Just bought a Winchester 1885 in 220 swift NIB off of Gun Broker . Would it be safe to assume the rifling rate will be a 14" twist ?
Winchester 1885 220 swift
- Thread starter Iron Worker
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shortgrass
Well-Known Member
Easy enough to find out. Take your cleaning rod and jag, with a tight fitting patch and ease it into the rifling . Choose a place on the cleaning rod and make a reference mark. 12" back from that mark, make another, and then again at 14". Make the all the marks on top of the cleaning rod. I put masking tape on the rod to make the marks easy to see and use a Sharpie. Advance the rod with the tight fitting patch into the bore watching the marks you made. Has the rod made a full rotation at 12"? At 14"? Just make sure the patch you choose isn't too tight to pass through the bore and that the handle on the rod has good bearings so the rod rotates with the rifling. When you can't seem to find written information about twist rate, this is how many find out!
Gun broker sales person confirmed it was a 14" twist
jjmp
Well-Known Member
Congrats on yur 1885 Swift that's one Beauty for sure,10/10 she'll drive tacks enjoy !!!
shortgrass
Well-Known Member
As long as you're not trying to shoot any bullet heavier than 55g......
Hatrick
Well-Known Member
Pictures?
jjmp
Well-Known Member
My 1st Swift was a 77v ,26 inch bbl 1/14 twist it shot 50,52,53,55,60,& 70 grn Speer semi-sptzers very well , never tryed any 40 grainers , that rifles sold but it's replacement shoots even better ,a Semi/custom useing a older Ruger action mated to a ss/26/1/14 twist Chanlynn cut rifled bbl about a # 3.5 conture , with a bloked mag well to make it a single shot, Canjar set trigger groups at 200 yds hover 3/8 to less then 1/2 , again this rifle shoots all the same weight bullets that the above rifle did, long live the 220 Swift !!!
Hatrick I bought it on Gun broker
I bought on Gun Broker yesterday,won't receive shipment until later in the week.
kiwikid
Well-Known Member
This has to be one of the all time Classic Rifles and yours is in a Classic Cartridge, congratulations to you Sir. 
Just recently I received the latest Norma catalog and was horrified to see that 220 Swift ammunition is no longer listed. They do still supply brass at this stage. I would suggest if you want good Norma Swift brass you may want to get it sooner rather than later. My 220 Swift is a Ruger M77 MkI and from day one (1978) it has been a tack driver. Enjoy your new project.
Just recently I received the latest Norma catalog and was horrified to see that 220 Swift ammunition is no longer listed. They do still supply brass at this stage. I would suggest if you want good Norma Swift brass you may want to get it sooner rather than later. My 220 Swift is a Ruger M77 MkI and from day one (1978) it has been a tack driver. Enjoy your new project.
