SW22 Overview
Despite American shooters’ long love affair with the small but versatile .22 Long Rifle round, the SW22 Victory is actually relatively new to the market. Smith & Wesson rolled it out in 2015 in what can only be described as a jab at Ruger’s beloved Mark series. To that end, S&W pitched the full-sized Victory as a target-shooting-ready option with a low price point.
At first glance, the SW22 Victory has a distinctly modern Luger vibe. But that is basically where the comparison ends. The action, caliber, sights, trigger, hammer system, and disassembly process are drastically different from any Luger. Other than the profile, the angle and shape of the pistol grip are about the only things that resemble the old Luger.
Fortunately, that grip has long been hailed as a very comfortable shape, and that pairs nicely with the Victory as a target pistol. This somewhat hefty .22 LR was clearly meant as an easy-shooting and accurate pistol that’s fit for beginners and practiced target shooters alike.
Specs & Features
I snagged this stainless-steel SW22 from the Guns.com Certified Used Vault, more out of curiosity than anything else. There are other options with more bells and whistles, though the stock SW22 Victory comes with a few already.
The green fiber-optic front and rear sights are easy to pick up in bright sun and low light conditions. They’re fully adjustable at the rear for windage and elevation. The fit is nice and tight, and the matte-silver finish is handsome without causing glare in the sun. Anti-glare cuts are found on the top and back of the rear sight. However, in a nod to the growing fan base for pistol-mounted optics, the rear sight can be easily swapped for a Picatinny rail that comes with the gun from the factory.
This semi-auto blowback rimfire is not your standard striker-fired affair and even has a small polymer bolt buffer inside to protect the bolt assembly during recoil. Instead, it hosts an internal hammer with a removable firing pin that makes cleaning out residue a cinch after a long day of shooting.
The gun breaks down into four main parts: lower, barrel and receiver, bolt, and recoil spring/guide rod. A single screw holds the entire assembly together, but you will need the included wrench to disassemble it.
You can easily change out the match-grade bull barrel and pluck out the firing-pin assembly, which is housed inside the bolt body. There’s even an adjustable trigger stop on the trigger itself.
Here are some additional specs for the gun:
Weight (With Empty Mag): 2.31 pounds
Length: 9.2 inches
Barrel Length: 5.45 inches
Height (With Magazine): 5.66 inches
Width (Widest Point): 1.29 inches
Trigger Pull: 2.81 pounds
Capacity: 10+1
Included Mags: 2
That length of 9.2 inches has some nice advantages, affording shooters a sight radius of 8.25 inches. Trigger travel is right around 0.1 inches with a light take-up. You then hit a small amount of smooth mush before the wall with a crisp break. The following reset is tactile with about 0.1 inches of travel. All in all, it’s a very serviceable factory trigger for accurate target shooting or fast plinking.
I will note that the trigger guard and ejection port are quite small, but neither caused me issues while shooting on the range. Still, a gloved hand may impede smooth operation for you. There is a steel-reinforced thumb safety. It’s unobtrusive and easy to use. I do wish it was a bit more positive because I have found myself activating it while fiddling around with the gun for pictures. That hasn’t been an actual issue on the range yet.
The controls are easy to reach without adjusting my grip, and the magazines spit out positively. Unfortunately, there is nothing really ambidextrous about the gun. Sorry lefties.
The grip is steeper than the 18-degree angle on 1911-style pistols. When held with a single hand, I notice there is an initial tendency to point high for me. That levels off nicely when I bring in my support hand, and the accuracy is hard to argue with in the end anyway. Speaking of which, let’s get to the actual shooting.
Range Time & Accuracy
I’ll happily confess I’m not much of a target shooter per se. But the Victory makes it feel like a possibility. After a bit of practice, I was shooting about as well as I do with handguns. At 30 feet with a single 10-round magazine, I was able to group six shots in the inner-center ring. Two more floated just outside but still in the red, and two others slid into the nine ring on an NRA pistol target. Overall, for me, that’s not what I normally expect to see.
The sights are great for a factory target gun at this price. I made a few minor adjustments for my shooting at 30 feet, and I was hammering the center in seconds. The trigger pull and reset both lend themselves to accurate shooting. Since there is no slide, you don’t risk forcing a malfunction with your grip.
Perhaps my biggest complaint is the weight. The gun is heavy for a .22 LR pistol, yet not necessarily for a target-shooting one. There’s almost no felt recoil. Even better, the gun likes to float on the target thanks to a center of gravity that sits right between where my shooting hand and support hand fingers overlap.
I now have 600 consecutive rounds through the gun without cleaning. Most of that was cheap Federal 40-grain Range Pack ammo. I also ran 50 rounds of 38-grain Aguila hollow-point ammo, 29-grain Federal Punch, and 40-grain CCI Velocitors through the gun. As a note, the manual does caution that excessive use of high-velocity ammo may shorten the life of the barrel and some parts, though that round count is likely still very high given the heavy use of steel in this gun.
During testing, I had three minor but different malfunctions – failure to feed, failure to extract, and a light primer strike. These are things I have come to expect from time to time with budget .22 LR ammo. So, all in all, I was quite pleased with the reliability, especially given the ammo and price of the gun.
Part of me really wishes the bottom of the pistol grip flared outward a bit instead of narrowing. That would make the grip feel more positive in my hand, but it’s hard to argue with the performance results. The texturing is just positive enough to be controllable without causing friction issues. Sometimes, with overly aggressive texture, I notice that any shift in my grip pressure shifts the gun more than I like.
As a heavier gun, I felt a bit of fatigue while shooting. The same cannot be said about reloading. This gently used test gun came with four magazines, and each has a sliding button to make reloading a fairly painless process.
Who’s It For?
Frankly, it's a great option for just about anyone who is looking for a small-caliber handgun they can shoot accurately and comfortably with very little maintenance. I could see the Victory making a name for itself as a pest control gun, training platform for new shooters, or just a fun plinking companion.
With that said, it falls on the heavier side, so extended shooting or carrying is not necessarily its “Goldilocks Zone.” But if you want to cut the heart out of targets and build some good shooting fundamentals and confidence, this gun will make you smile.
If we’re measuring the merits of the gun on its ability to hit in the red at 25 feet, the score would be 98 percent from my 100-round string of fire at that distance on a single target. I dropped two just into the black, and I could feel my own personal mistakes with both of those shots. Indeed, you can actually see my grouping walk down the center of the red area as fatigue set in on the second half of my shooting.
The gun is easy to customize with the included Picatinny rail and interchangeable barrel. I like it just the way it was when it came out of the box, but there are plenty of compensators, sights, grips, and other accessories for those who enjoy really making a gun their own. S&W also offers a tricked-out Performance Center and Target Model version.
Pros & Cons
Here’s a quick list of my pros and cons:
Pros:
- Accurate with match-grade barrel
- Nice factory trigger
- Good adjustable sights right out of the box
- Easy to clean and maintain
- Reliable with low felt recoil
- Mags are easy to load and eject positively
- Optics-ready with included Pic rail
- Affordable and cheap to shoot
- Easy to rack the bolt
- Anti-glare cuts and coating
- Adjustable trigger stop
- Controls are easy to reach
Cons:
- Small trigger guard and ejection port
- Somewhat heavy for a .22 LR pistol
- Safety could be more positive
- Somewhat limited but acceptable grip texture
- Disassembly requires a tool
-
Not ambidextrous
Final Thoughts
I like a lot of guns – what can I say – but I only really love shooting a few. The Victory was one of those right from the start. Clever and unique guns are cool, but nothing beats watching the center of your target dissolve on the range. Accuracy matters, and the SW22 has it in spades.
I wasn’t really in the market for a target-style .22 LR pistol. Yet, the Victory just jumped up on my list of personal guns to purchase in the near future. At the price, I won’t feel very bad about it, either.
