Ruger M77 .220 Swift

[26Charlie]

I decided to get out rifles I have not shot in awhile, make sure they are sighted in (the current social malaise is getting to me, I suppose). This is one of them - haven’t shot it since 2013. It has a weaver K10 on it. Lyman 224646 55 gr GC with 10 gr Blue Dot hit point of aim at 100 yd. I didn’t shoot a group with that, wanted to see the sight correction needed to hit with jacketed bullets. The 60 gr JSPs and HPs were 6” high, requiring adjustment of down 16 clicks.
A Hornady 60 gr HP with 42.5 gr 4350 put 5 into 1.5” , and a (bulk buy) 60 gr PSP with 38.8 gr AA2700 put 5 into 1.9”,100 yd wrist rest. The Hornadys were loaded in 1993, the PSPs in 2013.
A friend had one of these, and reported many groups less than an inch, but I never could - maybe he had a solid rest. He has since passed to his reward, and his collection dispersed.
In any event, I could never get this rifle to feed more than three rounds from the magazine. The taper of the cartridge is more than the taper of the magazine box, so if I put in 4 or 5 rounds they seem to cross at the shoulder and jam.

[Ozark mike]

Out of all the 22s the swift i hold dearest cant help ya with the gun problems wish i knew. Once knew someone who would shoot the bolts that held the stop signs on the post with a swift in a 700 rem

[Three44s]

Tang safety Liberty M77V In 243 Win here! Bought it way back when brand new!

Fly shooter!

Bought another tang safety 77 in 270 a year later and it was a pitiful excuse. The best I ever grouped with it was about 1.3” at 100 yds.

After years of sitting around I traded it for a Browning A-Bolt II with a BOSS in .25-06 and EVERY Load I have tested in that rifle is .6” or better!

Three44s

[Texas by God]

The .220 Swift m77 seemed to be more consistently accurate than all the other Rugers that my brothers and friends had back then. My brother had the best luck with his with Norma brass, Sierra 52gr bthp, and IMR 4064. Years later I had a Savage 112V single shot that shot good. I never warmed to either gun because of their mediocre triggers, oddball semirim brass, and heavy weight. Remington 600, 788, and 700 models ruled for me. The m700 .222 shot smaller groups every time, the m600 6mm shot smaller groups most of the time, and the 788 22-250 cost $85 and would keep up with either Swift about half the time. I could hit crows just as far away with it as the Swift.

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[koger]

I have had several Swifts over the years, could never get one to shoot good at speed velocities, if I backed the load down to 22-250 speeds, the swift would shoot great, but not as good as my 22-250. I had 3 Rugers, a custom Mauser, and a couple more I cant remember. I still have the Savage 110 22-250 on its second barrel.

[Norske]

One gun writer claimed the Swift was usually more accurate than the 22-250 because of the differences in popularity. Brass forming dies and chamber reamers for the Swift were less used, therefore less worn. He also claimed the 225 Win was even more accurate than the Swift for the same reason.

[26Charlie]

Norske - that shows why gun writers should be taken with a grain of salt. It jest don’t make no sense.

[Norske]

He actually showed that 225 case heads were more consistently square to case axis, followed by Swift cases, finally 22-250. Manufacturing things wear with use. Currently at our indoor 100 meter range, we easily see the differences between 223 and 222 bolt action rifles. 223 owners search for accuracy, 222 owners stumble on rare inaccurate loads.

[Tripplebeards]

If you give up on it I’ll trade you for my 1941 long branch sporter! Otherwise I’d tell you to free float the barrel and bed the action. Also lighten the trigger.

[white eagle]

My favorite 22 cal is the 220 swift

Most feeding problems I had with the Ruger was
on the count of my loading
if you put them in with the rims ahead of the one below never had a feeding problem

[Drm50]

I had 77v in 220 Swift. I shoot 55gr in all my CF 22s except Hornet. Ruger would shoot 1” at 100yds. I had a Redfield 16x. 220 was my favorite only one I have left is a custom 98 varmit.

[Jniedbalski]

I had a savage 112v single shot Varmit barrel in 220 swift. It was the best shooting gun I ever had. It had a 1 /12 or a 1 /14 twist heavy bbl. you could tape dimes on the target at 300 yards and shoot them off

[26Charlie]

Well, I did shoot a 100 yd. group with the 224646 60 gr GC / 10 gr Blue Dot load. 8 went into 1.0 inches, 2 slightly wide shots made it 2.05 inches for the 10 shots.
On the K10 scope this is 16 clicks up from the jacketed load (puts the JSP 6 inches high at 100) so I fired the JSP at 300 to see what it would do at that scope setting. It was still 7 inches high at 300, equivalent to 2 1/3 minutes or 9 clicks on the K10.