The Magnificent 220 Swift

I've had a long time love affair with this cartridge after reading about them in magazines and books as a kid. A good friend had one in a M77 varmint and I always longed to have it. He gave in one day and it's been with me ever since. I don't use it as much as I should, and I have a raft of other varmint rifles in various trendy calibres, but every time I get this gun out it never fails to make me smile. Accurate, fast and one of the best long range fox rifles I own. After having the barrel set back, it'll still put 3 shots under 1/2 at 200 yards. I own a very accurate Rem 700 in 6AI and think that I would probably let that go before the Swift. So to all the uneducated and uninformed out there, keep your fast twist 223's and 22/250s, I'll stick with the magnificent 220 Swift.

 

I had one too. One of my "old 'smiths" from A LONG TIME AGO built one for me using a Hart barrel. It was a 12 twist and shot 55 grain Nosler Ballistic Tips bullets out of it. I still remember the load was 39.0grs of IMR4895. They went 3955f.p.s. out of a 26" barrel. It was an absolute terror to a prairie dog town I frequented! Extremely flat shooting and very accurate! If the wind was none-to-mild, hits to 400 or so yards was almost a surety! Excellent cartridge and way underrated!

 

I shot the barrels out of three using 4064, learned my lesson. Switched to AA2700, 91/2 with 50g V max or Nosler ballistic tips at 4000 fps shooting tiny, tiny bug holes with longer barrel life.

 

I will never be without a Swift. Have used them from 1976 to this day. I just refinished the stock on my old 77, ts. 39gr of 4064 has been my standard load with 50-55gr pills for years. Matter of fact, I shot a crop damage doe last fall at close to 300 yards, still works. Barlow

 

The Swift is a great long range varmint / predator cartridge. So is the 22 250 and 243 Win the latter two I've had a lot of experience / success with.

It's fun to debate the merits of different cartridges, the one debate I have fond memories of is the deer camp debates in the 60's about the 270 vs. the 30 06. Truth is, within reason, it boils down more to the skill of the shooter than the cartridge assuming you have a cartridge suitable to the task and a sufficiently accurate load / rifle.

 

I've never liked the 243. The neck is too short and the shoulder angle too shallow. They do perform spectacularly though. Good mate as a Sako 75 with a 14 twist barrel and it shoots 65gr vmax pills out at 3900+ very accurately.

 

Despite its funny semi rimmed case (sort of like the Jap 6.5), the Swift delivers the goods. I liked mine with 50 Vmax's & IMR 4064. The rifle did not feed that well as the rim hung up on the round under it so I loaded it bottom round back. Blazing quick gravity defying ballistics.

 

I love mine and would buiild another if this one ever really quits

 

Love my Swift, the King of varmint cartridges!
Gary

 

yes the mighty swift still rocks me have one 2 in a25inch douglas barrel shoots 55s great with re17

 

great gun.kills anything with bullet placement

 

I owned 4 700 VSSF at one time for PD shooting. Only shot 40Gr VMaxs at 39??. They were flat as a light ray. I thought they were fantastic until I learned a 20 tactical would do the same w/a lot less powder and recoil. Your mileage may vary. LDS

 

I have two of them they are a lot of fun to shoot in the dog towns

 

35 years ago our Smokejumper pilot had one of these in the Swift, ... and I had (still do) one in 22-250. We snuck in on a Rock Chuck colony in central Oregon. First seven shots between us were doubles (You had to wait a bit to line them up). That Swift was another 50 yards for dead on point blank accuracy over my 22-250. We had one helluva good time! Here's to ya' Scotty!

 

In 74, being 14 years old, I worked all summer long to buy this brand new M77 varmint in 220 Swift, then had to wait till my birthday and Christmas, at which time I got a old 8x fixed power scope, I think it was a Lyman??? Then onto my first attempt at reloading. Ha, I had more patience then than I do now!!! it was torture waiting the 5-6 months before I got to shoot it! Next spring comes, oh boy, those PD's got shot up and I was one happy boy!

Sold it but always regretted. Years later I bought a custom Enfield with the old maple laminate, some might remember those. Got a yote at 500Y after reading in a magazine about aiming 18" high, whata yuh know, it worked. That was my first long range shot! Sold that too, must be something wrong with me, lol.

52's at 3900+ estimated is what I shot most.

Was given about 200 virgin brass a couple years ago. Thinking about doing a fast twist for 75's and 80's in my 40x!

 

Nice rig and great pic,thanks for posting!

 

Ah... The 220 swift, it not only sounds correct and nostalgic for long range varmint shooting (Woodchuck hunting for me)it absolutely is! I have used the swift exclusively for the last 35 years. Have never found it to be a temperamental cartridge as long as it is loaded within reason. I have heard so many swish.. thumps from the swift I find it almost hard to get the sound out of my head. My first swift was a Ruger number 1 varmint with a 15 power Unertal ultra varmint. I should have never sold it and really wish I would’ve taken some pictures of this one. The second one was a Remington 40 XBKS with a 24 Power Leupold. It shot real well.My present Swift is this Cooper model 22 Phoenix with a 6.5 x 20 with M1 Dials,really don’t have to dial much to get out to the practical range of the swift.I would have to say that this is my favorite and most deadly of all three. I have used IMR 3031,IMR 4064,H- 380 and RL- 15 ,All three work well. 50 grain Sierra Blitzking bullets,W-W brass,210M primers.Out to 600 yards when the wind is not howling, I can’t imagine anything better. Like a pitcher in baseball when he is “in the zone” I have never been more “in the zone” with a gun in the field in my life than any of my Swifts.Nothing like a warm summer evening in a fresh mowed field,with abundant targets and ammo and being “in the zone” with a Swift!

 

220 swift what's not to love this one has since been set back or rethroated to an AI version. I also have a 14t and a 12t barrels that I swap back and forth.

 

Varget is my go to powder full cases for the 36gr and 40gr bullets and a little less for the 50,52,53, and 55gr bullets. The 14t can shoot the Sierra 69's probably due to there short bearing surface, and the 12t can shoot the 77gr ones with the same short bearing surface.

Dean

 

I've had 12 Swifts, 11 of them Winchesters. Still have a few of them. Yeah, I kinda like the old Swift.