Originally Posted by ozziegn

Perfect to me is having a firearm that works flawlessly with any brand type of ammo and is 100% cosmetic free condition out of the box. Thankfully my local gun shop allows me to hand pick my guns because they know how picky I am. I've seen plenty of new, out of the box guns that have some sort of either metal casting flaws and or machining cosmetic flaws. My shop lets me pick until I find that cosmetic defect free gun. I appreciate that which is why I keep coming back to that shop.

Having a working firearm to me would mean having a firearm that can shoot at least one type of ammo as described out of the box. My Victory along with plenty of others in the wild cannot or were not able to do that. Not until we did the needle nose pliers trick which thankfully worked for me.

Originally Posted by RGVshooter

That's interesting because here's a direct quote from the SW22 Victory owners manual. But I guess it's easier to bend parts in your gun with a pair of pliers instead of finding which ammo functions the best...

*Some brands of ammunition may cause difficulty in extracting
spent cartridge cases from the cylinder or chamber. If this situation
occurs, thoroughly clean the cylinder charge holes or chamber with
solvent. If this condition persists, we recommend changing to another
brand of ammunition.
* Smith & Wesson has found wide variations in primer sensitivity
between some brands and types of .22LR ammunition.
Smith & Wesson recommends that before you put your .22LR
handgun into regular use, that you fire several boxes of your brand
of ammunition through it to determine reliability of ignition.
* If “failure to fire” occurs, try different types or brands of .22LR
ammunition until a reliable loading is found"

Originally Posted by Joe_coin

Newbie here, bought a Victory 22, unreliable ejection, the spent case was laying on top of the new round 2 to 3 times a magazine. Learned about the needle nose pliers fix for the ejector. Moved mine about the the thickness of the ejector. Fired 10 rounds no problem. thanks, I have hope!

Originally Posted by Barrie

Joe Coin Welcome to the forum from Canada. Overall for the price point the Victory is a very decent pistol. They have had some growing pains withis new product but much more success then failure overall. If you have problems with the barrel screw coming loose then I would suggest placing a No.61 O-ring on the screw before re-tightening it back up.

Originally Posted by artie45

First time at the range with the SW22 Victory. Stove pipe every third round. Fail to eject-half way out with another live round on top. Apparently it wouldn't eject fast enough I guess. I don't know. I think it might be the ammo. Using CCI Mini Mags. MY Ruger 10/22 loves them. I noticed they have a waxey build up on them. I've been using this ammo for years. Never noticed this wax. Do you think this is my problem with the Victory. I cleaned every one of them before I go back to the range. I'm also going to try several different brands. So much for buying the good stuff. I hope this is the problem with the Victory. Very accurate when it worked. Any advice?

Originally Posted by shawn mccarver

I'm sorry, but to say that one should not shoot name brand ammo from some of the companies listed is just not the right answer.

The right answer is for S&W to fix this Victory pistol.

It has had various issues since its introduction, and S&W seems not to care.

In the meantime, my Ruger 22 Auto (both MK III and 22/45) just goes on feeding absolutely anything. And I have one that has not been taken apart EVER, nor does it get cleaned more than once every few years.

If a 22 Auto will not perform as reliably as the Ruger, then I am not interested.

Making money is certainly one goal of a corporation, but long term survival is another, and the more customers that try S&W and leave for other brands the more long term survival is impacted.

Bad show.

I have read in the last two weeks on this forum of folks having issues with the Victory, the M&P pistols, the light strikes with revolvers that seem to have started after S&W shaved a little off the frame mounted firing pin to make sure of California drop tests, etc.

The one thing we all want in a firearm is one that fires each time the trigger is pulled, and it should work - whether that be cylinder rotates (there are posts on here about dragging cylinders in new guns) when trigger is pulled, or whether that be extract, eject, feed and fire again in semi-auto weapons (without out of battery firings, etc.).

S&W seems not to publicize what, if anything, it is doing to address ongoing problems, and for me, that promotes LACK of confidence in the product.

Sorry S&W, but that is how I feel.

Originally Posted by Rclark28

New user here. My range buddy has a Victory Base Model and I asked him about his guns reliability and he stated he has had it for 1 year and after using the "needle nose plier method" to tweak it the gun eats any ammo and is very accurate with no issues at all. I had a chance to shoot it last month and liked it. I use a Mark III 22/45 and find it to be a great firearm with no issues. I am interested on this subject because I plan to acquire a new Mark VI or a Victory depending on what I come with on my quest for data. I find it interesting the different issues with both Victory and Mark IV. Thanks for all who shared here. I plan on taking my time with my research, it's fun and I want to make the correct decision. I am very trusting of Ruger and it will be a interesting journey to compare these two target platforms.