220 Swift

ct22250

ct22250

New member
Anyone using the 220 swift these days? I'm thinking of getting one and just wanted to here from you guys, What do ya think????
 
yep i have one model 700 Varmint SF with a Bell and Carlson tactical stock. I love it now that i finally figured out how to make it shoot (stock change). I Shot a one hole 2 shot with a straggler about .35 away at around 120 yards. I have not had any problems with case stretching or excessive fouling. I am shooting sierra 50gr with 37.5gr imr4064 and mag primers around 3900 fps i believe. All in all my ol man had one loved it and i love mine too. Go for it you enjoy it.
 
Lots of .220 Swift owners around. My pal has 2 for p-doggin out here to 700 yards, he only shoots 300+ yds. I had 3 at one time also, but now just use .223s for p-dogs to 300 yds.
He only shoots the 55gr vmax bullet at 3900 fps+ behind W760 powder.
 
I've got a Sako Swift that I have made some outrageous shots at night with. Flat flat shooting. Just don't let them heat up. As far as fur friendly goes, no worse than the 22-250, Grizz.
 
Two more here....a 700 Classic and a 700 VSSF. 55 NBT's work well in both. I'm trying to find the combination for a 55 SBK in the VSSF that is fast and accurate. R&D has just begun on the SBK.
F1
 
Sure. Even though I have lots of other varmint rifles (.17 HMR, .17 Remmy, .204 Ruger, .221 Fireball, a couple of .223's a .243 Win and a 25/06) the Swift was my first and still my favorite. It is the only custom rifle that I own, and is the last rifle of any caliber that I would sell. It uses lots more powder than the .223 and three times as much as the cute little .221 Furball, but is just loads of fun to shoot. Mine has a 28" Krieger barrel on it with a Vais muzzle brake. I wanted the brake because, well, I want to watch the critters that I shoot with it turn into small pieces through my scope.

If you aint going handload for it I personally dont think that it is worthwhile. But if you going to crank a handle to make ammo for it, it sure will bring you lots of smiles. Lots and lots and lots of smiles. Trust me on this one!
 
It took a while but I finally found a good used condition Ruger M77 with the tang safety. It sports a period correct steel Weaver K4W which I have left on so far. I am going east to do some PD'ing this summer and it will be in the main stable of guns to be used. I switch between it and the 22-250 for coyotes.

bob
 
I got one in a Ruger MK77 Mark II 26" target grey barrel. I love the thing. very, very accurate with 55 v-maxs and 36.3 grains of 4064, its topped with a leupold VXII 6X18 long range varmint scope. I would not hesitate to get another one.
 
That is the one caliber that I am always looking for, but something else always follows me home. I do not have one I quess one of these days I will.


r2
 
I'm thinking of having one built, A friend of mine told me for about a grand that he could build it and guarantee it to be a shooter, how's the price for that??? What are the rugers going for?
 
For about a thousand..or a little more.. you can get a cooper...

the cooper would have pretty good resale value if you ever want to sell....

R
 
I just picked up a Ruger #1 in 220 Swift and have been working up a load for it. So far it's been a blast to shoot and very accurate. I can't wait till next summer to try it out on ground hogs.
 
Have a Ruger VT and over the years hundreds of ghogs in hog heaven willing to attest to its accuracy.

She likes Hornady 50gr Vmax molys, as I don't roll my own.
 
Originally Posted By: ct22250I'm thinking of having one built, A friend of mine told me for about a grand that he could build it and guarantee it to be a shooter, how's the price for that??? What are the rugers going for?

ruger doesn't currently chamber the 220 swift. Cooper makes them, Remington is offering them again this year.
 
They are not too difficult to build if you want to go that way. Pretty enjoyable too. Any good bolt action that has a bolt face for the .473 size rim (22-250, .243, 6mm, .308, .270, 30-06 etc) will work fine, with the nod for the shorter actions. Get you a excellent gunsmith to put it together. Have him square the action, do a trigger job and put you a good match barrel on it and you be ready for some serious fun. What kind of stock that you use along with things like glass bedding and free floating the barrel be pretty much up to you, but I do advise free floating the barrel.
 
The Swift is a legend. A well deserved legend. I have two, one is a Cooper, the other is a rifle my Dad built up in 1953. I'm a second generation Swift fan I guess. My Dad loaded and loved 55gr. Sierras back then and loaded them to 3700fps, so do I today.

IMHO, every collection needs a Swift.
 
The swift is a great round but the 22-250 out paces it while using less powder. That may be why it went away at least its why I think it went away.
Now we have the .223 WSSM which will out pace the 22-250, .17 fireball and a host of others. It will knock on 5,000 FPS out of a 22" barrel. It should become the new thing as long as hornady's bad experience with it is the only bad knock on it.
Hornady was really stupid when they introduced loading data for the .223 WSSM. They used a 1-8" twist on an old crap stock barrel then complain of "excessive barrel ware" after shooting it 300 times give or take.
Well the 22-250's all have 1-14" twist and the loading data shows 1-24" twist so WTH Hornady! You were suppose to be reliable!!! DAM YOU!!!

Any ways I was gona do a .223 WSSM in a custom built rifle for shooting yotes. I wonder if its bullet is big enough?
 
Originally Posted By: Ze StallionThe swift is a great round but the 22-250 out paces it while using less powder. That may be why it went away at least its why I think it went away.


Not too sure where you are getting your data from. The 22-250 certainly will not out perform the 220 Swift. It will come very close, but the Swift will top the 22-250 by a good 200 fps when pressures and barrel length are the same. It takes the 22-250 Improved to match the Swift, and then doing so uses as much powder as the Swift does.

The Swift is still around today in various rifles. This is mainly due to those of us that know and love the Swift for what it was, and as far as we are concerned still is, and that is The King of the varmint calibers. Not bad for a 75 year old cartridge!
 
Im a big fan of the Swift, for a couple years I used one almost exclusively for groundhogs, my load was RL15 with a 60gr Sierra HP and Winchester cases, boy the groundhogs hated to see me with that rifle in my hands.
 
Rusty,
I read it right out of the Hornady reloading guide. It clearly showed the .223 WSSM at 4800fps max with the smallest bullets. 220 swift was about 200 fps under the 22-250 which topped out at 4000 fps.
So the 220 Swift is the slower of the three with the .223 WSSM being the fastest cartridge I know of.

Thanks,
Stallion
 
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