.22-250 vs .220 Swift

boisblancboy

boisblancboy

New member
Now im sure this has been posted and debated often, but from what I have seen without alot of explaination is that the .220 swift is picked more often. Why?

Primarily on the aspect of ballistics the .250 seems to out preform. Is there something im missing, say excessive heat for PD hunting?

Either way I wouldnt mind hearing your DETAILED opinion on why you would choose either caliber. Thanks guys!!
 
I would go with a 250 and punch it out to a Ackley. Then you get about the same performance. Also if something happens you can go get some factory ammo which with the Swift might be tough. I like the Swift to but would go with the 250 Ackley.
 
Originally Posted By: HoierI would go with a 250 and punch it out to a Ackley. Then you get about the same performance. Also if something happens you can go get some factory ammo which with the Swift might be tough. I like the Swift to but would go with the 250 Ackley.

So, you buy a rifle in 22-250 and pull the barrel and set it back and punch it to 22-250 AI - around here, that's ~$200 - if you are going to spend that kind of money, it makes no sense to replace the old factory, and so you add a new barrel - then the extra price of dies for a wildcat... and the reduced value cuz once you make it an AI it looses value.

You are lookin' at spendin' a goodly chunk of money - just to equal a .220 Swift that you can buy right off the shelf.

You're kidding us, right???
 
It has been said here many times- quite a few by me- that there just is something about having and shooting a .220 Swift.

Just like the 1911 handgun has been little improved on since it came out over 100 years ago the same can be said about the almost 80 year old .220 Swift. Winchester wanted it to be king of the hill back then and guess what? It still is. At least it is if you handload for it. Factory loads really leave quite a bit to be desired or at least the ones that I have shot over the last 37 years. The exception was the 50 grain Norma stuff but at $2 a shot (if it is still available even) pretty spendy.

Any good Swift should be able to give you 5 shot dime size groups at 100 yards. The three that I have had certainly would. And if you do not full throttle your loads your brass will give you many loadings. Good thing too because the last time that I looked it was now $55 a hundred. Owiee.

Sometimes the gun makers hit a homerun with something even if the general population is not all that aware of it. Back when I got my first one only Ruger was making them, and that started off as a limited run of M77V's just to see if they would sell. And it became a lifelong love affair for me. If I was forced to sell all of my varmint rifles- no wait- ALL of my centerfire rifles but one can you guess which one that I would keep? Can you? Good! I knew that you could!
 
Boy dies are a whooping 30 bucks more and I wouldn't be scared to punch out a factory barrel. And in my experience 220 ammo is harder to find then 22-250 if your in a pinch. Just about any store that sells ammo has 22-250.
Originally Posted By: CatShooter

You're kidding us, right???

Boy did I miss this.
 
Back around 1966 I had a Swift in Win. Model 70 (pre-64) and it was a very nice gun and shot well. However today, I really don't think the caliber is in demand as much as the 22-250.
Now all you Swift fans don't get upset. I'm not bashing the Swift, but if you looked at number of sales of each, I would say it is 5 to 1 for the 22-250. I don't think the Swift will ever die, it will just slowly fade into history.
The 22-250 will never catch up to the Swift in velocity but in the accuracy department they are equal. In other words if you max out a load in the 250 and max out a load in the Swift, the Swift still stays ahead of the 250. But a critter won't know the difference with what it was shot with.
Oh, and that part about the 5 to 1 sales is not out of fact, just my personel opinion....
 
I think of the Swift like the Hornet. It is a nostalgia thing. Go for it if you want it, but there are better choices available today.

Jack
 
Originally Posted By: peterjc Oh, and that part about the 5 to 1 sales is not out of fact, just my personel opinion....

I will not dispute that. Just about everyone makes a 22/250 but there are few makers of .220 Swifts. I know that Cooper does but even Ruger has once again dropped the Swift from the lineup. Pity that one is.

As far as accuracy goes, during a tour of the Ruger plant many years ago Jim Carmichael was told by Bill Ruger they could take a M77 in .22/250 that will shoot sub one inch 100 yard groups and rechamber it to .220 Swift and shrink the groups by up to a half inch. This was in an article for Outdoor Life that Carmichael had written about the new M77V in the Swift chambering. I was impressed by that.

The Swift if never going to make another comeback enough to knock the fine .22/250 from its sales position. And you are 100% correct that nothing ever shot with one or the other is going to be able to tell the difference. Not a whit.

But one thing is going to ring true forever:

And that is simply, once again, that there is just something about the .220 Swift. God's little lightning bolt.
 
Originally Posted By: roode301I own both what i can tell you is get one of each.Shoot them and all your questions will be answered.

+1
 
The .250 would be more practical, if you don't reload. There's nothing that one can do that the other can't, within the realm of a man's abilities. It's simply a matter of preference.
 
Thanks for the replies everyone! My dad and I have a 250 in a browning and it is a great shooting gun. I also like the Swift and im sure as time goes on there will be one in the cabinet.

How does everyone like the Swift for P dog hunting?
 
Originally Posted By: boisblancboy"... How does everyone like the Swift for P dog hunting?"

I would not take a Swift or a 22-250 to a dog town, unless it was for the really odd long shot.

On my first PD shoot, I took an expensive 22-250, and a bunch of ammo, and by the 4th day, the barrel was pretty much toast. I also had two other rifles in .222 Mag, and 223. They turned out to be better rifles, as they didn't heat up much, and it was easier to hit on long shots.

On following trips, I never took anything larger than a 222 Mag.

 
Originally Posted By: CatShooterOriginally Posted By: boisblancboy"... How does everyone like the Swift for P dog hunting?"

I would not take a Swift or a 22-250 to a dog town, unless it was for the really odd long shot.



I would not think of going on a PD hunt without my Swift, but it is only one of the several rifles that I would be taking.

And a typical varity of guns that I take on a shoot are a Ruger .22 auto handgun, a .17 HMR rifle, a .17 Remington, a varminter .223 AR-15 and my .223AI. They all will be used for (hopefully) a few hundred shots. I like to swap out the centerfires from time to time so they never get hot and keep the rimfires for the closer stuff.

But shooting a distant or even more so not so distant prairie dog with my muzzle braked .220 Swift is something to behold. I enjoy watching the hits with my Swift more than any other gun. Walt Disney would be impressed with this "wonderful world of color" let me tell you!
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I have a couple of the 22-250s (Tikka T-3 lite and the CZ 550 HS) and really like them. I don't know about .220 brass prices but the 22-250 runs about $47.00 a hundred. With either one it would be a good idea to hand load.

I have been working up some max loads with Varget, H380 and Superperformance. Even at a max load, I am getting at least 12 reloads out of each case using Winchester, Hornady and S&B brass.

We don't have P-dogs out here in Oregon but we do have sage rats. When I go rat hunting, I will take a 17 HMR, the .204 and a 22-250. Most of the shooting is done with the 17. The .204 shoots the longer ones and the 22-250 goes for the max shots out to 300 on rats and longer on ravens. Of course, I don't hit too many but I can dream.
 
.204 is my dedicated P-Dog gun.

At 4225ft/s, wind isn't that much of a problem.

I love the low recoil and being able to stay on target to verify the hit.
 
Originally Posted By: roode301I own both what i can tell you is get one of each.Shoot them and all your questions will be answered.


^^^^^ THAT
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and put both in the truck, so they get equal loving!

going to shoot mine today at the range and this weekend hunting.
The 220swift's companion for the weekend will be a .243 launching 58gr vmax at near max load
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but here is what u can do:

22-250 find a 50 or 55gr load you like.
220swift find a 35 - 40 - 45 grain really really fast load it likes.
and then your good to go.
 
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you can load down the 250 or swift for extended shooting. not a big deal there.
never have p-dog hunted, would love to. but I would defianlty have a fast load for the swift and my 22-250. Just moderate the shooting, and use other rifles while the hot-doggers cool down.
one day maybe I will make to a p-dog hunt
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