Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Rimfires Smith and Wesson Victory??

I have a Buckmark and a Challenger II and I like both of them, but I think a Victory looks pretty nice also. Does anyone have any first hand experience with one and what is your opinion of it?

Good pistols....... get the threaded model, and a can.....

+1 Agree with Huntsman22, i picked up the first one local gs had. i like it a bunch. so much that the rugers havent been out since it came home. the grip is a little smaller in my opinion. but it shoots great and no complaints, about 2k rounds so far. nice to have one that is that easyh to take apart ant clean.

I had the chance to handle one at my local gun store and thought the same thing. however as i recall they do offer other grip profiles so there may be one more to my liking. i've been thinking about one of these for a near future purchase, glad to hear they are holding their own.

S&W 2206?

Huntsman22 that is a good looking setup! I'm glad to hear you guys are happy with yours, the only negative comments I've seen are about the takedown bolt loosening itself but that's a easy fix. There seems to be a lot of aftermarket support also.

haven't seen any aftermarket grips yet.....

I passed on a threaded Victory at my local GS. Went back a day later to take it home only to find it had sold. I have no experience with one but they sure feel good in hand a break down easy!

Huntsman I do believe if you don't have the particular rimfire in question you have at one time or another.
Nice looking setup.

I purchased one of the first ones to hit the local Gun Shop. I love the pistol. The first thing I did was remove the magazine cut off so it can be fired without the magazine installed.

I am not real pleased with my Victory. It keeps trying to disassemble itself while shooting. The two take down screws get so loose that the barrel will rattle if you shake the pistol. I assembled it with vibratite last night and will know if that works on Tuesday. Smith and Wesson should have figured this problem out prior to release. I read on another forum that some owners are using O rings to solve the issue.

This is the fix a lot of people are using for the barrel nut.

Seems like a lot of owners are removing the barrel just to clean or play around with the gun. Most reports say these screws are very very tight from the factory. And are becoming loose after owner R&R. Typical shooter not even using a torque wrench. On a new gun, understandable, but; now the word is out. This is a potential problem spot.

If i ever buy one, I would not be messing with that screw unless that was the only way to remove the bolt for a once per 1000 round cleaning. Am, I wrong or is it necessary to remove the barrel for a basic cleaning?

A new gun can be like a first year new model auto. There maybe some little improvements over time.

I dont like the lock washer idea. I dont know what is going on here but it might turn out that due to a design error a new screw is required for each time the barrel is removed. That would be like head bolts on an engine. They can only be loaded to full torque on time.

H22 - looks like you stay healthy on a nice diet of lean protein.

Nice pics.

So far I have never had the problem of the screw working loose on my Victory

I bought one as soon as LGS had them. Very nice pistol. Feels good in my hand, decent trigger and accurate. I installed the included rail and a Ultra Dot. Very nice combo.

As others have said, the take down screw can loosen when firing. It is tight from the factory, tighter than the supplied Allen wrench can do without snapping. Happened to me twice. My "fix" was/is a drop of low or medium strength (I've used both) Lock Tight. No problems since, shooting a thousand rounds or so. For me it's a non issue. I've read others who say it's a deal breaker.

It's amazing that a simple loose screw stumps so many....

The real solution to any loose gun screw is blue locktite

It isn't that a loose screw stumps, rather it is the fact that Smith and Wesson designed the pistol that way. Of course it can be held in place with loc-tite but it shouldn't need to be.