220 swift project - opinions ?
- Thread starter CV32
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Jay Johnson
New member
I really love my Swift. One of the pitfalls of the swift will be your brass. That's why if I were to build a custom it would be the .220 Wilson Arrow. It's the same as a swift no more MV but has a sharper shoulder and much easier on brass. I have two Swifts in fact one is a Remington VSSF the other is a Winchester Heavy Varminter. The Win is to heavy for a practical carry rifle and the Vssf is about as heavy as I like.
My suggestion would be about a 5 contour SS at 26". Since it sounds to me like you want a carry rifle. But that weight of barrel should give you some good stiffness. I'd just stick with the sock trigger if it adjusts well. I have mine set at near 2.75 pounds and it's done well. I'd pick a good piece of glass for it that will work well over 400 yards. Mine is an 8 X 25 Vari-X III. I'd think a little on the SPS. A good used action may save you a little money and be just as practical. Think serious about a better stock than the one on the SPS perhaps a McMillian or an HS take off.
My .220 is a low rounds gun. It is a dedicated Rockchuck rifle. I love the way it thumps those babies.
Good luck on your project.
My suggestion would be about a 5 contour SS at 26". Since it sounds to me like you want a carry rifle. But that weight of barrel should give you some good stiffness. I'd just stick with the sock trigger if it adjusts well. I have mine set at near 2.75 pounds and it's done well. I'd pick a good piece of glass for it that will work well over 400 yards. Mine is an 8 X 25 Vari-X III. I'd think a little on the SPS. A good used action may save you a little money and be just as practical. Think serious about a better stock than the one on the SPS perhaps a McMillian or an HS take off.
My .220 is a low rounds gun. It is a dedicated Rockchuck rifle. I love the way it thumps those babies.
Good luck on your project.
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run it is the 220swift Ackley Improved (just fire factory rounds to form brass). I would go with a 1:7 or 1:8 twist so I could run the 75-90gr pills that will no doubt fly true over some long distances, and you can still load lighter pills for blowing things up.
I agree for a lighter rig,..the #5 contour. Use a rimrock stock or brown precision for saving weight. Unless you just want to go with the tried and true mcmillan bdl.
I agree for a lighter rig,..the #5 contour. Use a rimrock stock or brown precision for saving weight. Unless you just want to go with the tried and true mcmillan bdl.
chuckaholic
New member
From my experience and a carry weight varminter I would go with either a #2 or #3 contour tops with a modest shank length finished at 24". There is no reason to be afraid of a #2 accuracy wise. Stick it in a Mcmillan classic stock and you will have nirvana if the smith does his job right. I would also go with a 1 in 9 or 1 in 8 twist so you could shoot 75. gr. A-Max's as well as the lighter weight bullets. The 75's hit like you wouldn't believe, particularly when you start getting out there. Here's a pic compareding 40 gr. NBT's, 50 gr. V-Max's, 75 and 80 gr. A-Max's
chuckaholic
New member
JustC beat me to it while I was resizing pics.(grin)
CV32
New member
The reason for maybe going with the SPS DM is that it is about the cheapest way for us Canucks to get a Rem 700 action, and I have always preferred the detachable magazine.
220 Wilson Arrow and 220 Swift AI, huh ? Funny how we always look to improve what is already an impressive caliber. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif I'll keep those options in mind.
220 Wilson Arrow and 220 Swift AI, huh ? Funny how we always look to improve what is already an impressive caliber. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif I'll keep those options in mind.
CV32
New member
I like the idea of a faster twist to be able to shoot the heavier bullets, but I guess the OAL would prevent me from using these in a magazine ? (Could always load the first shot (the most critical one, anyway) singly, I suppose). A 1-in-9 can still shoot the 40 and 50 grain bullets fine ?
chuckaholic
New member
Both twist rates shoot the 40 and 50's fine. Todays bullets are so good that overstabilization is really a thing of the past other than benchrest type pursiuts.
As far as the COAL goes you will be fine. Hornady has 22-250 data has data out pushing the 75's from 3200-3300 fps and I know of a guy who pushes them the same speed with a 220 swift. Personally I use a 223 WSSM to do the same or a bit more.
I have a SA Remington 700 25-284 with a #2 at 24" in a Mcmillan Mountain Rifle , a Remington M7 in 223AI with a #3 at 22" in a Mcmillan Classic, and a Win 70 with a fluted #5 at 26" in a Mcmillan Sako Varminter. Even taking into consideration differences in action and stock weights the Fluted #5 is way heavy for a true carry weight coming in 10 poundish easily scoped with a 4.5-14x40 Leupold. The other two are spot on and easy to come in 8 poundish depending on scope/mount choice
As far as the COAL goes you will be fine. Hornady has 22-250 data has data out pushing the 75's from 3200-3300 fps and I know of a guy who pushes them the same speed with a 220 swift. Personally I use a 223 WSSM to do the same or a bit more.
I have a SA Remington 700 25-284 with a #2 at 24" in a Mcmillan Mountain Rifle , a Remington M7 in 223AI with a #3 at 22" in a Mcmillan Classic, and a Win 70 with a fluted #5 at 26" in a Mcmillan Sako Varminter. Even taking into consideration differences in action and stock weights the Fluted #5 is way heavy for a true carry weight coming in 10 poundish easily scoped with a 4.5-14x40 Leupold. The other two are spot on and easy to come in 8 poundish depending on scope/mount choice
CV32
New member
I'm definitely looking for a carry rifle, one in the 7-8 lb range, so the #2 or #3 contour sounds good. I also load for my .223, so bullet availability shouldn't be a problem.
Sounds like the biggest issue will be brass. As with my .204, though, I expect I'll just have to build up an initial supply. I understand that if you don't push the charges too much, you can avoid too much of the case stretching that is often experienced with the 220 Swift ? Will this affect velocity and accuracy much ? Keep in mind that I'm aiming for heavy northeastern coyotes in often windy conditions.
Sounds like the biggest issue will be brass. As with my .204, though, I expect I'll just have to build up an initial supply. I understand that if you don't push the charges too much, you can avoid too much of the case stretching that is often experienced with the 220 Swift ? Will this affect velocity and accuracy much ? Keep in mind that I'm aiming for heavy northeastern coyotes in often windy conditions.
Dan Carey
New member
Not trying to change your mind about the 220 Swift, I have one. If you are concerned about the wind, a 6mm would be a better choice. A 6mm BR will shoot a 55 grain bullet at over 3700 FPS, and will shoot a 105 grain at 2900 FPS. Also, you can get the 6mm BR brass from Lapua, the best there is. The is no shortage of match/varmint grade bullets. Barrel life is better than twice that of a Swift.
http://www.6mmbr.com/index.html
http://www.6mmbr.com/index.html
chuckaholic
New member
Go play with a ballisic calculator and 75 gr./.435 BC A-Max's at 3200ish(mildish load) compared to 40 and 50's loaded hot comparing downrange impact velocities, energy, and winddrift. Hint- no contest for the A-Max. What I like about the A-Max is it imparts it energy in very audible and effective fashion. Something not all the high BC bullets do. It makes a high stepping .224 more akin to a 25 06 at further ranges.
Accuracy is mostly a good action truing/chamber/barrel/bedding/ and stock function. You should be able to find it where ever you want to load to.
As far as case stretch goes sane loads, minimum resizing, and a bushing neck die will minimize that.
Accuracy is mostly a good action truing/chamber/barrel/bedding/ and stock function. You should be able to find it where ever you want to load to.
As far as case stretch goes sane loads, minimum resizing, and a bushing neck die will minimize that.
CV32
New member
Quote:
Not trying to change your mind about the 220 Swift, I have one. If you are concerned about the wind, a 6mm would be a better choice. A 6mm BR will shoot a 55 grain bullet at over 3700 FPS, and will shoot a 105 grain at 2900 FPS. Also, you can get the 6mm BR brass from Lapua, the best there is. The is no shortage of match/varmint grade bullets. Barrel life is better than twice that of a Swift.
That would be nice, Dan, but unfortunately we're limited by law to using nothing larger than a .22 centrefire for coyotes here. So a 220 Swift or some wildcat variant thereof is about as much gun as I can muster.
Not trying to change your mind about the 220 Swift, I have one. If you are concerned about the wind, a 6mm would be a better choice. A 6mm BR will shoot a 55 grain bullet at over 3700 FPS, and will shoot a 105 grain at 2900 FPS. Also, you can get the 6mm BR brass from Lapua, the best there is. The is no shortage of match/varmint grade bullets. Barrel life is better than twice that of a Swift.
That would be nice, Dan, but unfortunately we're limited by law to using nothing larger than a .22 centrefire for coyotes here. So a 220 Swift or some wildcat variant thereof is about as much gun as I can muster.
CV32
New member
You don't have to convince me about the performance of those large Amax bullets, chuckaholic. I've seen the results, and I'm pretty sure I still have a few 75 gr A-max projectiles kicking around here somewhere. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif
"Sane loads" is pretty much what I was wondering about when it comes to case stretching and barrel life. What kind of barrel life could I expect from a 220 Swift ?
"Sane loads" is pretty much what I was wondering about when it comes to case stretching and barrel life. What kind of barrel life could I expect from a 220 Swift ?
coyotesmoke
New member
From my experience I would go with a 22-250 Ackley Imp. over the 220 swift. It will be easier on brass and in my experience not so finicky to load for. I have shot both and I stick with the Ackleys. I am having another 22-250AI built at the moment but it will be a bit heavy for a carry rifle.
chuckaholic
New member
Yeah, a 22-250AI would have the same capacity as the swift in a more COAL friendly wrapper and negate the case stretching as well. From my experience you can load up fireform loads to hot parent case velocities and accuracy is usually right there as well. It just doesn't have the 220 Swift's pinache.
As far as barrel life I don't know but do know they make new ones and the second time around is much cheaper as all the action work is done. I've heard from 800-2000. The operator has alot of impact there.
As far as barrel life I don't know but do know they make new ones and the second time around is much cheaper as all the action work is done. I've heard from 800-2000. The operator has alot of impact there.
chuckaholic
New member
Straight case walls and sharp shoulder basically eliminates case stretching/trimming.
Shorter,fatter case of same capacity as longer narrower case equals less bullet in case/powder confines loaded to same COAL/magazine constraints= 22-250AI better heavy , long bullet cartridge. That would be my take.
Shorter,fatter case of same capacity as longer narrower case equals less bullet in case/powder confines loaded to same COAL/magazine constraints= 22-250AI better heavy , long bullet cartridge. That would be my take.
Thunderstruck
New member
I have a .220 swift and all that has been said is true. I hunt with coyotesmoke and seen his 22-250AI in action. If I had to do it again I would go with the ackely. Just my two cents