.220 swift
Any one out there that could give me some advice on sighting it in. (Rem 700) right now it shoots bout 2" groups at 100yds bout 2" low but cant hit a soda bottle at 300yds. havnt shot at a target that far yet. right now im just using factory hornady 60grn hollow points, but plan on hand loading some in with 55grn vmax in the near future. any advice on how far out i should plan on sighing it in at and any advice on power selection and weight primer selction ect would be a great help thank
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i have been on here before with this swift i bought from my dad. ive been having some accuracy problems. rem 700 vari x 3 scope. he only shot about 2 boxes of shells and said it was a great shooter. now when i got it it shoots fine at 100 yards out at 225 yards its all over the place from 5" to the left and high to 3" to the right and low. Ive tried 60, 55, 45 grn hornady factory rounds no joy. ive loaded my own with 55grn slugs with 37 grns of imr 4064 still no joy. i free floated the barrel nothing. i took the gun to a gunsmith he looked in the barrel said it was copperfouled. probably one of the worst he's ever seen. he told me to use some montana extreme on the barrel to clean it out. he said it would be alot of work to clean this gun out. he also told me the factory sporter barrels are junk (sales pitch for a custom barrel? not sure) and i should have him bed the action and lighten up my trigger.
my question is i used up about 3/4 of the bottle of montana extreme and spent about 4 hours one night cleaning the gun and still no joy. can it be possible it still needs more cleaning? do i need to load up some hot 45 grn rounds to get the bullet to stabilize in flight. should i have him bed the action. any suggestions would be very helpful thanks guys0 -
tomcat_blackknights,
The first thing you have to do is be sure that the barrel is clean. This is the only way you can establish a base line for comparison of any loads.
"can it be possible it still needs more cleaning?"
How would we know this? You're looking at the barrel, shine a light in the end of the barrel and look at the reflections from the other end. Sunlight works also or a white piece of paper. Look carefully and with magnification if possible. A borescope is the best method but most folks won't afford one for home use.
Now start a pragmatic reloading ladder using one powder and one bullet. Your previous method is a hodgepodge of guess and bygosh which essentially gets you nowhere. Make a plan based on the twist rate of the barrel, bullets to match and powders recommended for that combination. If this doesn't make sense, you need to read some of the information about developing accuracy loads for rifles.
The rifle should be bedded and the barrel free floated to start. A lighter trigger can contribute to more consistency in your shooting. A good bench with good bags or a front rest and rear bag are required. The scope, rings and base have to be aligned and correctly tightened.
Remington, Savage and Tikka sporter barrels have been acknowledged as being some of the best out-of-the-box shooters available. But not every barrel from every manufacturer is a winner. Sometimes we all get a lemon and have to bite the bullet and replace that barrel.
Best.0 -
i know my wide array of different combinations of reloads and factory loads in my first blog is a hodgeposh of things. but these are things ive tried to do to get the gun to shoot half way descent. i know what i need to do to work up my loads. but i have to get the gun to shoot somewhat accurate to find what loads work good. i have done lots with my .223 as far as working up certain loads with certain bullets. (please dont take this as arrogance) but my real problem is (maybe im missing the point) but i cant make this gun hit a basketball at 300 yards. maybe im asking to much, or maybe it is a lemon but from what ive read about .220 ballistics is that it should be able to smoke a prarie dog at 300 yards. im going to keep cleaing for now and when im done i will clean some more. im very determined to get this gun to to shoot well. so keep the good info coming it really helps thanx again guys. 0 -
Tomcat,
I'm intrigued. You say it shoots fine at 100 yards and is all over the paper at 225?
What kind of groups are you seeing at 100?
I can't understand, at normal Swift velocities, why you would go from (say sub-minute) at 100 yards to more than twice that at 225 with changing POI ??????
It's early. Should have read your original post more carefully. You reference changing POI but not necessarily inappropriately larger groups at 225. Are you starting with 100 groups from a cold barrel, and then moving to 225 once the barrels heated? Im still having trouble understanding why the change from one range to the other.0 -
I don't understand it either - but I'm a 220 fan. Most are 1-14" twist, and a 50g ball is as much as they normally handle well, IMHO. Agree with the posts above... gotta be absolutely sure it is free of copper, then settle on a good basic load (I use 50g V-max). Of course, your reloads have to be good and consistent- and I have a lot more faith in my reloads than factory stuff. I don't shoot hot loads - I keep them in the 3800 fps range. Montana Extreme is a good copper remover - but if its badly fouled, its gonna take a lot of work (you might try one of the foaming cleaners as well) -- maybe even some JB bore paste.
Be sure its clean, that your reloads are consistent, then run a ladder... be sure you are shooting as well at 225 as you are at 100.0 -
" Montana Extreme is a good copper remover - but if its badly fouled, its gonna take a lot of work (you might try one of the foaming cleaners as well)".........."my question is i used up about 3/4 of the bottle of montana extreme and spent about 4 hours one night cleaning the gun and still no joy."...........both work well for cleaning copper fouling but take time (days), give them time to work. Wet the bore with cleaner, let sit overnight, run a patch through the bore......no blue =good to go, blue patch =more cleaning. 0 -
Try letting it sit overnight with a bore cleaner like hoppes #9 in the bore! (the hoppes #9 is a good copper fouling indicator if left sitting in a damped bore for 24 hrs) Just use a damp patch of the #9! Next day run a clean snug patch and look for blue or green! If you see such it still has Cu fouling! Reason I said Hoppes #9 is it's safe to leave in bore overnight. Some of the other bore cleaners do not recommend leaving the bore damp with their use due to high ammonia content which can cause bore rusting, etc! (read their instructions before useage) If you detect green or blue the next day take a good snug 22cal bore brush, dampen it with bore cleaner, remove the bolt and run the dampened brush through the bore from the chamber! Clean the bore brush when through with hot soapy water or the bore cleaner will eat away your bore brush also!
If the group is GOOD at 100 yards and and several multplied times LARGER at 200-300 yards, I would suspect wind and or wrong bullet type, and do not overheat the barrel on a 220 Swift! The barrel will heat fast on such! I only shoot two and three shot groups and let the carrel cool between groups! (glass bedding and floating the barrel will help) but you have to do your part and start keeping a record (log) in a notebook of tests conducted and copys of the groups also!
I've corrected such in some guns by noticing a PATTERN hint by reviewing a log of tests!
FYI, you can tape a plastic pop bottle over the end of your barrel and it will catch (control) the spray from the exiting bore brush!
Good Luck to Ya!0
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