferentially. I grab a 41 when I head to a bullseye match, but my back up gun in the box has always been a Mark II.
Click to expand...

I've never held a Neos, is the grip that much smaller and is it overall that much lighter? I'm considering picking up a .22 pistol for my 9 year old daughter. She regularly shoots my Mark I and Buckmark, but both are heavy for her and while she manages the larger grips ok, I know she'd do better with smaller grips.
 
bassjam said:
I've never held a Neos, is the grip that much smaller and is it overall that much lighter? I'm considering picking up a .22 pistol for my 9 year old daughter. She regularly shoots my Mark I and Buckmark, but both are heavy for her and while she manages the larger grips ok, I know she'd do better with smaller grips.
Click to expand...

Sorry to the OP for a little drift here.

For a mid-weight/heavy barrel, the NEOS feels a lot lighter in hand than the Ruger Mark Series pistols, with the exception maybe of the 4.75" skinny taper barrel (not in the current Mark IV line up). The balance, of course, is much farther out towards the muzzle, so it's more stable on target than the equivalent weight 4.75" taper Mark II. It's about on par for weight with the 22/45 Lite's, maybe even a touch heavier, but again, it has a more favorable and more stable muzzle balance. The grip is small, definitely feels smallest of my fleet, but I don't typically feel like it's too small, and I do not have difficulty gripping the pistol - my wedding ring is a size 12, for reference. It might be a little nose heavy, if she has difficulty holding up the Mark I.

Not sure I'd say it's very different than a Buckmark. About the same weight, and if you have a slim panel Buckmark, I'm not sure how much smaller it will actually be (I have a wrap around and a thumbrest contour on my Buckmarks).

May want to have her hold a Victory too - especially if you're interested in investing in a carbon fiber barrel for one!
 
Varminterror said:
Sorry to the OP for a little drift here.

For a mid-weight/heavy barrel, the NEOS feels a lot lighter in hand than the Ruger Mark Series pistols, with the exception maybe of the 4.75" skinny taper barrel (not in the current Mark IV line up). The balance, of course, is much farther out towards the muzzle, so it's more stable on target than the equivalent weight 4.75" taper Mark II. It's about on par for weight with the 22/45 Lite's, maybe even a touch heavier, but again, it has a more favorable and more stable muzzle balance. The grip is small, definitely feels smallest of my fleet, but I don't typically feel like it's too small, and I do not have difficulty gripping the pistol - my wedding ring is a size 12, for reference. It might be a little nose heavy, if she has difficulty holding up the Mark I.

Not sure I'd say it's very different than a Buckmark. About the same weight, and if you have a slim panel Buckmark, I'm not sure how much smaller it will actually be (I have a wrap around and a thumbrest contour on my Buckmarks).

May want to have her hold a Victory too - especially if you're interested in investing in a carbon fiber barrel for one!
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info. I've been leaning towards a Victory, just because I think the Neos is ugly. But in the end I want to get whatever keeps her interested in shooting!
 
bassjam

My daughter, after trying out numerous .22 pistols (SIG Mosquito, Browning Buckmark, Ruger Mk.III, S&W 22-A, among others), went with the Beretta Neos. She really liked the muzzle heavy balance of the 6" barrel along with the forward rake of the grip. The trigger is fairly decent and the top mounted rail made it easy to put a red dot sight on it as she was having trouble making out the black on black sights on the bullseye. Very reliable, well built, and easy to load magazines make the Neos a decent choice for the beginning shooter.
 
Bottom Gun said:
An M&P 22 is a lighter weight pistol. . . . . . . .
Click to expand...

Putting a combat style 22lr among a discussion of target styles is a disservice.

RO'ing for a young kid with a short barreled pistol is a little more stressful than for a longer barrel model as well.
 
Good news / Bad News.

Picked up a new Victory .22 at the Academy Sporting Goods in Orlando on Saturday.

Get a pretty off price of 379.00.

Love the look and the feel of the gun.

Bad news. Can't remove the takedown screw. It is a 1/8 allen wrench type screw and I think it's torqued to about a million foot pounds.

Twisted the supplied allen wrench into a Twizzler trying to break it free. No joy.

Decided to send it back to S&W and have them make it right, rather than risk rounding out the allen screw.

Did some searching on the internet, and apparently this is a common problem with the Victory.

Some of them are easy to remove, some are impossible.

S&W customer service was right on top of it. I got a reply back to my email (on Saturday night) less than an hour later.

They're sending me a label to ship it back to them.

Gonna have to wait and get my rim fire fix a little longer.
 
Bottom Gun said:
A disservice to whom?
Click to expand...

To the would-be firearm buyer.

Bottom Gun said:
Frankly, I don't consider the Victory to be a target pistol, nor are some of the other pistols mentioned.
Click to expand...

Maybe you don't, but I didn't say "target pistol" either. I said target STYLE pistols, which they decidedly are. An M&P 22 isn't a combat pistol either, but it IS a combat style pistol. These are common vernacular to describe and differentiate these two classes of 22LR pistol.

Varminterror said:
Putting a combat style 22lr among a discussion of target styles is a disservice.
Click to expand...

NRA Conventional Pistol would be what most consider to be the pinnacle of pistol target competition, no one would condone the use of a combat style 22 like the M&P for Bullseye. The Victory, on the other hand, would be a contender as an entry level pistol, and would be easily capable of garnering Leg points in CMP Rimfire Pistol shoots (same effective CoF). An S&W 41 is a better choice than a Victory, and a Feinwerkbau is a better choice than an M41, so you can talk about what you consider to be a worthy target pistol, but the M&P is not a target style pistol, nor is it a considered pistol for target competitions. The Victory is.

Being different doesn't mean the M&P is a bad pistol, I thoroughly enjoy mine, but they just are not in the same class as the Victory, Buckmark, Mark Series, etc.
 
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