.22lr Pistol SW22 Victory

[ffhounddog]

I am in the market finally for a threaded .22LR pistol and I am looking at the SW-22 Victory.

Does anyone have an opinion on the pistol? The magazine disconnect is a non issue for me.

http://www.smith-wesson.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Category4_750001_750051_804153_-1_757752_757751_image

I was looking at a Ruger 22/45 and the take down and cleaning seems to not be where I would want it to be in a .22LR.

I looked at the Walther P22 and PPQ-22 and they are nice as well just the SW22 has a nice trigger and I liked the factory sights that comes in it.

[matt7184]

They are on the heavy side with the triggers being on par with the Ruger (22/45) and Browning (Buckmark) stock rimfire offerings imo. I like the take down, but the samples I've seen tended to be way too sharp for me in the beavertail area.

[TCinVA]

Mine had to go back to the factory because it absolutely would not extract spent casings or feed rounds from the magazine. Haven't had the chance to shoot it since it got back due to all the other stuff that's been going on.

[farscott]

The biggest issue of which I am aware is that the screw used to take the gun apart backs out during shooting, causing excessive wear. Not sure if a bid of thread-locker is enough to stop it.

I really am not in the market as I am invested in the well-proven Ruger Mark II and .22/45 platforms, and I can still find LNIB samples of those pistols for $300. Late last year I built a franken!Ruger with a VQ .22/45 frame, threaded Tactical Solutions upper, VQ "seconds" mainspring housing, and VQ bolt. The only Ruger part in the pistol is the magazine, and the gun is much lighter than the equivalent Mark II would be. It also is as accurate as my wife's S&W M41 with CCI Standard Velocity.

Cleaning the Mark II and .22/45 is not that big a deal. I clean mine once a year or so at most. Usually I just wipe it down after shooting and every couple of bricks I might run a bore snake through it. When I do tear it down, I just take my time. It gets easier with practice as long as it is not a Mark III with that insipid magazine safety that requires the magazine to be inserted and removed multiple times during the assembly process. That is to allow manipulation of the hammer, necessary for the process.

[ffhounddog]

Interesting , had not heard all this yet. I guess I will have to keep reading about .22 pistols when I can.

[JonInWA]

For a minute I though S&W had re-instated a .22 version of the venerable WWII-production revolver....that would have been interesting.

I also have a Ruger 22/45-a Mk III. I field-strip and clean mine after every use, which may be a bit more than actually needed, but I guess my old training reflexes just kick in. The MK IIIs are a bit more interesting to field-strip and reassemble than the average bear, but I have a detailed pictorial tutorial that lays things out step-by-step-that's an integral part of any assembly/dis-assembly process for me.

Here it is: http://www.guntalk-online.com/2245detailstripping.htm

Each image is individually enlargeable for more detail as well. After reviewing a host of videos, instructions, manuals, etc, this is by far the best one that I've come across for the Mk III 22/45.

Best, Jon

[ralph]

I saw one of these at the LGS last week, I dunno, it really did'nt do anything for me.. I wasn't impressed. I've got a S&W mod 17, and a older Browning Challengerll, If I want to shoot .22, which I admit, I don't do alot of. Since I reload, I can load a box of 9mm, almost as cheaply as what a box of .22 goes for these days..

[ffhounddog]

Yeah I am looking at future gun for teaching the kids but also to practice shooting a bit.

I saw that there is a threaded SR22 that people seem to like and then there is the M&P-22 compact that seems to be better than the full size.

[Jim Watson]

Argh.
Agree with JoninWA.
I am old fashioned. Every time I see "S&W .22 Victory" I immediately think of the British surplus Victory Model revolvers converted to .22 by Cogswell and Harrison.

[CCT125US]

Yeah I am looking at future gun for teaching the kids but also to practice shooting a bit.

I saw that there is a threaded SR22 that people seem to like and then there is the M&P-22 compact that seems to be better than the full size.

Aside from a broken thumb safety spring, my MP .22C has been a great gun. I have roughly 3k through it, cleaned it twice I think. I usually wipe the feed ramp every couple hundred rounds. It has been reliable with everything accept Russian steel cased.

[JazzyD]

I am in the market finally for a threaded .22LR pistol and I am looking at the SW-22 Victory.

Does anyone have an opinion on the pistol? The magazine disconnect is a non issue for me.

http://www.smith-wesson.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Category4_750001_750051_804153_-1_757752_757751_image

I was looking at a Ruger 22/45 and the take down and cleaning seems to not be where I would want it to be in a .22LR.

I looked at the Walther P22 and PPQ-22 and they are nice as well just the SW22 has a nice trigger and I liked the factory sights that comes in it.

I feel comfortable to comment on this topic. I just purchased my SW22 Victory at the Nation's Gun Show yesterday. I have the non-threaded model. I just couldn't find the threaded barrel version at a LGS within 75 miles of DC.

After feeling the SW22 Victory, I had to have it. I hope to sight it in next weekend.

I have read the comments comparing it to the Ruger Mark II and 22/45. For now I'll comment on maintenance. The 22/45 might become my backup target piece. Disassembly, assembly, and cleaning the Victory is a joy compared to that of the 22/45. Rebuilding a Volkswagen carb gets reduced to not being a big thing if you do it enough. But that does not make it simple.

The simplicity of Victory gets my vote. Hopefully, I will be back with a range report.

JD