Victrix Gladio Small Bore bolt-action rifle: a high-end .22 LR precision rifle from Italy

The Italian firearms manufacturer Victrix from Cazzano Sant'Andrea, near Bergamo in northern Italy, is known far beyond the Italian borders for its excellently crafted and accurate firearms. In addition to tactical bolt-action models such as the Pugio, Gladio, Scorpio, Tormento and Corvo, Victrix also manufactures thoroughbred sporting rifles. The range of calibers covers the entire sporting range from .22 LR to .50 BMG. Of particular interest are the available barrel lengths, which can be up to 813 mm or 32 inches in .308 Match, .300 Norma Magnum and .338 Lapua Magnum, for example. The barrel length of the sporty Crown model in .375 CheyTac and .408 CheyTac is as much as 965 mm, or 38 inches. Victrix also offers a total of six models chambered in the popular (and less expensive) .22 LR caliber. Depending on the model, the barrel lengths range from 406 mm, or 16 inches, for the Pugio Small Bore model to 686 mm, or 27 inches, for the Scepter Small Bore model. This model is the only one to offer 1:10" and even 1:7" twist rates in addition to the standard barrel twist rate of 1:16". The Small Bore models (SB for short) are intended to serve as trainers for the identical large caliber rifles chambered for centerfire cartridges. The gun presented here is the small bore version of the Victrix Gladio, which is otherwise offered in 6.5 Creedmoor, .260 Remington, .308 Winchester and .308 Match. First, let's take a detailed look at the technology of the Victrix Gladio SB.

Three barrel lengths for the Victrix Gladio Small Bore 

The barrel is a rifled match barrel from Lothar Walther. Victrix manufactures the Gladio SB in three barrel lengths: 559, 610 and 660 millimeteres (22, 24 and 26 inches). Inside the barrel, eight grooves take over the bullet rotation, a full turn is completed after 406 mm, or 16 inches: this twist rate is standard for the .22 Long Rifle. The manufacturer provides the muzzle with a M18x1 metric fine thread. Reimer Johannsen, the supplier of the test rifle, fitted an adjustable muzzle brake from the German manufacturer Sinus Brake. Directly behind the thread, the barrel measures 20 mm in diameter. This increases evenly to 23 mm up to around 150 mm before the barrel root. At the action, the barrel already measures 29 mm in diameter.

Action, safety and trigger of the Victrix Gladio in .22 LR

The connection of the barrel to the action is technically very complex. The barrel root is inserted into the action over a length of 31.5 mm. To fix the barrel in the receiver, an angled groove is cut into the barrel shank. There are six radially distributed screws on the action, which act diagonally to the rear at the same angle as the groove. The screws press on the groove and thus press the barrel shank against an abutment in the action trunnion. In addition, eight further radially distributed screws on the action press on the barrel shank at right angles to clamp it. This means that a total of 14 small screws are used to hold the barrel. The barrel and action are also pinned to prevent twisting. The headspace is adjusted via a customised recoil lug. On the test gun, this bears the laser-engraved number 7.0, which also corresponds to its thickness in millimetres.

The action itself is made of a high-strength, stainless steel which is also used in industry for hydraulic cylinders or ship propeller shafts. Bolt and action are PVD-coated. This thin-film coating does not penetrate the carrier material, but has a high hardness and therefore wear resistance. The fixed ejector for case ejection is pinned to the system at the rear end of the magazine well. A 151-mm long Picatinny rail with 20 MOA tilt is triple-bolted to the action on the opposite side at the top. The rail is additionally milled free in the area of the ejection port to ensure a safe case ejection.

The trigger group is pinned to the rear end of the action. The trigger itself is a single stage, or direct, trigger. This is adjustable in terms of trigger pull weight and travel and is factory set to 250 g. The trigger pull of the test gun was 2.2 newtons (222 grams). To improve the trigger characteristics, the axles of the trigger blade are fitted with tiny ball bearings measuring six millimetres in diameter. This effort is definitely worth it, as the trigger does an excellent job. Despite all the effort that Victrix has put into the technical realisation of the Gladio SB, the two-position safety is merely a trigger safety. Unfortunately, it has no defined detent points for the two positions, but can be moved with consistent resistance.

The bolt head carries two extractors offset by 180 degrees. Between them at 12 o'clock is the firing pin with a flattened round cross-section. The flattened tip has the advantage of reducing the notch effect on the case rim, which in turn reduces the risk of piercing. The arrangement of the two locking lugs is interesting. These are arranged asymmetrically at an angle of 150 degrees to each other and lock at the top of the bolt handle. Due to the two locking lugs, the actual locking shroud had to be manufactured from a significantly larger diameter and the space between the lugs had to be elaborately "chiselled" (see detailed photo). This meant that a lot of machining time was required and a lot of material had to be removed. The bolt handle is also very elaborately machined from a solid billet and screwed to one of the two bolt lugs. The bolt catch also serves as an anti-rotation device. The Gladio SB is a cock-on-open gun has a bolt throw of 60 degrees.

Victrix Gladio Small Bore, high-quality aluminum folding stock

The stock consists of four components: the butt plate, the hinge for the folding stock, the central chassis and the handguard. The stock is milled from a high-strength aluminum alloy and skeletonised to save weight. At the touch of a button, the butt plate can be adjusted in height by a total of 60 mm in seven notches of 10 mm each. After releasing a clamping lever, the butt plate length can be infinitely adjusted by 30 mm. In addition, the butt plate can be freely rotated through 360 degrees as long as the clamp is released. The cheek piece is also freely rotatable and can be continuously adjusted in height by an additional 31 millimeters. The back of the stock can also be moved forwards axially by a good 30 millimetres. Another clamping lever releases the butt spike mounted on the underside. This can be continuously adjusted over 68 mm using a quick adjustment mechanism. A fine adjustment allows a further five millimeters via a fine thread.

The connection between the chassis and stock is provided by the hinged joint using four screws. This is absolutely free of axial and radial play, which is achieved on the one hand by very low-tolerance fits and on the other by Teflon discs. The folded stock rests against the right side of the rifle. This reduces the length of the rifle by 247 mm. An anchor point then locks it in this position. To unlock it, simply pull on the side of the stock. The chassis is the central component of the rifle. It accommodates the barreled action, the hand guard and the stock. On the Gladio SB, three screws connect the action to the chassis. To reach the center screw, first remove the pistol grip and then the trigger guard.

The magazine well has a single-sided magwell, as the well frame has been generously milled out on the left side of the gun. Although this makes it easier to grip and remove the magazine, it does make the magazine seat rickety. The magazine itself is manufactured using injection moulding and appears extremely stable. As the magazine well is the same size as the regular Gladio, the rimfire magazine, which holds ten cartridges, is integrated into the actual magazine body. It is very easy to load thanks to the button that can be operated from both sides.

At the front end of the chassis there is a 140 mm long Picatinny rail machined directly from the material on the underside. The very solid aluminum carrying handle typical of Victrix is attached to this by means of a clamp. Last but not least, the octagonal cross-section handguard is worth mentioning. This has a 420 mm long monobloc Picatinny rail at 12 o'clock, with the same pitch and tilt as the rail on the action. Opposite at 6 o'clock is another monobloc rail with a length of 160 millimetres, for example for mounting a bipod. There are ten M-Lok mounts at 9 and 3 o'clock. Victrix protects all aluminum stock components with a ceramic/polymer coating (Cerakote), available in the colours Dark Grey, Dark Olive, Drab Green, Medium Flat Brown and Armor Black.

On the shooting range with the Victrix Gladio Small Bore rimfire bolt-action rifle and the Vectronix Vector X laser rangefinder

The testers visited a 300-m shooting range to determine the groupings of the 17 test loads using a Kahles K328i riflescope on an adjustable inclination block mount. A Fortmeier bipod was mounted on the lower handguard Picatinny rail, while a benchrest rest was used on the buttstock. The rifle was first shot at a 50-m spot. This was followed by 100-, 150-, 200- and 250-m distances. As the testers had the Vectronix Vector X laser rangefinder with integrated Applied Ballistics software at their disposal, a profile was created in the Vector X with the measured V3 for the slowest load (load 13 with 322 m/s). As the rimfire bullets have a highly curved trajectory due to their low velocity, the ballistic data, i.e. in this case the bullet drop to the spot shot distance, was measured with the Vector X before each distance change. The displayed values were very accurate, which was impressively demonstrated by the hits around the breakpoint. This simplified the scope elevation adjustment considerably after a distance change.

Normally, the testers load each cartridge individually directly into the chamber when determining the grouping in order to obtain results that are as reproducible as possible. With rimfire guns, however, this is usually a fiddly job, so the five cartridges were loaded directly into the magazine and fired from it. A total of almost 450 cartridges were fired from the Victrix Gladio SB. There were no problems with feeding or case ejection. Thanks to the high gun weight of a good 7.5 kg including the optics, the Gladio SB moved only minimally axially to the rear when fired. At longer ranges, the bullet flight in the scope was therefore always easy to observe. All of the rifle-specific settings on the stock maintained their position throughout the entire test and all of the clamps remained tight. In terms of accuracy, the Italian performed excellently. The Eley Ultra Extreme Long Range, Lapua Long Range and Lapua Super Long Range, SK Long Range Match and the RWS R Plus Long Range loads, which are specially tuned for long-range shooting, were able to impress at the quarter-kilometer distance with groups measuring between 94 and 133 mm in diameter, even if these values were partially undercut by the other loads.

Victrix Gladio Small Bore rimfire bolt-action rifle technical specifications and price

Conclusion: performance and features of the Victrix Gladio Small Bore

The Victrix Gladio SB is superbly finished. No tool marks are visible on the machined metal parts and all technical surfaces are flawless. From a technical point of view, the gun is very elaborately designed and manufactured, with the handguard, trigger, stock, barrel, receiver and bolt particularly noteworthy. The trigger works excellently, as does the absolutely play-free folding stock joint. However, there is still some catching up to do for the designers when it comes to the butt spike, the safety and the magazine catch. Admittedly, with a list price of €4,290 for a rimfire rifle, the Victrix Gladio SB is certainly no bargain. However, the fine workmanship, the materials used, the adjustment options and the multitude of interesting technical solutions are definitely worth the price.

You can already find a detailed review of the Vectronix Vector X laser rangefinder, which was used for this shooting test, on all4shooters.com.