Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Single Shots Shot an old .220 Saturday.

My dad's old 77V had been in the safe for about 8-9 years.
Had a handful of Hornady factories so took it while shooting another of my guns.
I am not a very good shooter or rifle nut, just a hunter.
The gun wears an old friction Leupold 3x9. The gun has never been to a smith or altered.

Short story. 6 shots at 100 all touching. Sure makes me wonder why I don't enjoy shooting that gun more often!
Is this gun and caliber usually this accurate or did my dad stumble onto a real gem?

stumpy

Ain't nothing wrong with the 220 Swift except folks that want every shot to be over 4000 fps. Slow it down just a hair, maybe a heavier bullet and you got a powerful 22 that will outshoot all the others. I use a Ruger #1 with a Leupold VX3 6.5x20 target dot that takes out prarie dogs to 500 yards if the wind is not doing wierd things. In a rigid properly bedded rifle, could probably do even better.

More than one person has claimed the Swift is more consistently accurate than the .22-250. Throttle them back a little, and they flat shoot.

I still remember a #1B in the Swift that I ogled for a year, in a gunshop in San Angelo; finally had the money to buy, and found it sold. It had full figure in the buttstock, and about half the forearm. It might have been temperamental, but was the prettiest one I ever saw.

I had a 1B in .220 Swift for a while in the 1990's. It shot so-so at first, but I put in a Hicks Accurizer and that turned it into a 1/2" rifle, not bad for a sporter-weight.

The Swift is a great cartridge for larger varmints (and deer-sized game) but I grew weary of the recoil when shooting prairie dogs.

I own a .220 Swift in the Ruger 77V and it will deliver 5 shots in a 1/2 inch at 100 yards. It is a sweetie to shoot and I do not load them hot.

I'd be interested to hear more about the M77V, and maybe see some pictures.

I have two of them, an early flatbolt and a Liberty. Both are MOA or better.

MD,

Technically speaking, the 1As have sporter weight barrels and the 1Bs have standard barrels.

But you are dead right about how well the small calibers shoot out of the 1Bs! My 204 Ruger and 22 Hornet 1Bs -- as your 1B, judging by your previous articles about it -- are amazingly accurate.

Why? search me, but that small hole leaves a lot of metal for rigidity. And the longer barrel might also play a role. It would be interesting to shoot a B and a V in the same caliber just to see how much they differ in how barrel heat build-up hurts accuracy.

I also have a .22-250 that I bought as a donor -- they are numerous enough that I do not feel guilty about it. I have not yet fired it as I'm scared it will prove to be a shooter. (A 22-250 V with a shot-out barrel is now being made over into a 6.8 SPC II carbine by Carolina Precision.)

1B

Ruger is one of the folks that have made the claim that the .220 Swift is consistently more accurate than the 22-250. I have an older 77-V that I finally shot the barrel out of - that took more than 6,000 rounds before accuracy started to fade a litte. I had Krieger screw in a stainless barrel, had a muzzle brake made into it and put two Dead Mule recoil reducers into the stock. I now can see my hits on varmints consistently and don't need a spotter to adjust at long range. Last time it was in a dog town, I spotted for a buddy and he killed 13 straight between 385 and 400 with it. The advice to throttle it back just a little is the key to both good barrel life and great accuracy. I shoot 55 grain V-Max and H-380 most of the time.

that is about what I have come to expect from a Swift..Everyone I have owned shot very well indeed and under and inch at 100..I never felt like I had to back off, I just had to find the right combination at 4000 FPS...Most of the time it worked out at full blast, but you really don't need that much velocity. Anything over 3000 FPS is just more of the same and makes little differnce in the first place. Guess thats why I still like the 222 and 223 so much.

Re: txjohn, Seems Jim Carmichael wrote about the Swift over the 250 in their factory 77s, all being test shot before leaving the factory it seems and the clear winner was the Swift.

I think 'The Modern Rifle' or something like that is where I read it.

I had 3 swifts, 2 I shot, they both shot 1/2moa all day for 5, all were 700 HBs, 2 VS and one a VSSF.

The Last group I remember was using it seems 50 BTs, possibly 55, but I put 5 in .297 using either a 6-18 or 6.5-20x and there was a wind that day.

Trajectory was like a laser beam to me, shot about a dozen sparrows that kept lighting on a barbed wire fence. Just POOF

JB, I wish I had Prairie dogs to shoot, let alone enough to worry about recoil from a Swift.....odds are my barrel would be toast in one good town Heat can and will scorch a Swift throat fast....I well know

texasjohn what is the all up wt. of that rifle with the two mules installed and all other accessories? Sound like it might be a bit on the heavy side. Thanks for your time. Cheers NC