Browning Buck Mark Challenger VS. S&W Victory .22 at LRDC

As an intro, I will tell you...I have owned and shot the Browning Buck Mark for 15 years or so. It replaced the two Ruger Marks that I had, and is vastly superior in every way to them: ergonomics, accuracy, fun, and looks. I am happy with it, except it is a pain to field strip and clean. Other than that, it is a wonderful and accurate little piece. Recently I had been reading about the new S&W Victory .22, and was intrigued, because they have won me over, for the most part with their duty and carry M&P's. Most that I read crowed about this little .22, and I fell for the sell. It arrived, I handled it, weighed it, did all the other things evaluators do, and liked it. Here are some comparisons.

Trigger pull: Browning, after 2000 rounds, 4 lbs., S&W after none, 3.5 lbs. Interesting.

Weight with empty mag., Browning 26 oz.'s. S&W 37 oz.'s. A big difference, and one that will come up later. The S&W has a bit mushy take-up, but OK, and reset is good. I would rate the overall trigger on the Smith as an 8 out of 10. While the Buck Mark was a pound heavier, it had shorter take-up, and crisper let-off. Good reset. I rate the Browning at 9. 

Safety: Browning, difficult to operate, and a complete shift of grip required when you do. S&W  very easy, tactile, and no need to shift grip to engage or disengage.

Both these pistols have a 5.5 inch barrel. As said before, the Smith is heavier.

In the pictures below, they are obviously similar in many ways. These are pistols that

follow classical lines. To me, and if you scroll further down, I think you'll agree, that the Browning is THE classically shaped .22. It is pretty, even, some would say, beautiful. It fits wonderfully in the hand, and is superbly accurate. What's to not like?

The Smith on the other hand, while following classical lines, if of stainless build, has a heavier barrel, and a thicker grip. It is still a handsome pistol, but just not quite as pretty to my eye. 

Below you see the sights as well as I can portray them, on both pistols. Lite pipes on the Smith(good!) and target patridge on the Browning. In perfect light conditions the Browning will be more precise. In any non perfect conditions, the Smith sights will shine. 

Before I speak of targets below, I must say this. My first time at the range with this new out of the box Smith was disappointing. Pin point accuracy, but from a non-functional semi. Failure to eject and feed, constantly. Call Smith, get a tech, and sure enough, they want it back, and with totally free shipping and 8 days, I have it back in perfect operating condition. I never had that problem with the Browning, it worked from day one. It IS however, fussy about which .22's it wants to eat, and non-fires are quite often, especially with Remington .22's. The Smith has no favorites, eats everything. In fact the rounds the Browning won't fire, the Smith does. 

So, my understanding from the 'experts' on YOUTUBE is that once you buy a .22, then you spend a month or so finding out which brand it prefers, and stick with that. Ha! No way. A .22 is for fun. You buy what you can get, and your pistol should shoot it. Period. The Rugers did!

So my targets below are shot with a big box of Winchester Wildcats, Remington Gold HP's, a myriad of old Federal, Montgomery Ward, Sears and other brands all shaken up and loaded into magazines at random. Some over 45 years old.

Above and below targets are so close in accuracy, that I put the onus on me. Both are good, and in my mind, equal.

Same with the two below. I am not precision firing here. I am cadence firing.

  The Smith did beat out the Browning on the Torture Drill at 5 yards. I would credit this to the heavier barrel. In addition, we had some failure to fires with the Browning. I don't fault the pistol, some of these rounds are 45 years old, and who knows if the primer was spread evenly in the rim? Nevertheless, the Smith was the easier to shoot.

The two pictures below show the takedown for thorough cleaning of each pistol. Both quite superior to the Rugers, but I found the Smith to be very simple. It is designed to be simple. The Browning requires multiple screws undone, lock washers, careful treading. The Smith, well, easy. I always understood from my research that unless you are a Browning smith, DO NOT remove the grips. I did it once, and will never do it again. Crazy pieces everywhere. So, I took off the right hand grip of the Smith to see, and wow...not bad. Wouldn't do it often (things COULD go wrong) but much simpler than the Buck Mark. So much easier to clean, and so much faster with the Smith. I like that.

Again, two pictures of side shots. I love the browning. So beautiful, and fits the hand so well. The Smith, a modern update. Not as pretty, but as I'll show, much more practical.

Below are the shells that the Smith hung up on. Fixed for free at Smith. 100% reliable now.

Timed 5x5 drill about even. No quibbling here. Both these .22's are sweet shooters.

These cadence groups at 10 yards are in my mind, pretty even. 

One more side by side. The reason for this one, is I want you to look at the safeties.

They both appear to be about in the same place. However, when shooting, you will find that the Smith safety is easily placed on or off without shifting grip. The Buck Mark safety is stiff, difficult, and you MUST completely change you shooting grip to engage or disengage. Not a big deal unless competing, or teaching a novice shooter. The Smith wins hands down here.

The Smith comes in a paper box. The Browning in a good plastic one. Both have two mags. The Browning seems to load easier, but then it's 15 years old. Neither is difficult.

A custom made holster for the Buck Mark. Could not find anything lesser way back then.

Typical modern day holster for the Smith, with mag holder on it. I like it.

                 So. Here is the skinny. It is hard to lose either of these pistols, but I am going to sell my wonderful little Browning. It is a superb shooter, reliable, beautiful, and if any pistol could feel better in the hand, I would want to own it. It is a lovely piece. It is much more expensive than the Smith Victory. But I am going to hand this comp to the S&W. They did their due diligence for sure. The sights are faster, and more intuitive. While it is heavier, it also bucks a bit less. The trigger on the Smith is nearly a pound lighter as new, than that on the Browning with 15 years use in it. The safety  on the Smith is tactile, easy, and within reach both ways when maintaining a grip. Far superior. Overall, the S&W is easier to shoot accurately at a faster speed than the Buck Mark, easier to clean, ergonomics almost perfect, and highly customizable.  It is also stainless, which is an advantage for a kick around pistol.     

So, Smith wins, in my eye. But let me say this. Both these pistols are wonderful, and leave the rest in the dust. Yes Ernesta, I HAVE owned two Ruger Marks. They were fun. And that's about it. These two pistols are a world ahead, and the Smith Victory is a half length  ahead of the Browning. But still, ahead. I will keep it, plink, compete maybe, and play with it. And you know what? If I were too infirm to shoot anything else, I would be confident in protecting my home/loved ones with it. Head shots at 30 feet are fast, and brainless. (get it?)    

Critique and insults welcome.

jackzeller@myfairpoint.net.