Hi all...new guy here...

I've had a Victory for about 6 months...don't shoot it all that often but I've been getting more into target shooting lately. Anyways, the bolt has been failing to fully reseat itself every so often after it cycles a round, and I've experienced this with at least five types of ammo, so I really think it's the gun. It also happens with both magazines that came with the gun, neither of which has ever been dropped or damaged.

Basically, after firing a round, the bolt cycles and then sticks out the back of the gun by maybe 1/16"--it's really tiny, and only visible if you look for it. But the gun won't fire. The solution is to tap the bolt back into place with the back of my hand. It's simple and cheap to fix! But it's gone from happening every 50 rounds or so, to happening almost 1 in 4 rounds and it's getting bothersome. I've thoroughly cleaned and lubed it.

Has anyone else had this problem? Or know its cause? Or do I need to ship this back to my friends at S&W for warranty work?

Thanks!

Does it happen with several different types of ammo or just one? Are you shooting Stingers or Aguila Supermaximums?
AA

I've not shot Supermaximums. I have shot CCI stinger. It's happened with those, Remington "Golden Bullets," two types of Federal Match, and Armscor hollow points.

Mine really likes CCI MiniMags 40 grain bullets.
I use Mass Airflow Sensor Cleaner from my local auto parts store to get inside those tight places that I don't want to disassemble. It's Gun Scrubber at a lower price. Won't harm plastic. I use synthetic lubes on my guns. You might want to try blasting it out, lubing it up and using MiniMags.

OTIS ALL PURPOSE CLEANING BRUSHES | Brownells

If that doesn't work, a trip back to S&W might be necessary. And this is their busy season.
AA

Check for the cleanliness of the breech area where the bullet ramp is. You can get a buildup in there that can cause blockages on occasion. Make sure its well lubed also.

The technical explanation for what you're experiencing is that the bolt is failing to fully close--return to battery--after firing.

In a rimfire, the reasons why are multitudinous. Unlike a centerfire, which might use a recoil spring as heavy as 12 to 18 pounds, a rimfire's recoil spring generally runs in the 7-8# range. What this means is that there's just not a lot of energy in the system to overcome little hiccups. Small, slight problems that a 9mm or .45ACP would brute-force past, can hang up a rimfire with ease.

• Read the manual. Check to see whether you're supposed to release the bolt by pulling it back and letting go (slingshotting), or by depressing the slide release lever. If they use the term slide stop, then that usually means they want you to slingshot.
  
• If you're right-handed, ensure that your thumb is not riding on the slide stop/slide release lever. Pressure on that part causes the bolt to strike it as it closes, retarding its operation.
  
• Check and clean the chamber--the rearmost portion of the barrel where the cartridge resides after it's fed from the magazine, but before it's fired. A dirty chamber makes it harder for a cartridge to--well, chamber, causing the bolt to fail to close.
  
• Check and clean the feed ramp, just below the chamber. Same deal--a little bit of sludge in just the wrong place can change the cartridge's angle of attack into the chamber. A little extra resistance on the way in, the bolt doesn't close. While you're at it, make sure there's no chips in the ramp. Its very uncommon, but metallurgical failures are known to happen there.
  
• Inspect the amount of oil on the bolt. If you can see oil, you've used too much. Excess oil has to be pushed around by the bolt as it moves--you only need enough to smooth out the microscopic roughness in the metal and reduce friction. Typically, I oil my rimfires by putting a drop or two on a cleaning patch and wiping them down. A centerfire usually should be visibly wet. A rimfire should simply not feel dry when operating.
  
• Make sure there's no buildup of sludge around the extractor or in the extractor channel next to the chamber. Gunk there will make it harder for the extractor to slip around the rim of the cartridge, slowing down the bolt. As a side note, you don't need any oil there (or in the firing pin channel).
  
• As an absolute last check, I would try replacing the recoil spring. Too light a spring means not enough closing force on the bolt.

So I just joined this forum, specifically for victory 22. Well, my dad and I both bought one at same time. At range both of ours failed, with several ammo types. I noticed his action had allot more friction than the one I bought. I did read before going to the range about the stove pipe and FTF. So on both of ours I missed with ejector, like in the thread about stove pipes. My dads action is now smooth, and mine functions flawlessly, by moving the ejector towards middle. This is one thing I would check, because it definatly could cause it not to go into battery. Imo.

Give this a try , clean the chamber - throat - barrel area, from the chamber end , with a brand new brass bore brush on a rod ...use a good bore cleaner and some elbow grease. It just might be a little lead/crud build up in the throat...a new brush should get it out. That spot is larger than the barrel diameter and a new brush will be fit it better .
I get lazy and bore snake mine and discover I have to use a rod and brush every now and then to "deep clean".

Gary

Hollow points may be the problem.
I don't use .22lr HP on any semi-autos.
Any HP I get are for bolt Mossberg rifle