.220 Swift?

Eagleye said:
Maybe the factory loadings are a tiny bit faster, but the 223WSSM is loaded to the nuts, and Factory Swift loads are watered considerably, with the exception of Norma's loadings. Loaded to equal pressures, the Swift is just as fast as the newcomer, if not a bit faster. In our area, the WSSM's are headed for obsolescence at a pace the Swift never dreamed of. The 22-250 is about 150-200FPS slower with any bullet in the 50-60 grain area, and as bullet weight increases, the Swift's advantage increases. And sure, the 243 and 6mm Remington will beat the Swift with 55 grain pills, but few 243's shoot them exceptionally well, whereas the 10 or so Swifts I have owned were amazingly accurate with this weight. If you are getting the idea that I like the Swift, you are right! Once you own one, and see what it will do to coyotes at 500 yards, and small varmints even farther away, you will be hooked forever. Regards, Eagleye.
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Eagleye, you're right on the money. Probably due to the bad name the Swift got as a barrel burner with older barrels and lesser quality steel, the factory offerings are neutered, much like the factory offerings of the 8mm Mauser, due to fear of the '88 actions. Handloading still puts the Swift at the top of it's class as the fastest .22 calibre out there, with handloads of a 55 gr. pill up to 250 fps faster than the .223 WSSM. Makes for a very interesting "CRACK" when you squeeze the trigger at the range. Turns heads too! ;)
 
I love my Swift; coyotes don't!

Mine's just a BSA conversion of a P14 that I got used for $150 or so, But man, is it ever accurate. Pretty heavy gun for the caliber, though.
 
The super shorts are selling well in Ontario and very well in the USA... this is a fact. I remember the predicted demise of the WSM's by many of the nay-sayers as well... the WSM's continue to pace the standard chamberings and out-sell the belted magnums in new rifle sales here.
 
I'd say, when handloaded to it's max. capability, the Swift is still the hottest .22CF you don't have to fireform/press form brass for. It's advantages are diminished by factory 1:14 and 1:12 twist barrels, but it's a screamer nonetheless. And I do think barrel life is quite reasonable these days. Besides, I'm sure if you load a .22-250 to the max. the barrel life would be no different so arguing barrel life in the same velocity class is a moot point. We all know the hyper velocity stuff won't keep a barrel forever, but that's the trade-off. I doubt most hunters will ever shoot out a barrel anyway.

Sure, the differences is terminal performance between the swift, 22-250 and WSSM is purely academic. No coyote will tell the difference of give or take 100fps. But, IMHO, the Swift is very attractive for the cool/fun factor. I am an avid handloader, and the weirder the cartridge the better. Let's face it, if we all wanted vanilla chamberings, we wouldn't need 10% of the cartridge options that are out there today. If we all had a 12ga, a .22RF and a .30-06 in the rack we could efectively hunt anything that walks or crawls on this continent, but how boring would that be! Wildcat cartridges (which eventually translate into most of the current factory chamberings) wouldn't exist if us shooters weren't experimenters at heart. Heck, I shoot a sweet little BDL carbine in .222 Rem Mag and wouldn't trade it for a .223 for all the lead based paint in China, even though ballistics are practically identical.

My Swift is last year's model Ruger M77MKIIVT. I always wanted this exact gun/chambering and when I realized this was the last year they were offering it in the Swift, I jumped on one. I am still doing barrel break-in, but so far it looks like sub MOA is a gimme and so I have my goal set at 1/2" which I think will be very attainable. And I will look forward to when the barrel is shot out, so I can get it replaced with a faster twist tube.:D
 
Slimbo said:
I thought the 22-250 was based on the 250-3000 savage?:confused:
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Which begat the 300 Savage, which begat the 308.

I had a 220 in Ruger 77 HB a long time ago. It was fast, true, but my example wasn't particularly accurate. I had it rechambered for the 220 Wby Rocket (220 improved with radiused shoulders), which was faster, and ended up being more accurate then it's parent case, although that may just be because of the machining doe on the barrel when rechambering. That went away for a 22-243 Middlested, which was faster yet. - dan
 
DarrylDB said:
What does that have to do with anything? Whats illogic, or impractical about the 220 swift other than your lack of knowledge on the round, or its capabilities?

The 220 swift is to the 22-250 what the 22-250 is to the 223.

Muzzleblast? Have you ever shot a 243 with 55's or 70's? Barrel burner?
Winchester makes 22-250 whitebox ammo that surpasses 4000fps...
Wooh, the swift is way, way faster.
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Well, you do have a couple of points, Darryl.
I don't have a lot of experience with either of these rounds. Maybe 30 rounds of .220 Swift and 100 of .22-250. And my muzzle blast comment was very subjective. Could have been caused by a difference in barrel lengths, even.
But I also didn't say that the .220 Swift was an impractical or illogical choice. I said that if based ENTIRELY on logic and practicality, the .220 Swift MAY not be the best choice, which is not the same thing. From a purely practical point of view, and considering that 90 to 95% of hunters are not handloaders, the easy availability and lower cost of the .22-250 works against the .220 Swift. And yes, I assume NAA is a handloader.
In factory ammo form, the velocities of the two rounds are within about 75 fps with similar bullets. So the .220 Swift doesn't gain one a huge hockey-sock full of performance. A bit, true. But a huge difference in performance? It depends on what one expects to be doing.
As for its being to the .22-250 what the .22-250 is to the .223.....I think the 400 fps difference between the .223 and the .22-250 eclipses the 100 fps between the .22-250 and the Swift. You pretty much said it yourself in the last line of your post.
And I certainly didn't mean to slight the Swift. It's a great cartridge with real cachet. I wouldn't mind having one myself if I had a great deal on one, but then I don't allow pure logic to rule my choices. If I did, I'd have a .270 insted of a .280, a .243 instead of a .250-3000, and pretty much anything instead of a .30-30 Ackley. But what fun would that be?
Oh yeah...the barrel burner comment? That really WAS out to lunch.
 
Charlie, you proved that sometimes the myth of a cartridge outweighs its reality. There is nothing wrong with that buddy.
The 22-250 has become more commercialized than the swift in the last 25 odd years, for the exact reason above methinks even during the velocity craze....
On a sidenote, Im thinking or rechambering my 22-250 to a 22-243.
I've got a gazillion 243 brass floating around...
 
I know zero about that wildcat. At the risk of hijacking the thread.....what will that .22-243 do?
I also read a magazine article a while back about a .22 wildcat based on the 6mm Rem case, IIRC. The writer said it was becoming the darling of predator hunters in the midwest USA. Fun stuff,for sure.
 
It skips along at about 2-300 fps faster than the 220 swift, and brasslife is real good. The 22 Middlestead has been around for a long time as a wildcat, and is a pretty popular 22 wildcat.
I allmost bought one years ago, but this was before i really had access to handload, so It was kiaboshed.
One upping that,
Grnhawg has a 22-284 that sounds like a grenade going off when he shoots it...
Nearly an earsplitten loudenboomen...

(22-378 weatherby:) )
 
Anyone who says a 22-250 is as good as a Swift, has never used a Swift in the field.

Anyone who says a 22-250 comes within 100 fps of a Swift, has never loaded for both.

Anyone who says a 22-250 is less of a barrel-burner than a Swift, has never tried to load one within 100 fps of a Swift. :)

Ted
 
Why not? said:
Anyone who says a 22-250 is as good as a Swift, has never used a Swift in the field.

Anyone who says a 22-250 comes within 100 fps of a Swift, has never loaded for both.

Anyone who says a 22-250 is less of a barrel-burner than a Swift, has never tried to load one within 100 fps of a Swift. :)

Ted
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Yup, Yup, and Uh...
Yup.:D
 
All around rifle

For some reason, the Swift has a substantial following among Inuit hunters. They use it for head shots on seal and for caribou. The preferred shot is on the caribou's neck, though a heart/lung shot is also used.

It is known for its deadly accuracy and lethality. At the same time, it does not damage too much meat. Ruger rifles in this caliber, both heavy barrel and standard barrel, are very popular there.

It is not considered suitable for polar bears, but it will do just about anything else north of 60.

BB
 
swifty

hi guys
I have a ruger m77 bull barrel,bipod,and 3.5x10x50 vx-III gold ring...and i must say that it one of the most impressive guns and cartridges i have ever owned ..i load it with a 40gr nosler bolistic tip and IMR 3031 38.5gr and a win primer and she does 4307 FPS at the muzzle ...when placed on a deers head (only tried it out to 300yds) about 30-40% of the deers head is missing .....
i thinks its just a very good old classic round....
just my opinion
wild game processing:)
 
I have a 204 ruger and 220 swift and like them both.My buddy has a 22-250 and loves it.It's great to sit around and rag on eachother over a few cold ones at the end of the day which caliber is better but i think the foxes and yotes hate all 3.:50cal:
 
How does the Swift compare in terms of recoil? I was just looking at a display and the Swift appears to be a fair bit larger case than the 22-250. I fired a 22-250 along time ago and it kicked like a mule it seemed. Only had one shot though.
 
a friend of mine, a CO actually, has a Swift that he uses for everything under deer sized game and swears by as the greatest cartridge ever invented.

id get something thats more popular with cheaper and more widely available ammo/brass though. IMO even reloaders should consider ammo cost, because sometimes you end up picking some up off the shelf anyway.

20 rounds of varmint ammo:
.223 - ~$8.50
.22-250, .204 Ruger - ~$16.50
.220 Swift - ~$27.00

im just starting to get into reloading but i will inevitably still buy ammo - especially varmint ammo - off the shelf a lot as a matter of convenience or if i run out on a successful varminting weekend, if i need brass, etc. also consider that later on you may be passing this rifle down to someone, or trying to sell it on the EE - so even if you are a ninja reloader they may not be :ninja:

so yeah, i think ill pass on the Swift. if you want more power than the .223 the .22-250 will do it in a lot more common, cheaper to shoot rifle for an acceptably small loss of performance.
 
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