S&W Victory - Factory vs Volquartsen Barrel 50yd line - In A Ransom Rest

[mr.revolverguy]

Being an early adopter can be costly. This S&W Victory is one of the first off of the assembly line with a serial number under 1K. Had I known S&W would be coming out with threaded barrel shortly after release, I probably would have waited. Instead I purchased a threaded Volquartsen barrel because my suppressor was due any day. Over the past few years this pistol has been outstanding. With it's notoriety of being a entry level match grade 22 I thought what better way to test it than with a recently refurbished Ransom Rest. I originally tested indoors from 15 to 20 yards here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-_UV... I received a bit of criticism for the short distance and having wasted money on the Volquartsen Barrel. Though the stock barrel is very nice there is a reason Smith and Wesson has released their Victory Performance Center versions enhancing this pistols quality even more. With such a beautiful day I could not waste it getting my honey due list done and decided it was an awesome time to get the ransom rest back out. To do this right I fired 10 settling shots off target to make sure the pistol in the rest was settled. The things I do for range-fans seems like work but I do enjoy the more technical evaluations the ransom rest affords me. I have had many request to get the ransom rest back out and will try to do more testing with it because I do enjoy it. The good folks over at Ransom International really knows how to engineer great equipment for us shooters.

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[41mag]

Thanks Mr. Revolver Guy
I'd love to help you do an extended 'better quality' ammo test at20-50 yards.
Maybe I can find a good deal on a Ransom Rest out here in Oregon.

 

[mr.revolverguy]

I wish I had more Eley contact which is what I did the original test with at 20 yards it was one hole. I may use the old Ransom Rest for exactly what you are talking about to find what ammo the VQ barrel likes best.

 

[Mike97124]

I would expect that with a gun locked down in a bench rest, even a 22 (not to mention a match grade one), that the groups would have been a lot closer than was obtained. Both barrels were all over the place on the target and not consistent at all. So is this a result of the rest not being stable, neither barrel being that great, the ammunition, the distance or a combination of some or all of these?

Having separate targets to compare against would have made it easier to judge but other than that, nice job on the video.

Mike

 

[mr.revolverguy]

It is 2 dollar ammo keep that in mind and 50 yards and also a 350 dollar pistol. We forget at times that a Les baer guarantee at 50 yards in a 1911 is what 6 times the price. Nothing against Les Baer you do get what you pay for in that case.

 

[thorborg]

I would expect that with a gun locked down in a bench rest, even a 22 (not to mention a match grade one), that the groups would have been a lot closer than was obtained.

Mike

I might have had higher expectations also, had I not been a fairly diversified hand loader for many decades. Repeatability is all about uniformity. lots of little cartridge construction nuances can have a large impact in where the projectile hits.

 

[Mike97124]

I would suspect the ammo as well, but if someone is going to spend a couple of hundred bucks (I'm not positive what they cost) for a barrel, why limit it with cheap ammo? From what I gained from the video is that it isn't worth buying the Volquartsen barrel as it is no better than the stock one. At least as far as what kind of .22lr ammo most of us buy to plink with.

Thanks, I was just curious and watched the video and it was a bit surprising as to the results and my comments were just an observation.

Mike

 

[mr.revolverguy]

I would suspect the ammo as well, but if someone is going to spend a couple of hundred bucks (I'm not positive what they cost) for a barrel, why limit it with cheap ammo? From what I gained from the video is that it isn't worth buying the Volquartsen barrel as it is no better than the stock one. At least as far as what kind of .22lr ammo most of us buy to plink with.

Thanks, I was just curious and watched the video and it was a bit surprising as to the results and my comments were just an observation.

Mike

It's for everyone to come to their own conclusion. It would have been better to use two different targets. The bottom of the target is the standard barrel and the top the VQ barrel. You can tell it is ammo, from the VQ barrel at 50 yards we had 5 shots go through one hole. Also some ammo caused the muzzle to raise and other rounds not.

 

[Certaindeaf]

So you gotta click on that to find out?

 

[mr.revolverguy]

No not at all I get nothing for the video. The VQ had a better grouping but still not fantastic but good in my view. I will be trying again with better ammo.

 

[Alexx1401]

It is 2 dollar ammo keep that in mind and 50 yards and also a 350 dollar pistol. We forget at times that a Les baer guarantee at 50 yards in a 1911 is what 6 times the price. Nothing against Les Baer you do get what you pay for in that case.

Yep, that and all .22's seem to have an ammo they like best. Very common to take a few .22's of the same make, try different ammo and find they all have a different one they like. Nice job on the video. Would be interesting to see a few other kinds of ammo tried, see how much difference they make.