# S&W 22 Victory Mess!!!!



## Chipfish (Apr 4, 2019)

Just have purchased a 22 Victory from a local shop. Brand new gun, took it home and loaded with CCI Mini Mag, 2nd round shot, malfunction. Very other round from the was a FTE or stove pipe. Completely po’d and 30 rounds later changed to CCI stinger. 1st round, stove pipe. Asked the shop which I bough5 from and he said it was the ammo. Completely pissed and $430.00 later, gas $ and time, I have a brand new gun and it doesn’t function properly. Anyone else have or heard of this much trouble from a new Victory?


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## 54rambler (Oct 15, 2018)

Mini Mag is usually the most reliable ammo to use. Did you clean the gun before shooting it? What does the owner's manual recommend to lube the gun? 
I'd call S&W customer service and see what they say. It doesn't sound like your local gun store is going to be much help.
Good luck.


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## Chipfish (Apr 4, 2019)

After the first 10 malfunctions, I broke it down and cleaned it, lubed small rails and followed the manual. No help. I called SW and they want me to send it in. Now I will have to wait a month before they repair and send it back. Shouldn’t have to go through this. Thanks for the reply sir.


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## yellowtr (Oct 28, 2016)

54
Send it in. Maybe they will send you a replacement. I have had a Victory for over 3 years with no mal-function. I usually shoot Federal high velocity. But have used CCI stingers, mini mags and even std. velocity with no problem. Pistol is cleaned and lubed after each session. Maybe the slide is binding or the recoil spring is too tight. I looks like even S&W puts out a lemon once in awhile.
The problem is not the ammo you are using. The only ammo I have had trouble with while using a semi-auto is that Winchester 333 bulk. All kinds of problems when I tried to use it in my Marlin Model 60. Heck, it wouldnt even feed that good in my Savage bolt action.


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## Babbalou1956 (Sep 2, 2014)

I'd bet S&W replaces the extractor. Sounds like it had a bad one, maybe bent or shaped wrong.


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## berettatoter (Sep 1, 2011)

yellowtr said:


> 54
> Send it in. Maybe they will send you a replacement. I have had a Victory for over 3 years with no mal-function. I usually shoot Federal high velocity. But have used CCI stingers, mini mags and even std. velocity with no problem. Pistol is cleaned and lubed after each session. Maybe the slide is binding or the recoil spring is too tight. I looks like even S&W puts out a lemon once in awhile.
> The problem is not the ammo you are using. The only ammo I have had trouble with while using a semi-auto is that Winchester 333 bulk. All kinds of problems when I tried to use it in my Marlin Model 60. Heck, it wouldnt even feed that good in my Savage bolt action.


Damn, not feeding in a bolt gun? That is bad!


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## yellowtr (Oct 28, 2016)

berettatoter said:


> Damn, not feeding in a bolt gun? That is bad!


Yeah, it seems the bullets were not crimped tight enough. They seemed to be to high in the casing. You could wiggle the bullet a bit. CCI, Remington, and Federal are solid. Winchester might have fixed the problem but I will stick with CCI and Federal now that the 22LR ammo shortage is history.


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## RUT (Aug 28, 2008)

I think you'll find the problem is with the ejector in the end. It's kind of a mickey mouse affair, and if not tweaked properly it will cause the problems you've described. Much has been written about it. Both mine and my buddy's suffered the same problem, but was corrected with the judicious use of needle nose pliers. Good luck


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## CL (May 17, 2019)

Mine had the same problem. It went back to S&W and it worked for about 200 rounds then it started to hick up again. I'm going to tweek the ejector myself and polish the feed ramp. That with a good cleaning and see if that takes care of it. I think it's more of an ejector problem.


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## RUT (Aug 28, 2008)

BTW, in the end I fixed my problem by selling it off and sticking to Rugers.


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## Bisley (Aug 24, 2008)

No experience with S&W .22 pistol, but I did send in a Walther P-22 that they were servicing, several years ago (five?). They had it back to me in 8 days.


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## Younguy (Jun 26, 2012)

I had similar situation with my new new victory, sent it in twice and included photos of the stove pipes, FTE's, FTF, etc. It was even trying to reinsert spent cartridges and smashing them into the barrel. They polished the barrel the first time and replaced it the second time. THEN on a suggestion from a friend I loaded the mags to 10 and left them loaded for a couple weeks in the closet. It was summer so it was warm in there. My next trip to the range had 0 FTE, 0 FTF, 0 stovepipes. Shooting everything. Aquilla, Remington, Winchester, Federal and MiniMag. Got a couple thousand, like maybe 4, rounds through her now and it is a very reliable shooter. 
They were more than happy to check it for me and I'm not 100% positive the mags were the entire problem but when I marked the mags A&B I did notice more problems with A than B before I sent it in to get the new barrel. It's worth a try. The mag springs might have too much force and be pushing the next round up into the chamber before the spent shell is fully ejected.


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## Jessie James 58 (Aug 30, 2019)

I have worked on firearms for over 50 years and the first place to look for operational problems in a semi-auto is the mag. Are the feed lips bent, IS THE MAG DIRTY, is the spring to week or bent or broken, is the follower bent or broke. A full 75% of feeding is the result of mag problems.
Extraction issues can be to strong of a slide spring for the ammo being used or a bad ejector (remember that some 22s have the ejector built into the mag) or a weak extractor spring. Never forget about the gun just needing a GOOD cleaning.
When having these types of issues the first place to call is the manufacture of the gun. Most will talk to you on things to try and see if that takes care of the problem. If you do need to send the gun in, the people that you talk to are told say it will take 30, 45, 60 days as a CYA measure. Most of the time you will get your gun back in 1/2 that time or less.


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## RoadRamblerNJ (Mar 3, 2018)

Jessie James 58 said:


> If you do need to send the gun in, the people that you talk to are told say it will take 30, 45, 60 days as a CYA measure. Most of the time you will get your gun back in 1/2 that time or less.


Unless it's a Colt Python

Had to send mine back 7 or 8 yrs ago due to the cylinder release latch loostening up to the point of stopping cylinder rotation.

It took Colt almost 7 months to repair and return that weapon. I guess they aren't training many gunsmiths the fine art of "Python Repair" these days.

It is the only weapon I own that I will not work on myself. Clint Eastwood said it best..."A man's got to know his limitations".


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