Ruger No. 1 in 220 Swift

J

jdillon

New member
I have a No. 1 in 220 Swift and must say it has been an education in getting it tuned. I love the rifle but at times it has been a lesson in frustration and unpredictable. Finally installed a Hicks Accurizer and a Kepplinger set trigger and getting consistent Groups in .5" range.

Any other folks have similar experiences?
 
My neighbor (a gunsmith) built one in .257 Roberts Improved and not sure if he did anything special. It was a tackhammer and the custom maple stock he put on it was beyond beautiful.... ;)
 
Getting Ruger #1s to shoot well is an occult art akin to necromancy. Some shoot like a dream right out of the box, others seem like they are possessed. There are various formulas for getting them to shoot right: you bed the forearm to the frame extension and don't let it touch anything else OR you bed the forearm to the receiver and frame extension and freefloat the barrel, OR you bed the forearm to the barrel and put a rubber O-ring between the forearm and the frame extension OR you bed the forearm to the receiver and barrel and put a sheet of rubber gasket material between the forearm and the fframe extension, OR you jump down turn around picka a bale of hay . . . There are as many "secrets" as there are gunsmiths who have fought the little buggers to get them shooting right. But if you work with them and really study what the rifle is doing, you can get them shooting well, really well. So congratulations!
 
Must be something about those Ruger No.1 in .220 Swift. A guy I used to work with and his brother both bought these rifles. The guy I worked with, his was a tack driver. He could cover five shot 200 yards groups with a nickel (5 cent piece). His brother’s was lucky to shoot 6 inch groups at that range. No matter what they did to it, and no matter the reload, it just wouldn’t work. The barrel got replaced but didn’t help much. Last I knew he was trying to sell it.
 
When I bought my #1 it said in the manual to contact Ruger if you are not happy with the accuracy BEFORE you did anything.

Have you tried this approach FIRST?
 
I didn't contact and maybe should have. Did alot of research online and just started eliminating variables. Regardless it is shooting very well.
 
I have 3 #1 all have had the barrel floated two have set triggers other lighten and there good shooters. I replace all the factory barrels I shot one out the other two were getting close.
 
Generally the most consistant /cheapest methods have been to use variations on Frank DeHaas' methods, Screw through the hangar to bear on the bbl eliminates hangar flex, bed the forend usually works wonders, #1V's usually work best. My V in 22-250 always shot well just not exactly to the same poi depending on forend rest,bipod use. This method works quite well.
 
barrel twist and bullet weight.

The first thing I'd wonder is what is the twist rate on the barrel. Many 220 Swifts were made with slow twists like 1 in 14 and will not shoot long bullets well. I'd work with 50 grain for most swifts.
 
It's not just the swift, dad has one in 25-06 that will shoot 0.5" now but I'll bet he's spent twice what the rifle cost to get it that way. Out of the box a 3 inch group was cause for celibration. He also has one in 416 rig and if we ever manage to fire 3 round in one setting thru it I'll report on how it groups.:D
 
The barrel twist in my No. 1V is 1:14 and have had best results with bullet weights of 55 gr and or less particularly Berger and Sierra. Lots of free bore and seat the bullets at a max OAL permitted by the case neck. Loading 39.4 gr of 4320 and works well producing approx. 3,940 fps. Another key is proper case prep. Sorting cases by weight within a .5 gr tolerance, body sizing, trimming, neck sizing, and uniforming the primer pockets.
 
Getting Ruger #1s to shoot well is an occult art akin to necromancy. Some shoot like a dream right out of the box,
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Which, fortunately (?) was the case with my No. One, chambered in .220 Swift.
 
I own a Ruger No. 1 in 45-70 Gov't and my buddy owns one in .375 H&H. Thankfully, both of ours are tack drivers.

He also has one in 416 rig and if we ever manage to fire 3 round in one setting thru it I'll report on how it groups.
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My buddy's .375 can be a little rough but overall not too bad. I'd love to have one in .416 Rigby but I can only imagine just how rough it is to shoot.
 
Biggest pain in shooting the Rig is paying for it. Dad bought it for a trip to Africa and then he got into some health issues before he could go. It had been sitting in the case for 10 years and had never been shot. We took it down to the river and ran 2 boxes of shells thru it. It was a hoot so I went online to order a few more boxes.:eek: Cheapest I could find was over $80 a box and it goes way WAAY up from there. I've got a set of dies for it now but haven't gotten around to loading anything for it yet.
 
A friend of mine just bought some 416 Rigby ammo. At only $50-ish a box, he thought he was getting a great deal until he received the ammo. It was packed 5-rounds per box.
 
Rule of thumb: Anytime you have to put a box of ammunition into layaway before you can afford to pay for it, it's probably too expensive to shoot. :)
 
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