clucknmoan
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I have finally got my new dog gun back and it's now ready to do some damage.
It's a Ruger Mark II Heavy Bull chambered in a 220 Swift topped by a Zeiss Conquest 6.5 X 20 X 50mm with target turrets.
I got it back from the gunsmith a couple weeks ago, I had him bed the lug and put in a Rifle Basix trigger that is currently at 1.5 lbs. My old man and I just finished working a load up for it. It's shootin a 50 grain Nosler ballistic tip at just about 4100 FPS. Suprisingly it is shootin it better than I thought, best group so far is a 4 shot group .36" at 100 yards. Problem is to get that group I had to seat them way out, so back to the gunsmith to mill out the magazine box, the shells are about .05" to long.
To all those dogs that stopped at 400 yards in the last 3 years and thought you were smart------I've got a big suprise you will never forget.
    
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fishhog
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Mining for steel
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Very Sweet rifle!!!!!!!
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Mojo
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Dudes gonna kill some stuff, I can tell! Nice! 
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Tight Lines,
Mojo
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pez
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Wow. That'll make a nice fur coat or two.
Gotta love the Nosler Ballistic Tips.
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clucknmoan
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Hold the phone, I spoke to early. I can not get the POS to shoot that group again. Back to the drawing board, can't get anything to tighten up below .83 Any suggestions???
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Tony1831
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Try a round with less umph?
This .83" group...is that at 100 yds also?
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<---- "Jihad this!"
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Gooose
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Is this from a seperate reloading effort?
Did you change any thing at all in reloading? Case brand, lot #, resizing, etc? Bullet seating the same? It sounds like you are using a max powder load for case capacity and the compression of the powder charge might be an issue if it isn't the same as your first batch. I am with Tony on dropping the powder charge a bit.....100 fps isn't going to change your ballistics very much......christ that round and rifle setup will make nice pelts at 500 yards.
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BobK
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How often do you clean the bore? I hope you are using the same methods the bench rest shooters do, or you can really screw up those tight groupings!
And yeah, neck resize ONLY, length trim, neck ream, weigh the cases for consistency, ad nauseum. Keep the loads a little under "full throttle" to prevent barrel erosion. But it DOES make a difference!
You can't make a silk purse from a sow's ear, but you CAN turn a silk purse INTO a sow's ear!
BobK
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clucknmoan
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Thanks for the replies. Now where do I start with the answers?
The gun is really in the break in stage still so I clean at least every 5 shots with Swedes and then Butchs or Shooters Choice to stop the reaction. I never shoot more than 3 shots in 20 minutes and my temperature is in the 50's and 60's. I have never had the barrel even slightly above warm. This is not the first swift I have been around, they are not nearly as bad as they were as far as barrel erosion, but they have to be shot responsibly. This isn't a caliber that you can go shoot 10 times in a row, that's not what it's made for.
As far as reloading. Nothing has changed from that load. I weigh and sort my cases, and have trimmed length to be sure that's not what it was. I really believe now that it was a fluke group. I do not neck ream, I will turn the outside first if it comes to it. I turn the necks in my .270, some guns it make no difference and some it makes all the difference. I believe that factory chambers are sloppy and turning the neck only may or may not help.
I did not start with this load (obviously I hope). I started with 3 grains less and worked up to it. The only reason I even stuck with it is because I have had multiple people tell me that’s what shot in their M77’s. This charge shot the best and it was max. I could care less if it shoots at 3600 or 4100, speed doesn’t matter to me. I want minimal deviation in hold from 0 to 400 yards, so that’s all speed matters to me, drop at 400. Accuracy is everything, if it wasn't we wouldn't be discussing this because I would take the .83" group and run with it.
Yes Tony the .83 is at 100 yards also. Last night I had a chance to load a few with Varget and W760. The Varget shot a group of .63” and the W760 shot a group of 1.2” (but I am sure I pulled one, the other 2 are within .5 of each other). I am very happy with this if it will do it again.
I don’t expect to shoot a .3” group every time, but I do expect a .5” group on average, with this setup it I don’t think I’m expecting to much. Another thing I have found in the past and have heard, swifts are very finicky. Keep the suggestions coming.
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Tony1831
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Ok, well it sounds like you are finding a better load, for now. Next, work on your technique. That's usually where the most variation(inaccuracy) comes from. Shooting is a discipline.
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<---- "Jihad this!"
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clucknmoan
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I couldn't agree with you more. Shooter error accounts for the majority of inaccuracy. I can shoot way tighter groups off of bags than I can off one of the new style rests. That is unless I am shooting something with a lot of recoil, then I shoot off the metal rest.
I shot again tonight, more Varget and W760. I also tried the Siver Ballistic Tips from Nosler and they seem to really shoot well. It shot 2 groups under .5" and the rest were under .8". Now I am feeling much better about this. It just doesn't like IMR4064 or H380 or anything V-Max.
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BobK
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Yeah, varying powder and bullet combinations DO make a BIG difference! Also, I had rifles that gave good accuracy, but some with "full throttle" loads, and some with slightly reduced loads.
Funny, but I seemed to notice that the powders that filled the case, and also were the faster-burning powders for the caliber seemed the best for accuracy - at least that's the way it seemed to work out for me!
BobK
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clucknmoan
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It's been my experience that swift's like to shoot hot loads. It seems like it's kinda standard that they like 4064 but not this one. It is shooting Winchester 760 and the 50 grain Nosler Silver B-Tips as well as I can shoot. Shot just under .5 yesterday and tonight was .29" So it's official, that's my load for now. Should be going over 4000, book says 3900 but with the coated jacket I bet it closer to 4100. Hard to say until I check it.
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BobK
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Although I haven't used a Swift in 50 years, that pretty much matches my memory, except that we didn't have the superb bullets that we have today. The bullet selection for the Swift was very limited back then, and sub-minute accuracy was virtually unheard of, except with the Swift and , and for a "new kid" on the block at the time, the .222 Rem.
But I LOVED the Swift - something about shooting woodchucks at astronomical distances was great fun! And the farmers loved to have me stop by to remove the little critters.
Then I finished college under the Korean Bill, got married, had kids, a house, etc. etc., and my shooting sort of got reprioritized. Oh, well, it was fun while it lasted.....
BobK
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clucknmoan
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Good times--my excuse is I have to teach my kids all these things. All I have to do is con one of the kids or my wife into going with me and it is justified. I'm lucky though, I can load shells in the garage and then step out the door to the bench if I wanted. I've been trying not to though, there are a few bucks hanging around the place that have my wifes name on them. Thanks for the advice.
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Gooose
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The Swift was developed with the idea of being the fastest varmint round on the planet. It just wouldn't be right for it to be putting along at less than 4000.
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Independent Advocate For The Fish
Not Represented By Any Organization
It's Gonna Be A Long Winter
There's lies, damned lies and then there are statistics......Mark Twain
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BobK
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Yeah.... and to think it was "invented" back in the '30s, during the Great Depression! And it used the ol' 6 mm Lee-Navy case as a basis, which came from the old Lee-Navy straight-pull bolt action rifle which the Navy and the Marines adopted and used in the late 1890s, and during the "Boxer Rebellion"!
The older bullets for the swift always "vaporized" some of the exposed lead on the nose during their downrange trajectory. They used to show and advertise pictures of it downrange, where the friction from the air had a chance to "do its dirty work"!
BobK
BobK
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clucknmoan
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If you buy a race car, drive it like one!!!
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BobK
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Thick Tail
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Yeah, I always DID!
BobK
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