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Old March 28, 2006, 09:03 PM   #1
Boomer59
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Ruger 77 220 Swift Frustration

For Many Years I Used A Remington 22-250 Varminter And Just About Anything I Loaded Would Group Under An Inch At 100 Yds. I Sold The Remington And After A Long Absence From Varmint Hunting Decided To Try The 220 Swift. I Think The Most Descriptive Word About The Ruger 77 220 Swift Is Finicky! It Just Refuses To Shoot As Well As My 22-250 Did. I've Had It Pillor Bedded And It Still Refuses To Group.
Can Any Of You Give Some Opinions On The Ruger 77 Stainless Heavy Barrel In 220 Swift? I've Tried Factory Loads And Reloads With Imr4064/55gr Sierra Hpbt And Just Bought A Pound Of Hodgdon H380/hornady 55gr V Max To Try. Is It Just A Case Of You Get What You Pay For Or What?
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Old March 28, 2006, 10:21 PM   #2
Rivers
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As I'm sure you know, there are a bunch of variables (scope, mounts, barrel/crown condition, bullet weights, o.a.l., powder, etc., etc) that you just have to work through.

You have to eliminate, of course, the mechanical possibilities first. Make sure that the crown is clean. Look into the muzzle with a strong light and inspect the rifling 1/2" or so in, if you can see that far clearly.

If the H380 doesn't group well, then try 4350. Also, are you using a Stoney Point tool or some other method of measuring for how deeply to seat your bullets, in order to keep them just off the lands?
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Old March 30, 2006, 05:38 AM   #3
aaronraad
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So you've had the Ruger M77 MkII Target rifle with laminated stock pillar bedded? How does that work with the recoil screw at 45 degrees in the front. Check you haven't over torqued the other action screws and stripped a thread etc. Check barrel clearance is still working.

How do you find the two stage trigger, a bit different to the Remington?

When you say can't group, what do they look like vertical, horizontal or diagonal dispersion?

Are you using a standard primer, a magnum or even a benchrest?

What handloads are you using and how do they compared to the results from standard factory loads? Don't expect a lot out of the 220 swift over the 22/250, personnally ackleying the 22/250 chamber would have given the same result as the standard 220 Swift. How bad is bad 1.5" groups 2.0 " at 100 yards?

If you bought second hand, someone can easily flogg out a 220 Swift barrel.

The easy answer is to send it to a compentent gunsmith to play with. Explain to him what you've tried so far, where you've had success and failure. Fork out the bucks for the gunsmith to do some testing and it will save you hours of trial and error. If he can't get it going admitt your out of your depth and sell it. Else you'll end up with 30 types of powder, projectiles etc when at the end of the day the 220 Swift on all accounts is reasonable easy to reload for. Too many good guns out there for shootin' instead of being frusted with your Ruger 220 Swift.
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Old April 2, 2006, 08:20 AM   #4
Boomer59
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220 Swift Frustration

aaronraad,

Thanks for your thoughts. Had the Ruger bedded by a competant gunsmith. As for the trigger comparing to the Rem. Varminter I can't remember it was quite a few years ago I owned the Rem. All I know so far is the Rem. Varminter used to shoot half inch groups at a hundred yards and the Ruger won't.
I bought the Ruger new and as far as how bad is bad, slightly over 1"/100yds.
Same results using factory or reloads. Only handload I've tried so far is Sierra 55HPBT/37gr4320. Just bought some H380 and 55Gr. Hornady VMax to try. I've been using CCI BR Primers.
Discovered something new yesterday while examining my Swift cases. You can't push a bullet into the fired case necks of either a once fired factory case or a Winchester case! I emailed Sinclair to ask if they had a reamer to open up the inside case necks and received a phone call from Bob Wayne. Bod claimed that this is "normal" for a Swift but I'm not sure I agree. Any rifle I've ever owned you could drop a bullet into a fired case. My gunsmith doesn't think this is normal either and is doing a chamber cast next week for a start.
If it's of any interest, I'll update any new developments. Thanks again.
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Old April 2, 2006, 10:45 AM   #5
Rivers
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Sounds to me like your load devepment is still in the embryonic stage. You just might not have found the right load/bullet combo yet.
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Old April 3, 2006, 04:39 AM   #6
aaronraad
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That is interesting not being able to push a bullet into a fired case. Thick case necks...maybe.

Another aspect you might consider is that the Ruger comes in a standard 1:14" barrel, which for all intents and purposed lends itself to firing lighter weight .224 proejctiles. Might I suggest dropping back to a good pure lead (99%) based projectile with a quality copper jacket closer to the 50 gn mark maybe even a target 52 to 53 gn projectile. If your punching varmints/paper I don't think they'll notice the difference. The 55 gn projectiles, especially the later model ones with the plastic tip and high BC can start to get on the wobbly side for a 1:14" twist.

The factories really do limit the .224 centrefires to varmint shooting when they won't put a twist faster than 1:14". You will notice though that Browning have a 1:10" for the new 223 WSSM round better suited to larger predator hunting. Some makers (Savage and Tikka) are supplying their 223 Remington's with a 1:9" following the military to stablise and even over spin the 62 gn SS109 round.
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Old April 9, 2006, 03:17 AM   #7
Scorch
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I own a 22-250 with a 1:14 twist. I never had trouble stabilizing 55 gr due to the high velocity (so I am told). But I have spoken with a few people lately who will tell you that their rifles do not like the 55 gr bullets, and only shoot well with 53 gr match HP.
Thick brass or tight chamber, sounds like you need to turn the necks on those rascals to get it to shoot consistently.
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