Range Report S&W Victory .22LR & Bersa Firestorm .22 LR

[Defender]

First, the Bersa.  I have a Bersa 9mm Thunder Pro that shoots like dream. Heavy double stack, but VERY reliable.  The .22 not so much.  Was using cheap bulk ammo, but almost every other round failed to eject  and feed a new round.  Shots that fired were pretty accurate for a short barrel, but lordy, it was a pain to have to keep trying to make it eject properly.  Disassembly and cleaning was easy.

 

The S&W Victory, now what a sweet firing gun.  Using the same bulk ammo, if fird, ejected and fed like its supposed to, with nary a single hiccup through 200 rounds.  I have the one with the threaded barrel for a can I dont have yet, and the sights on this one are fiber optic front and rear.  VERY easy and quick to acquire a sight picture.  Id love to have these sights on other guns.  Suck to have to use a tool to field strip, but cleaning still easy once you use the tool.  Cant wait to get a suppressor for this one.

[Garufa]

I have a Bersa .22 and really like that little gun but it is very finicky when it comes to ammo.  I’ve had poor results with Federal bulk which is very odd, as that’s generally excellent ammo.  Even stranger is it loves Remington Golden Bullets, which is pretty crappy ammo.  It runs 100% with them.  You might try some of those.  I recall running into someone at the range one time who had similar results.

i can’t get enough of the Victory.  Have put over 1000 rounds through mine now and it always goes to the range.

Edited May 12, 2018 by Garufa

[chances R]

I have heard negative reports on Rem Golden Bullets.  My experience is just the opposite.  S&W compact, S&W 22 AR, Sig Mosquito  to name a few all run fine.

[DaveTN]

I have wanted to give that Victory a try since I first saw it. But I really would like a longer barrel without having to buy a Volquartsen. I figure as soon as I buy one they’ll come out with a longer barrel the next week. 

I run CCI mini mags in all my .22’s and don’t have any issues.

[chances R]

top end Aquillas run more reliably than CCI minimags in the Sig Mosquito as well as in a couple of gun mag articles

 

[MP5_Rizzo]

15 hours ago, chances R said:

I have heard negative reports on Rem Golden Bullets.  My experience is just the opposite.

Consider yourself in a small group of lucky buyers of the Remy Golden .22 bullets. I and most I know had terrible reliability with them.  Some I know sold them off at a loss just to get rid of them.

[Grayfox54]

The Bersa problem is fairly common with smaller .22s  copied from larger caliber pistols. Most will run just fine on high velocity .22 ammo. 

[tnhawk]

I've enjoyed my S&W Victory.  After waiting a year to get a silencer I enjoy it even more.

[Defender]

5 hours ago, Grayfox54 said:

The Bersa problem is fairly common with smaller .22s  copied from larger caliber pistols. Most will run just fine on high velocity .22 ammo. 

Good to know, lol, i was ready to toss it in the trash when i got home.  I'll try again with better ammo.  I think S&W are turning out some decent guns again these days...

[tmauto769]

I got a victory when they first came out, and had failures to eject with mine for awhile. After a search on google I found out that the ejector on some of the earlier ones were bent so that they weren't contacting the case. So after bending it back in a hair, it has worked great since, suppressed or not. I also really like the sights on this gun as well.

I have had great results with rem golden bullets, although looking at them you wouldn't think so, as they look like they washed them off in a mud puddle after they were loaded.