S&W Victory .22 ammo picky

[Pete C]

This gun will only cycle CCI poly coated rounds reliably. About ten days after I bought it, I sent it back to S&W for warranty work. Got it back after about four weeks, no better for the trip. They said they replaced the extractor and polished some parts. I don't want to ride the merry go round of sending it back again.

The rounds sometimes feed ahead of the extractor instead of behind it as it should. Bolt then fails to go all the way into battery and it doesn't fire. This happens with Remington, Winchester and Federal ammo pretty regularly. Almost never with the CCI polymer coated rounds.

Anyone have any ideas why this happens? I was thinking it could be a magazine issue, but, 3 different mags? I tried an aftermarket extractor and polishing the bolt face a little. Why the heck does this gun only cycle one kind of ammo???

 

[muddocktor]

I don't have a clue why yours is so picky as I find mine to be one of the most ammo tolerant 22 I have ever owned. I haven't run into anything it can't digest so far. That includes CCI Mini Mags, the CCI poly coated that runs good for you. Remington Golden Bullet, Aquilla HV, Browning junk ammo, Federal HV and Winchester HV in the 100 round plastic container like the Mini Mags come in.

 

[Targets Guy]

Mine was picky at first; didn't like velocities around 1000 fps. After about 1300 - 1500 rounds it began to eat anything. I now try to stay at 1050 fps and no issues.

Hope you get it ironed out. They are great fun at the range.

 

[chiefbob81]

Mine likes CCI the best, have posted info previously.

 

[Pete C]

I don't have a clue why yours is so picky as I find mine to be one of the most ammo tolerant 22 I have ever owned. I haven't run into anything it can't digest so far. That includes CCI Mini Mags, the CCI poly coated that runs good for you. Remington Golden Bullet, Aquilla HV, Browning junk ammo, Federal HV and Winchester HV in the 100 round plastic container like the Mini Mags come in.

One of the guys at my gun club bought one about the same time. His will fire any ammo. I had tried his before I bought mine and liked it. Now I'm sorry I didn't get a Ruger.

 

[Amp]

I have the PC model and it shoots what I feed it with one exception. The first round of a full magazine will sometimes get stuck on the feed ramp.
Is your failure on a full mag too?

 

[Dpris]

I've worked with three different Liberties, including a PC.
Only problem of any kind was early ejection failures with #2.
NOT related to the ammo.
Denis

 

[Del1964]

Mine was picky at first; didn't like velocities around 1000 fps. After about 1300 - 1500 rounds it began to eat anything. I now try to stay at 1050 fps and no issues.

Hope you get it ironed out. They are great fun at the range.

My new SW22 Victory Performance Center is also having issues with CCI Suppressor ammo which is 970fps 1-2 in 10 rounds and "I think" CCI Subsonics ....and also seems to not like the new Thunderbolts by Remington. Need more testing. I'm thinking of trying Stingers to break it in better....lol extractor was also replaced btw with Tandemkross and I have performed the ejector "tweak". It cycles the round and loads into chamber but won't fire (not resetting trigger apparently but does appear to be in battery....almost like CCI segmented quiets which do not cycle obviously) Primer strikes on the ones that have fired look nice.

 

[Pete C]

I have the PC model and it shoots what I feed it with one exception. The first round of a full magazine will sometimes get stuck on the feed ramp.
Is your failure on a full mag too?

Happens at any point while shooting a mag. Has to be something about the bolt machining. I read about one guy that sent his gun in 4 times before they finally replaced the bolt and that fixed it. Maybe after I put a few thousand CCI through it, it will break in and accept other ammo.

Definitely a big difference in the quality between the Victory and the M&P.

 

[Amp]

Happens at any point while shooting a mag. Has to be something about the bolt machining. I read about one guy that sent his gun in 4 times before they finally replaced the bolt and that fixed it. Maybe after I put a few thousand CCI through it, it will break in and accept other ammo.

Definitely a big difference in the quality between the Victory and the M&P.

One thing to try; Dab a little grease under the bolt on the post that hold the buffer pad. I noticed some rubbing there while cleaning mine but didn't shoot since Monday. I also used a little grease where SW says to oil. Will try it soon.

 

[Pete C]

One thing to try; Dab a little grease under the bolt on the post that hold the buffer pad. I noticed some rubbing there while cleaning mine but didn't shoot since Monday. I also used a little grease where SW says to oil. Will try it soon.

I see wear marks in a lot of places on this gun. Everything that moves has some shiny spots. All of the parts have a pretty rough finish from the factory. Maybe when they all shine it will work.

 

[Barrie]

I would suggest placing a drop of oil on the last bullet in the Magazine just before firing it. It has helped many new guns break-in nicer over the years.

 

[Pete C]

After I got the gun back from the first warranty "repair", it still would not cycle ammo as it should. I decided to keep shooting it and hope it would "break in". That never happened and the problem continued to get worse. Couldn't deal with it any longer and sent it back in to Smith & Wesson for a second time. Never heard from S&W, but did get a notice from Fedex that the gun was on the way. We'll see how it works this time. This is the last chance for this gun. I'll post after testing this week.

 

[wproct]

Best wishes on your Victory. I have only fired 2 different brands of ammo in mine, Walmart Federal bulk pack 36 gr hollow points, and CCI standard velocity. My Victory runs flawless with both.

 

[.38SuperMan]

I put around 700 rounds through my PC Victory with no issues. This was over three range trips. Trip number 4 I started having problems. The gun would try to chamber a new round but didn't fully eject the fired case. I made some quick photos that I'll post.

I run it well lubed and clean it thoroughly every range session. I was shooting Federal bulk red box through 4 different magazines. I decided to take it home and thoroughly clean and lube it again and this time try Remington thunderbolts. No go with the Remington either, they jammed every 3rd round.

You can see in the two attached photos that the Victory and 2206 are doing the same thing.

I decided to contact Smith and talk to them. It's under warranty and have them sending a new e tractor for me to install. Hopefully it'll take care of it but if not I'll end it to them.

Funny but I pulled my 2206 from the safe and decided to take it to the range at the same time as the victory. I hadn't fired it in almost 25 years. I bought it new too and had feed problems with it from day one. I fired 6 mags of assorted ammo and nothing has changed. It jammed exactly like my Victory.

I contacted Smith about it and it's under the lifetime umbrella too and is at Smith now for repairs.

Last week wasn't my week for good luck with my smith products. I took my 625-2 to the range and when I fired the 4th round (mild loads) the treaded post that the cylinder thumb latch goes on sheared off and hit my arm. I went to open the gun but the latch was gone. I searched and did find the latch and nut with a piece of the post in it. It's now at Smith for repairs.

 

[.38SuperMan]

Here's the photo of the 2206.

 

[.38SuperMan]

A follow up on the Victory ejection issue, I received a new ejector, spring and plunger from S&W today and installed and tested it. I fired 4 magazines of Federal red box bulk with no problems. It looks like that was the problem and took all of 5 minutes to fix.

Thanks S&W customer service for sending the parts!

 

[Autonomous]

Oh man, I feel your frustration. A new toy should run.
I had two brand new S&Ws, one a Victory, that had to go back for warranty work a couple years ago. But, they came back working. To send one in and not have the issues resolved is BS.

 

[Pete C]

FedEx delivered my gun about an hour ago. I had told them that it looked like the upper and lower were not aligned when assembled. They said they replaced the barrel. Looks like the bolt was changed too. The bolt comes out of the upper kind of hard at the end. Like they squeezed the upper in a vise. Gun had a lot of metal filings and some brass slivers in it. I got it all cleaned up and lubed. Too late to go to the range now. If this thing doesn't cycle properly then, it will be some one else's gun sooner than later.

 

[.38SuperMan]

FedEx delivered my gun about an hour ago. I had told them that it looked like the upper and lower were not aligned when assembled. They said they replaced the barrel. Looks like the bolt was changed too. The bolt comes out of the upper kind of hard at the end. Like they squeezed the upper in a vise. Gun had a lot of metal filings and some brass slivers in it. I got it all cleaned up and lubed. Too late to go to the range now. If this thing doesn't cycle properly then, it will be some one else's gun sooner than later.

Just keep sending it back until they get it fixed. If my Victory gives any more issues it'll go back. They'll eventually get it or replace it. That's why we have a lifetime warranty.

My 2206 is up there after a 25 year sleep in my safe. It too has a lifetime warranty and will continue to go back for repairs until they get it right or buy it from me. I just can't bring myself to stick someone else with a faulty gun.