A .22 S&W Victory

[georgerkahn]

I stopped in a fairly local shop and one of the new S&W Victory .22's was in the showcase, a few dollars below msrp, which immediately shouted, "Buy me, geo!". How could I refuse? Anyhoos, reason I'm posting is re TWO annoyances, to wit: 1st, a friend GAVE me two H&R .22's a decade or so; he didn't have any want or need for these "junk to him" single action revolvers. BUT, out of the blue -- 1st time I've seen or heard from him in aeons -- the doorbell rings and here he is -- wanting them back. Yes, I will be transferring them to him Tuesday, hoping he'll at least pay the County fee. Which brings up #2: I was elated to find the Victory, but as dealer was calling in a background check on me, another customer picked up the pistol, asking dealer, "Do you mind?" Dealer nodded OK, and the fellow pulled the slide back and DRY FIRED IT!!!
Was I having a good or a bad day? That "Tom" removed the .22's from my collection was not so good -- I now have zero .22 handguns. So I was/am elated to chance upon the Smith Victory, but the you-know-what dry fired it. Yes, dealer consoled me stating that new rim-fires may be dry fired without damage... which I do not totally believe. Moron did not even check to ascertain it was unloaded!!
Again, I'm venting here.... grrrrrrrrrrrrrr re fellow who took gift guns back, and guy who dry-fired my brand spanking new (before he touched it) .22!
geo

[Earlwb]

I would have told him no to touching the gun as you were buying it. Since the dealer wasn't giving you a good price break, i would have canceled the deal. Unfortunately, the S&W Victory .22 RF handgun is not one of the ones you can dry fire safely. I figure they would not have put the warning in their manual for the handgun if it was OK to dry fire it. But yes some of the newer rimfire pistols or guns can be dry fired though. The firing pin doesn't quite reach the back of the barrel/chamber, it stops just a hair short.

ref on page 25 they state to never dry fire it. https://www.smith-wesson.com/wcsstore/SmWesson2/upload/other/SW22_Victory_Manual-11-15-14_web.pdf

[georgerkahn]

Thank you, Earlwb! You are correct, and I'm in a minor dilemma as I really want this pistol! I thimk I will have dealer strip it and examine for possible damage; then have him test fire 10+ rounds. If it appears clean, and functions -- I'll consummate deal and hopefully take it home! It is not yet on my pistol permit -- the fed and state background checks still need to be called in before I can add it to my license and take possession. I appreciate your sending me the link -- I printed Page 25, which I'll both show the dealer before anything else -- and then tell him to keep it and show the moron who dry-fired it next time he's in shop.
I'm still upset that happened... but, a fellow at range gave me a cheery thought, too: How many other people dry fire, etc., before you even wander in and see the gun of your dreams? Scary!
BEST!
geo

[Earlwb]

You can pull the slide back and check the back of the chamber to see if the firing pin left a mark and shot peaned the back of the chamber or not.

sort of like the extreme case shown here:
171586

or like this semi-auto pistol example:
171587