Hi All, First post on this forum. I am not at all new to handguns, rifles or shooting, but have zero experience with .22 rimfire. I recently picked up a NIB SW22 Victory. Weather has been bad so have not shot it yet. I did take time to carefully read through the manual and also get as much info about the pistol from reviews, vids and posts, which lead me to this forum.
I field stripped the pistol, removed the barrel and gave everything a good cleaning with some Hoppe's #9 (it was factory new, but manufactured in 12/21). After wiping it down and thoroughly examining the chamber, bore, receiver, bolt and lower, I lubed as shown in the manual using Weapon Shield and re-assembled. All looked good to my eye.
I should note when removing the barrel, I was surprised
the barrel screw was less than hand tight. It came out too easily but went back in on re-assembly and was able to tighten with no problem, (I own several newer S&W revolvers so nothing should surprise me). Also, I did notice what may have been a tiny mark/divot from the firing pin from 3-4 dryfires in the gun store at approximately 12:00 on the top edge of the chamber, (see 2nd pic). No evidence of misuse or damage.
I ordered he recommended yellow Hillman 4-6-8 X 7/8" drywall anchors to use to test function and trigger weight. I am sending them back. On all, the head was too small and sat flush with the chamber not offering any protection to the edge, (see 3rd pic). I picked up some fresh used .22 LR brass from my range and cleaned a few to use. Holy sheet!! The force of the hammer on the case rim is unreal. Typical Zoom snap caps would not last long, (see 4th pic). The small round pin mark is original. The SW22 firing pin dry fire marks are the two vertical indentations. The one at 2:00 is two dry fires. Obviously had to rotate the case as the firing pin nearly went through the rim. Mark 12:00 is one dry fire and looks what I'm guessing is normal for this gun.
The good news is the trigger had a small amount of light smooth take up, some short slight grit free creep and then broke like the proverbial glass rod at just under 3 lbs, (see 5th pic). In other words, sweet! This is part of what sold me on the Victory. I also dry fired a Ruger Mark IV Target at the gun store and immediately ruled it out. Ruger should be embarrassed to put out a target oriented gun with that bad of a trigger. Break was ok but pull was long, heavy and felt like it was filled with sand. No exaggeration.
One question regarding front and rear sight screw hex wrench size. I read 3/32" was correct, but that size feels a little bit small and loose to me. Is 3/32" the correct size?
Thanks for any comments and advice. I plan to get it to the range soon will give a full range report here when done.
