S&W victory to 22a magazine

[Stray8]

I recently threaded my 22A and wanted some more magazines. 22a magazines have gotten really expensive and the victory mags look similar, but not exact. Since they are cheaper I figured I’d give modifying them to work a try.

The main differences I can see are the magazine catch, the base plate and the follower pin. The follower also has a slightly lower slope on the victory magazine.

After modification the magazines will absolutely work in the 22a and feed well. The basic steps are below

- grind the base plate to same width as on 22a and snip off the little tab on the top
- put the pin in a drill or lathe and turn down the OD until it slides into the pistol easily. The pin is what actuates the bolt stop on the last round. The victory one is too short, so if you want that feature you will have to make a new pin to match the 22a
- drill 2 holes for the magazine catch. I used my old magazines as a pattern for this and I did not pay good enough attention to a critical dimension. The strip of metal between the holes needs to be wide enough so the bullet nose doesn’t catch. Since I did not get this dimension correct I essentially made it into a 7rd mag. This is easily avoidable if you pay attention.

That’s it. Locks in, feeds and ejects like it should.

 

[RED DIRT]

I can`t even imagine there was such a big enough difference in price between the 2 types of magazines that i would have bothered doing this. The mags are not that expensive. If you can afford the gun, then you should be able to afford another magazine or 2 for it. Buy once, cry once, one an done.

If the mags weren't available anymore, i could understand this, but this just isn`t the case here.

 

[Stray8]

I can`t even imagine there was such a big enough difference in price between the 2 types of magazines that i would have bothered doing this. The mags are not that expensive. If you can afford the gun, then you should be able to afford another magazine or 2 for it. Buy once, cry once, one an done.

If the mags weren't available anymore, i could understand this, but this just isn`t the case here.

Buying a magazine that may not work with your gun is clearly not all about the money.

Sometimes we do things to answer questions because we can. I searched to see if they could be modified to work and found nothing. Next person to search will see that it’s possible. If people didn’t do this, the forum would be blank except for people arguing over politics or saying “just buy a new one”.

 

[RED DIRT]

Buying a magazine that may not work with your gun is clearly not all about the money.

Sometimes we do things to answer questions because we can. I searched to see if they could be modified to work and found nothing. Next person to search will see that it’s possible. If people didn’t do this, the forum would be blank except for people arguing over politics or saying “just buy a new one”.

From post #1
"wanted some more magazines. 22a magazines have gotten really expensive"

I guess i misunderstood the bigger reason "why", you did it.

To each their own, i got no skin the game here.

 

[RED DIRT]

I recently threaded my 22A and wanted some more magazines. 22a magazines have gotten really expensive and the victory mags look similar, but not exact. Since they are cheaper I figured I’d give modifying them to work a try.

The main differences I can see are the magazine catch, the base plate and the follower pin. The follower also has a slightly lower slope on the victory magazine.

After modification the magazines will absolutely work in the 22a and feed well. The basic steps are below

- grind the base plate to same width as on 22a and snip off the little tab on the top
- put the pin in a drill or lathe and turn down the OD until it slides into the pistol easily. The pin is what actuates the bolt stop on the last round. The victory one is too short, so if you want that feature you will have to make a new pin to match the 22a
- drill 2 holes for the magazine catch. I used my old magazines as a pattern for this and I did not pay good enough attention to a critical dimension. The strip of metal between the holes needs to be wide enough so the bullet nose doesn’t catch. Since I did not get this dimension correct I essentially made it into a 7rd mag. This is easily avoidable if you pay attention.

That’s it. Locks in, feeds and ejects like it should.