220 Swift-Obsolete?

Yup, Catshooter your right Remington is still making a rifle chambered in the Swift. I guess getting old makes me as outdated as the Swift is.

MODEL 700™ VS SF™ II
Caliber Mag. Cap. Barrel Length Rate of Twist Overall Length Avg. Wt. (lbs.) Order No. MSRP*
17 Rem Fireball 5 26" 9" 45 3/4" 8 1/2 84352 $1,284
204 Ruger 5 26" 12" 45 3/4" 8 1/2 26333 $1,284
223 Rem 5 26" 12" 45 3/4" 8 1/2 26337 $1,284
220 Swift 4 26" 14" 45 3/4" 8 1/2 26339 $1,284
22-250 Rem 4 26" 14" 45 3/4" 8 1/2 26335 $1,284

I know there are lots of folks out shooting them, but I know folks that feel the same way about the 225 Winchester, the 22 Hornet and the old lever 348 Winchester and God forbid the 30-30. There's loads of cartridges out there that folks just won't give up and the Swift may certainly be one of them.

I'd almost bet Remington doesn't sell many of them compared to other varmint calibers and I've yet to see the Swift when loaded with 50 and 55 grain bullets do any better than the 250, at least the two I owned didn't and the 250 didn't flow brass like the Swift did.

Well I'm going to quit stirring the pot here before all you Swift guys show up at my house with tar and feathers.
 
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Never did understand the love affair folks have for this old cartridge. Every one I had would flow brass to the neck far more than the 22-250 for basically the same velocities. Winchester was right for discontinuing it.

I know that's not going to make you die hard swift fans happy, but I've had a bunch of them come thru my shop with just that complaint over the near 30 years I ran a shop.

I figure it might be the hype of the name or something, but there are a bunch of better solutions to high velocity from a .224 bullet on the market.

I haven't shot one for years, but do have a friend whom has an old pre-64 model 70 with the 26 inch factory sporter weight barrel on it that's he's still shooting.

I changed over from the 250 a couple of years ago to the new 204 Ruger and it seems to work extremely well and at better than swift velocities. One shooting partner has one of the Ruger target models in 220 and I put together 600 rounds for him this winter.

For those that have them and reload they'll be around for a while, but I doubt that we'll ever see another production gun now that Ruger has dropped production of their target model in the swift and added the 204.


I couldn't agree with you any more Bob
Why the love affair with the 30-06 there are far better rounds to be had
The 220 swift will kick the crap out of the 204 rug any day
but hey my opininon /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif
 
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I have both the 22-250 and the Ackley Improved version of same so I just didn't really need a Swift but than again, do I really NEED all the other guns I have!? Hmmm, maybe a Swift is in my future. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif
 
Obsolete hardly more like absolute
I can hardly believe that you could get a 20 cal 55gr bullet to get the same velocity as the swift with same weight bullet but hey everyone has hope as far as flowing brass why not trim them when they get to long then as hard as it is for some of you fellas buy some new brass :d
Its very clear that when you have been in the top of your game for so long you are bound to have the wannabees to show up and take pokes at you
 
Good point, White Eagle!

One thing that I don't like is trouble- and troublesome cartriges. After 30 odd years of loading the Swift I have found that yes, it will stretch and thicken necks if pushed to the max. Lesson here: Don't push to the max. If I load down just a couple of grains from top book loads I find that my accuracy (generally) improves and that I almost never have to trim cases anymore. OK- I dont shoot my Swift like I did when it was my one and only varmint rifle, but I do shoot it. I have prairie dog shoot coming up this coming weekend and you can bet that Swift will be coming along. And you can also bet that any dog that I miss at 400 yards with a 50 grain bullet traveling at 3850 fps, I would have missed if pushing it at 4000 fps.

As usual, I will check my cases when I get home and trim any that need trimming. I expect as usual for there to be very few.

Oh, and will I hit any pasture poodles with the Swift that I would have missed with a 22/250? Nope. But that's OK. There is just something about owning and shooting a 220 Swift, and I guess that you just have to own one and shoot one to know what I am talking about.
 
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the 250 didn't flow brass like the Swift did.




im gonna go off topic for a bit.......
what does flowing brass mean?
what about a dictionary sticky with the different terms?
 
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"Obsolete hardly more like absolute...
... to long then as hard as it is for some of you fellas buy some new brass :d



Bu -bu - bu - buy new cases - what the hell is with THAT!

I don't need no steeenkin new cases.

I trim them once and never again - I shoot my brass wet - they never stretch (I'll bet that comment brings on a poopie-storm!).
 
I currently have two swifts and will never get rid of them. Like Rustydust said you just have to hold one and shoot it to understand, my wife says I might hold mine a little to tight and caress them a little to much!!!!! Always looking for a new one. Been thinking about getting one in a Cooper, my wife would really be jealous!!
 
It is to the 22-250 what the 6mm Remington is to the .243 Winchester... a bit more powerful if fully stoked, but in practical ballistics, the difference gets lost in the noise. And so the shorter cartridges have taken the market in both cases...

There is really nothing worthwhile you can do with a 220 Swift that you can't also do with the 22-250.

Does that make the 220 Swift obsolete? Of course not, the market decides what is obsolete and what isn't. The .308 was supposed to make the 30-06 obsolete, but it hasn't (even though the .308 will do practically anything the 30-06 will do with reasonable weight hunting bullets).

But rifle aficionados like variety, and many don't like to get on the bandwagon with everyone else. Cartridges such as the 220 Swift and the 6mm Remington afford these guys something just a bit off the norm to hang their identities on. Not a bad thing; but yes, a true thing. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Dan
 
The Swifts that I had, and my friends had loved AA2700 with the 50g Ballistic tip with 44.0-45.0g of AA2700 at an honest 4000 fps. I'm talking very tiny groups.

A ground squirrel with his head out of a hole at 200 yards had no prayer.

This was an honest 400 yard load for ground squirrels.

I annealed the brass on the 5th firing and usually had to trim, but I usually cut the brass back an additional .010 also.

It is too bad that gun makers do not chamber the Swift in a 12 twist so that the 60g Nosler could be shot on deer, talking about a deer rifle...holy cow!
 
Obsolete for sure! Wouldn't want you to have pay someone to haul that thing off so just PM me and I'll give you enough money to send it to my special disposal site for used up dangerous things like that. I'll even pay the hazmat fee for guns that have shot lead bullets.
 
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA.......................


Swift Obsolete....................

I ain`t never gettin` rid of mine.............
 
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i am only 25 that gun is a lil older than me ......



The Swift was introduced by Winchester in 1935 so it's a bit older than many of us here!

However, not by much, unfortunately.

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused1.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused1.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused1.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused1.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused1.gif
 
You know what? I was just at the range today with a few guns. My 17 Rem, my AR-15 varminter, my 204 and my Swift. The Swift roars and belches flame and rattles the tin roof over the benches compared to the other guns. And I love it. Just its way of letting the other guys know that it is still The King. Yeah, it burns a bit more powder than the others, and the barrel heats up quicker as a result, but if you want to reach out there and say howdy it still does it better than any of the other calibers that I own. One reason that I am still smitten I suppose, and one reason why most likely that it will be along once again on my annual praire dog hunt. It gets the job done, and does it very well indeed.
 
Four Swifts are sitting in one of my gunsafes. I'm always looking for another. One can never have too many Swifts or Browning O/U's.
 
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Now the cartridge that "I" don't think will last is the 6.5x308x284 - I think there was only one made, and the customer didn't like it ...




Touche..... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif Gotta love those surprise chamberings. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smiliesmack.gif
 
one of the best 22 cartridges out there...maybe i'm biast as the 220 in my handle is for the 220 Swift. here is mine...Ruger #1V, Leupold fixed 12x, Leupold dot reticle with elevation target knobs.
102_0247-1.jpg

this gun is about 20yrs old and couldn't tell you how many rounds are through it as it was my fathers for a couple years before he passed and gave it to me. i know since i've owned it i've put approx 3,000 rnds through it. my only mistake was shooting 40grainers for 3 yrs when i first got it and didnt know any better. shooting over 4000fps..every shot...for 3yrs worth of target shooting and groundhog shooting....the throat is getting pretty smoothed out. i're been relaoding for it for 10yrs now. my most accurate load groups have opened up from .5" to 1"+ in the last 2yrs....still good enough to whack a groundhog out to 300yds..but after that its a guessing game anymore. this is her last groundhog season..lookin to get her rebarreled next year.
 
Very nice, Woody. I would like to get my .243 Number 1 rebarrelled to Swift, but then I would have no .243 rifles and two Swifts. But then again, it not really possible to have too many 220 Swifts now is it? But really, if that dang .243 wasnt such a fine shooter, it would have been done by now. I have no use for guns that wont shoot the way that I want them to, but I have yet to own or even shoot a Swift (that didnt have a shot out barrel) that wasnt a real shooter.

I hope by this time next week I will be blasting yet another prairie dog to smithereens with my Swift. At least I know that any I miss when shooting this rifle that it wont be the fault of the gun!
 
I love my swift!,inherently accurate,and terminally fast.
seems as though the folks that don't have a swift in their safe are lookin for one,more often than not.
 
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