Hey, thought I'd share my experience so far with my first pistol - the new Smith and Wesson Victory .22LR. Instead of a good carry or HD gun (already have an 870P for that), I wanted a gun that would be a good platform to learn with. The Buckmarks and Ruger .22s are nice but I've heard nothing but bad things about taking them apart for maintenance. The Victory, though, comes apart with the removal of one screw. On top of that, there's a lot of bang for the buck in the features department, too. I called around and located one not too far away a few days ago. I'm not a collector, but a serial number of less than 1,000 is pretty cool - don't worry, this thing will be shot plenty. This pistol is all stainless steel so it has a very solid heft to it and the grip is comfortable for my medium-sized hand.
Range report
Shot 300 rounds of CCI SV through the Victory yesterday. Very proud to say that group on the right is 10 rounds fired at about 9 or 10 yards. That's exactly what I was hoping to see out of this pistol. Not all of my groups were that good, but this was, of course, my first time shooting the gun. The factory sights are excellent, green fiber optics all around and a fully adjustable Williams at the rear. I didn't adjust anything and after shooting it, I don't plan to.
There were a couple of hiccups, and they were easily fixed. Two FTFs resulting in two dented cases got me pretty worried but I quickly found that the take-down screw had actually loosened a bit after 200 or so rounds - the barrel, bolt, and slide could actually wobble lightly on top of the frame. I tightened it back up, problem solved. Once back at home, I removed, Loctited, and replaced the screw. I guess it's not too surprising that a screw like that could work itself loose from lots of firing, but it was disconcerting at the time.
Overall, I was very, very happy with the gun. After 300 rounds, and the end of my lunch break approaching, I had to pack it in - otherwise I could have shot that thing all afternoon.
Smith worked with the aftermarket while they were developing the gun, so Volquartsen barrels are already available. Custom grips will also be out before too long. A larger/longer slide release would be nice, maybe that'll happen too. While adjusting my grip once, I did inadvertently engage the safety. There is a magazine disconnect that can be easily removed (I've seen a YouTube video on that already). The rear sight assembly can be removed and replaced with an (included) picatinny rail that has a notch at the rear to continue shooting with open sights.
Looking forward to many thousands of rounds through this gun, can't wait till my next range trip.
Thanks, have a great weekend
Steve
Range report
Shot 300 rounds of CCI SV through the Victory yesterday. Very proud to say that group on the right is 10 rounds fired at about 9 or 10 yards. That's exactly what I was hoping to see out of this pistol. Not all of my groups were that good, but this was, of course, my first time shooting the gun. The factory sights are excellent, green fiber optics all around and a fully adjustable Williams at the rear. I didn't adjust anything and after shooting it, I don't plan to.
There were a couple of hiccups, and they were easily fixed. Two FTFs resulting in two dented cases got me pretty worried but I quickly found that the take-down screw had actually loosened a bit after 200 or so rounds - the barrel, bolt, and slide could actually wobble lightly on top of the frame. I tightened it back up, problem solved. Once back at home, I removed, Loctited, and replaced the screw. I guess it's not too surprising that a screw like that could work itself loose from lots of firing, but it was disconcerting at the time.
Overall, I was very, very happy with the gun. After 300 rounds, and the end of my lunch break approaching, I had to pack it in - otherwise I could have shot that thing all afternoon.
Smith worked with the aftermarket while they were developing the gun, so Volquartsen barrels are already available. Custom grips will also be out before too long. A larger/longer slide release would be nice, maybe that'll happen too. While adjusting my grip once, I did inadvertently engage the safety. There is a magazine disconnect that can be easily removed (I've seen a YouTube video on that already). The rear sight assembly can be removed and replaced with an (included) picatinny rail that has a notch at the rear to continue shooting with open sights.
Looking forward to many thousands of rounds through this gun, can't wait till my next range trip.
Thanks, have a great weekend
Steve
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