AJ
US Veteran
Where do you get a High Standard worked on if needed. What about spare parts?
Is Victory 22 a Worthwhile Purchase?
- Thread starter Narragansett
- Start date
Where do you get a High Standard worked on if needed. What about spare parts?
High Standard in Houston provides full support. They can fix anything with them. Even if you have a damaged frame, they can provide a new replacement, serial numbered to match, and completely rebuild it using all your old parts.
Again, Alan Aronstein is the “go to” guy. He is an active presence on the target shooting forums as well. So, he’s easy to get ahold of and passionate about their guns.
As of right now, many Bullseye shooters are still using their old High Standards on the competitive circuit, happier than ever. It’s amazing to see the interest and excitement continuing to this day!
Honestly, for $500-900, you can find a blued steel classic that will still win matches, with all the peace of mind and support you could want. It really is the most informed choice and a wise investment.
Read the attached note from Alan Aronstein. This is from just a few weeks ago.
There has never been an American company that built Target .22s and supported target shooters and competitors like High Standard. And, now they’re providing support better than ever!
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My opinion.......S&W's victory is one of the most butt ugly .22's made. Along with their discontinued 2200 series...........Other than the great model 41 S&W can't seem to make a decent attractive .22 auto. pistol
We have one in the club. It's holding up well. I don't consider it a target gun per se, but it shoots well for what it is. Come to think of it we have two. We just got another that is fully rigged out. It's nice.
Been advising the college club for close to thirty years. We've gone through a lot of pistols in that time. The Rugers are bullet proof. We're well over 50,000 rounds on them, one might be pushing 100,000. Browning Buckmarks are nice but don't hold up to the abuse. The Smith 2200s were dumped years ago. Finicky, fragile (the locking piece broke on all of them and it took years to get replacements), ugly and weird ergonomics. Nobody liked them. Beretta Nano is holding up but doesn't get a lot of use. I personally own a 22A and its chugging along nicely.
Been advising the college club for close to thirty years. We've gone through a lot of pistols in that time. The Rugers are bullet proof. We're well over 50,000 rounds on them, one might be pushing 100,000. Browning Buckmarks are nice but don't hold up to the abuse. The Smith 2200s were dumped years ago. Finicky, fragile (the locking piece broke on all of them and it took years to get replacements), ugly and weird ergonomics. Nobody liked them. Beretta Nano is holding up but doesn't get a lot of use. I personally own a 22A and its chugging along nicely.
AJ
US Veteran
That is something I did not know. Will pass it on to a friend. He collects High Standards. Thanks for the info. I had several Victors and a The Victor and a few Military Matches. They shot well, but when I bought my Browning Medalist, they all went away. Now I save the Medalist for special occasions and shoot the Buckmark when I feel the need.
Glad to read of your club work.
I’ve been on both sides, as a shooter and coach/range officer, with junior programs and university/collegiate programs, both in the USA and elsewhere.
Club-owned guns are a vital part of a working junior/collegiate competitive shooting program. As you describe, these programs are also a great proving ground for guns that are up to the task, or not!
From my experience, I agree that the Ruger MKI and MKII are good introductory pistols that hold up well. They are like the old Remington and Winchester single shot rifles used for junior smallbore rifle. They lack a lot of refinements, are not suitable for top-tier performance, but are adequate for teaching safe gun handling and marksmanship basics.
Fortunately, a number of the programs I worked with were funded well enough, and well established, that we also had better guns for higher level competition. It is from this experience that I have so often recommended guns like Hammerli, Pardini, Feinwerkbau, Morini, etc. Yes, they cost more up front. But, they help good shooters make their best scores and they are designed and built to last.
Unfortunately, this is a market that American gun manufacturers have willfully chosen to ignore.
I still shoot every day. But when I was active competitively, my weekly schedule involved two practice sessions at the club with other team members, matches on the weekends, and a day or two of individual practice. At the same time, I did a lot of the maintenance and regular repairs of the club guns. (One club had nothing but a dozen or so S&W model 41s and 46s. NONE of them worked at all when I first got there!)
When new shooters, or their parents, were ready to buy their own stuff, they were always happiest when they took expert advice and bought from dealers who specialized in target equipment.
Those who went to the local dealers, or took the cheap way out tended to regret their decision.
The mediocre handling and shooting qualities of typical consumer brand “target” 22s, makes for much frustration when you’re working diligently to improve your shooting technique. Just the lack of adjustability for the triggers is a problem. Occasionally, this would lead to promising young shooters to give up the sport.
And, not to put too fine a point on it, I’ve never met a coach who didn’t agree that they would rather work with a totally new shooter with no previous gun experience, than fix problems with someone who learned a lot of bad habits, either through poor instruction or sub-par budget guns.
My apologies for the thread drift from the topic of the OP. But, I think if you read between the lines, maybe you might decide that actually it’s not that far off….
Best Regards!
LizzieJane
Member
- Joined
- Mar 20, 2025
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Victorys
I have two of the Victory models, they both run like Singers
They do however like to be clean and prefer the CC! standard (sub sonic) ammo.
I have two of the Victory models, they both run like Singers
They do however like to be clean and prefer the CC! standard (sub sonic) ammo.
- Joined
- Apr 4, 2006
- Messages
- 19,382
- Reaction score
- 30,432
Because the $125 extra you spend on a Volquartsen trigger kit for the Ruger Mark 4 brings the gun to a totally new level and IMHO is worth every single penny. In fact I never recommend the Ruger Mark 4 without the trigger kit. So when you finish you will have spent about $625-$650 for the Mark 4 and the trigger kit, however it will have a trigger, accuracy and consistency of a purpose made target pistol. IMHO there is no pistol comparable to that combo anywheres near that price point.
The S&W Victory and Browning Buckmark are descent pistols but usually have way less than great triggers for serious target shooting. If the owners intentions are just casual target work or plinking on a Saturday afternoon at the range, then yes, both would suffice. If one wants a true target grade pistol comparable to a M41 or vintage High Standard with an incredible trigger (1.75 - 2 pounds, zero creep, zero grit, adjustable take up and over travel) then that is the way I see it.
Again, I do not own any Ruger's of any sort - so I have no skin in the game and only recommend this combo after shooting and handling many of them that belong to friends, shooting team members and neighbors. If there is truly a comparable, extremely accurate, target grade pistol with a superb trigger for $625 right out of the box, I am unaware if it.
I have a M41 that I purchased new in 1979 when they cared about high quality. It has had tens and tens of thousands of rounds through it and is still a "true competition grade target pistol" that has a 1.75 pound crisp and clean trigger with no over travel. I have competed with it for decades and have always done very well with it. It will shoot exactly where I aim it and failure to hit the X ring is on me. I have no complaints about it but unfortunately the new crop of M41's are just not the same - at least IMHO. That said, the M41 pistol (new) is also approaching the $2K mark including sales tax. The Ruger/Volquartsen combo is 1/3 the price of a M41 and is just a better pistol than the S&W and Browning out of the box. There is a reason Ruger has sold millions of them and there is a reason Volquartsen has been selling their trigger kits for them too. At least that is the way I see it. YMMV! It is common to see a variety of pistols at competitions and normally spot M41's, vintage Colt's & High Standards, a few Swiss brands and the Ruger /Volquartsen combo. I do not recall ever seeing a Buckmark or Victory at any serious .22 match.
ADDED: I usually recommend buying the heavy barrel, blued version of the Mark 4. Blued guns (at least to me) have less glare in the sunlight and as a bonus, run about $100 less than the stainless version. I also like the traditional grip frame much better than the "1911" style grip frame - but that of course os a personal thing.
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AveragEd
Member
I once owned a High Standard Supermatic Trophy I bought very lightly used from a friend for $150 back in the 1970s. I foolishly sold it to a dedicated bullseye shooter for $450 in 1990. When they first came out, I bought a Ruger MK IV Competition but only shot 50 rounds through it - the highly slanted grip angle was painful for my arthritic wrist and hand so it went down the road. The 1991 angle is much more comfortable and I have replaced the grips on my Ruger rimfire and centerfire precision rifles with Magpuls with the 1911 angle.
When the Victory came out, I almost bought one until this Forum blew up with complaints. Two years ago, I decided to order one of the PC models with an optic (I can buy direct as an outdoor writer) but the lead time was four months so I bought a Model 41. I do think the Victory with all the trick stuff looks cool but I still wish I had kept my old High Standard.
Ed
When the Victory came out, I almost bought one until this Forum blew up with complaints. Two years ago, I decided to order one of the PC models with an optic (I can buy direct as an outdoor writer) but the lead time was four months so I bought a Model 41. I do think the Victory with all the trick stuff looks cool but I still wish I had kept my old High Standard.
Ed
Maineboy
Member
I have a performance center Victory and have had no issues with it. Mine came with a red dot sight and I alternately mount a 2.5 power long eye relief scope on it. Whenever I go shooting, the Victory comes with me and gets anywhere from 50 to 100 rounds through it. In the time I have owned it, I have put about 15 varieties of ammo, both standard and high velocity rounds through it and have had exactly one failure to feed and that was with cheap bulk ammo that appeared in the first 100 rounds I fired. Two years ago, my then 12-year-old granddaughter, who had never fired a handgun, was with me when I was testing out some new loads in a rifle. I took out the Victory and gave her some safety instructions and pointers. Within a few minutes, she was plinking spent shotgun shells at 10 to 15 yards and smiling the whole time. She went through a lot of ammo that afternoon! My son, who is a way better marksman than I am, can really make this Victory show what it is capable of.
I gotta tell you, when I first saw pictures of the Victory when they were introduced, that was my exact feelings. The design just looked disjointed and the shape of the grips just didn't look like they would be comfortable at all. Then I started reading some of the reviews and comments from forum members and I started to get a little interested. Then I visit Brownell's showroom and they have them on special for $100 off retail, and I thought what the heck. Then I shot it, and aftermarket upgrades became available, and I was hooked. Still don't think they are gonna win a beauty contest, but they sure can shoot!
As much as I now love the Victory I can't argue with you on this point. I remember the first time I saw one I thought it was butt-ugly and couldn't envision me ever buying one, but reading the reviews of others on the forum I decided to give it a try.
For background, I have a Hamden-made High Standard Victor and a S&W M41. But, as I've gotten older, these guns have gotten heavier. So now I have a S&W Victory. Added the Tandemkross trigger. I was nervous due to a number of issues a friend had with an earlier Victory but no real issues with mine. Sure, the trigger isn't as good as the Victor (the Victor has the trigger you expect to find when - or if - you end up in heaven) or the M41 (which had a trigger job), but it's good enough for casual Precision Pistol. The one thing I really do not like about it is the grip. But I found someone making 3D-printed target grips that work well.
