This is a story of plain, old-fashioned, good luck. There’s no other way to describe it. The gun was introduced to the public and I became one of its earliest customers. Several factors should have warned me away from the purchase but I decided to take a chance despite the odds. I was happy, albeit skeptical, to be among the first members of the shooting public to put one in service and have been happier each time it goes to the range with me.
I wrote an article on the SW22 Victory in July 2016, shortly after my purchase. You can read that story here. This is a bit of an update but also includes information I gained from my lengthy experience with the gun.
SW22 Victory with Tandemkross Victory trigger installed
Smith & Wesson has a long and storied history of designing and manufacturing fine products. It is not, however, without a misstep or two along the way. In fact, S&W has not been a leader in the industry in the .22lr genre. Its Model 41 and Model 17 are, perhaps, the only ones of a fairly large group of S&W 22s that stand at or near the top of that heap. To expect a “real winner” to emerge with the introduction of a totally new design would have been a stretch for someone with a modicum of 22lr marksmanship experience/expertise.
In this case, S&W exceeded expectations. The SW22 Victory is indeed a “real winner” - perhaps THE winner - in its market niche.
Today, S&W offers eight variants of the SW22 Victory ranging in price from an MSRP of $469 for the most basic model to a Performance Center version at $945. Bells & whistles aside, the basic model - which can probably be had “on the street” for slightly over four benjamins - is definitely in the category of “one whale of a lot of gun for the money.”
Back to my story of good luck. At the time of my purchase decision, I had plenty of handgun experience in general and 22 plinking in particular. Kicking a tin can along the ground with multiple shots from a 22 handgun is definitely my kind of fun. If goaded a little, I’ll tack up a target on the backstop and see if I can put any holes close to the bullseye but it really ain’t my game. I take plenty of criticism about this from my regular shooting buddies who claim bullseye shooting is the best way to learn how to shoot more accurately and hone one’s skills. They’re probably right and they apparently have fun doing it but that paper bullseye never talked back to them with a loud “plink” and never jumped up in the air to stumble along the ground. Paper targets don’t produce giggles for the shooter.
A demonstration of World-Class marksmanship would involve dragging out an S&W Model 41 or one of several European “purpose-built” counterparts. I have one of those and appreciate the extra lengths that go into the design and craftsmanship necessary to excel at this endeavor. They don’t, however, do much extra over a much more mundane pistol when it comes to making a tin can dance at 10 or 20 yards. Even with one of those guns, however, Wold-Class marksmanship demonstrations are not possible with my geriatric eyesight and “twitchy” muscle control. Plinking at the semi-pro level is my game these days.
I was able to handle an SW22 Victory before its public availability. The ergonomics were nothing short of wonderful for me. Also, the number on the price tag was much less than I expected to see. At that price, I could afford to wind up with a lemon, take a loss on the sale, and chalk it up to a learning experience. Nothing else mattered.
Shooting “the Victory” was a pleasant but not unexpected surprise. The trigger feel was most certainly NOT “match-grade.” It had some creep and did not break as clean as possible. Low/no creep and “breaks like glass” triggers are not expected in guns that haven’t been tuned by a gunsmith anyway, and this one was no exception. It wasn’t that bad, compared to other guns new from the factory, so there was nothing to complain about. I used cheap ammo on purpose to see how it would handle rounds that frequently caused hiccups in semi-automatic pistols. The Victory didn’t miss a beat. This was an eye-opener because the Rugers and Brownings that are its peers are all finicky with cheap 22 ammo. A 22 semi that doesn’t fail to feed or eject and has a light strike here and there is almost unheard of but somebody forgot to tell the S&W designers about that requirement. They left “glitch-free” in the specs.
Once I got used to the trigger - its shortcomings were easily overcome with practice - the thing was amazingly accurate. It soon became one of the guns I shoot the best, and this includes some pretty high-priced and finely tuned specimens. OK, it's reliable and it’s accurate. How will all this stand up after it has some rounds through it? While pondering this question I was regularly shooting a very nice Buckmark I had acquired from a friend and which had been tuned by a very competent local gunsmith. The Browning routinely produced very good-looking groups on the paper targets and would easily push the cans around in plinking sessions. It also had my definition of perfect ergonomics and the trigger was to die for (remember I said gunsmith tuning?). The Buckmark, however, was emphatic about its hygiene. Ms. Buckmark would refuse to perform properly if she didn’t get a regular bath. I didn’t particularly find fault with Ms. Buckmark’s attitude in this regard but a little more latitude with the cleaning schedule would be nice.
With all this in mind, I decided to put the Victory through a torture test of sorts. I’m not talking about abuse. There was no running over the gun with the truck, no throwing sand into the mechanism, and no stuffing mud into the muzzle. The protocol was to put a drop of oil on the slide periodically, inspect the bore for debris and obstructions, and shoot the hell out of it. Good quality, expensive ammo was also eliminated from Mr. Victory’s diet. Remington Golden Bullets, Federal Champion, and whatever else I could find that was sold in bulk was served to the little guy. He ate them all up and asked for a second helping. No burps, belches, light strikes, or jams. By “no” I don’t mean “not excessive”, I mean zero, nada, none. Zip. I simply could not find a brand of ammo that would not run reliably.
While executing the ammo challenge I noticed the round count beginning to take on a notable size. I started to pay more attention to the areas of the gun that would likely suffer from accumulated gunpowder residue mixed with oil and areas around the chamber where debris or wear might have an adverse effect. None were evident. “Let’s see how far this thing will go without a cleaning;” I said. “Sacrilege;” my friends shouted. “Regular cleaning is required. To do otherwise is a crime. You’re a pervert;” they said. Well, regular inspections prevented damage from lack of cleaning.
Several years passed on this protocol. I shot Mr. Victory and Ms. Buckmark alternately several times a month and kept piling on the round count for each. Ms. Buckmark continued to get a bath more often than I liked but she performed well (not perfectly) under this regime. Mr. Victory just giggled at her and kept on belching bullets reliably. One day I saw a YouTube video that described the installation of an aftermarket trigger designed for the SW22 Victory. It made claims for large improvements in trigger feel and this was the one area - after all my experience with it - I thought Mr. Victory could use some help.
Now, at this point, the gun had accumulated a total of more than 7,500 rounds fired. No cleaning. No adjustments, no parts replaced. It was still performing as it did when new - actually a little better because the mating surfaces had worn in a bit. Okay, I thought to myself. The torture test has proven the excellence of the design and further use without changing the recoil spring could be bad. The test is over. Mr. Victory is the valedictorian of his class.
My friend, a master gunsmith, laid hands on Mr. Victory. We call what he did “detail cleaning.” Not EVERY part of the gun came out but the ones that didn’t can’t get dirty anyway and were working perfectly. There was a spot or two inside that could have used a bit of swabbing earlier on but didn’t obstruct the operation or have a potential for damage or corrosion. A new OEM recoil spring and the trigger upgrade parts were installed as the gun went back together. A trigger pull weight gauge was used to test the new arrangement and it showed the break at 2 lbs. Both the gunsmith and I gave the trigger a human test and judged the feel of the break to be exceptionally clean and crisp - “like a glass rod”.
Now, with the trigger upgrade, will Mr. Victory compete with the Performance Center Model 41 or the high-priced European competition guns? I don’t know because I don’t have the skills to perform the accuracy tests or a Ransome Rest to “proof” the mechanical accuracy. I do know that the gun is more accurate than I am and I do know that nothing I’ve ever handled or owned could be more reliable. I consider the SW22 Victory to be one of the best guns I own, and I’m including some that are worth two or three times what I have in it.
Smith & Wesson, Sig Sauer, Beretta, Glock, Colt, and other well-respected manufacturers will turn out a lemon every once in a while. There can be a bad apple or two among thousands of great pistols of a particular model and a company can introduce a model that just doesn't do what it was advertised to do. Those are the chances we consumers take when we buy a pistol - particularly one of a new model design. In this case, I got lucky. Mr. Victory is “one fine sumbish.”
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