I once had a Remington 700 vs in 220 Swift. After years of use, I finally shot the barrel out of that one and rechambered it into simething else. I've missed the Swift enough that I recently bought a Remington 40X in that calber.
220 Swift need a new barrel
- Thread starter nativecat01
- Start date
LarryDScott
Site $$ Sponsor
I owned 4 Swifts at one time that I shot PDs with. I shot mostly 40gr Vmaxs @3900. They were like a light ray, flat and fast.
Then along came the 20 calibers, that shot better, on a lot less powder and recoil. BC of the 20 cal bullets was better, and wind drift was way less than the 22s. Needless to say, the Swifts became history. Just my results. LDS
Then along came the 20 calibers, that shot better, on a lot less powder and recoil. BC of the 20 cal bullets was better, and wind drift was way less than the 22s. Needless to say, the Swifts became history. Just my results. LDS
jackson1
Silver $$ Contributor
Count me in as another 220 Swift shooter and currently planning to rebarrel. I have had the rifle for close to 40 years and it shot fine until it didn't. Just part of life as a Swift shooter. One thing I didn't see mentioned is; if you plan on a cartridge change, the bolt will need to be changed or modified.
I've been a Swift lover for over 30 years and I spec'ed out my own reamer a few years back using Norma brass which I had acquired a bunch of. I'm on 4th barrel on my Winchester M70 Heavy Varmint that I bought brand new in 1994. First 2 barrels I cooked in PD towns in South Dakota. Third barrel that I used was a 13 twist barrel I had laying around and I was never able to achieve the velocities that a 14 twist is capable of. Pulled the 13 twist and chambered a 28 inch finished 14 twist HV Brux barrel that I am getting my magical 4000 fps velocity using IMR 4007 SSC powder. (now discontinued) I used Nosler 55 BT's for a long time and switched to Sierra 55 BK's last year and accuracy is astounding. I zero at 100 yards and the 55 BKs trajectory is 12 inches low at 400 yards. Do yourself a favor and source a 14 twist barrel if you want the speed that the Swift is capable of. No sense using an improved case as I've been there and done that and always come back to the standard Swift. Dies can be tough to find for improved Swift and will cost more money. Pic is of my Swift and yes its a Winchester..
Frank
Attachments
I'll bet a 12 twist swift would be a ton of fun. 55g Sierra Blitz Kings would be nice here, too.
Count to 75 between each shot
My Savage 112FVS Swift single shot came from the factory with a 1-12" twist 26" heavy barrel. It loves the 60 and 64 grainers. I've never tried anything heavier in it.
I had a hard time finding brass for the 220 Swift at one time. I did buy Norma brass instead of Winchester. I never shot the Norma brass yet, how well would it work? I am considering the new barrel to have a 1:12 twist, because my 22-250 has a 1:14 twist. My 22-250 will not shoot anything above a 50 gr bullet at all. I don't know what twist my current 220 Swift is. I would like to stay around 55-60 gr bullets.
hpshooter
Gold $$ Contributor
" I never shot the Norma brass yet, how well would it work?".
Have been using a stockpile of Norma Swift brass since the 80's. Has been loaded 4 times with no problems and no signs of incipient case separation, verified by sectioning a few cases.
My loads are not near maximum, 38.5 Grs. of H380 with a 52 Gr. Winchester HBT* bullet. ( Anyone have any of these in the red and white boxes collecting dust on their shelf? I am down to my last 30 and my rifle really likes them.)
Your experience may be vastly different than mine.
T W Hudson
*edited, old brain said flat base, box says 2252HBT MATCH
Have been using a stockpile of Norma Swift brass since the 80's. Has been loaded 4 times with no problems and no signs of incipient case separation, verified by sectioning a few cases.
My loads are not near maximum, 38.5 Grs. of H380 with a 52 Gr. Winchester HBT* bullet. ( Anyone have any of these in the red and white boxes collecting dust on their shelf? I am down to my last 30 and my rifle really likes them.)
Your experience may be vastly different than mine.
T W Hudson
*edited, old brain said flat base, box says 2252HBT MATCH
Last edited:
redrockranger
Silver $$ Contributor
A 20 BR will last no longer. I've read fire cracking at 500 ads.
redrockranger
Silver $$ Contributor
My 40x 22-250 barrel was replaced @ 3000 rds. It did get a hot a couple of times in a dog town. Rebarreled to 22 BR,Shilen 1-12 tw. The 53 v-max is a good bullet for colony varmints.
T.W. , many years ago my shooting buddy and I also preferred the Winchester Bullets in our Swifts for Pdogs and Woodchucks . They were very accurate and worked very well on Varmints ( that was before Polytips came on the scene if I remember correctly ) . I can't remember the details , but we went thru at least 4000 of them which I think we bought in one batch and then split them between us . . I'm thinking that was about 30 years ago . Winchester made them in 52 Gr and 53 Gr. and I liked both . I believe the Boxes were marked Match . Send me a PM with your Email Addy and I will check my stash in a month or two after a few broken bones heal up and let you know if I have any left .
Since you are set up for it, I'd go 220 Swift in a 8 twist and shoot 75gr ELDM. Why??? 22-250 with 50's isn't much different than 220 with 55's. What the 75 grainer, with it's .467 BC, will get you is more thwack and less wind drift at distance. Heck, it won't be bad at all at 1000Y, at a swag guess of what, about 3400 fps???
My first centerfire, that I worked all summer for when I was 14 years old, was a brand new Ruger M77 Varmint in 220 swift and owned a custom 1917 in one later on.
I've backed off to 20 caliber since then for varmints inside 400Y or gone up to 6mm and 6.5 for farther.
But for the fun of it I'm going to try 223AI and those new 88gr ELDM's with a .545 BC.
Upgrades & Donations
This Forum's expenses are primarily paid by member contributions. You can upgrade your Forum membership in seconds. Gold and Silver members get unlimited FREE classifieds for one year. Gold members can upload custom avatars.
Click Upgrade Membership Button ABOVE to get Gold or Silver Status.
You can also donate any amount, large or small, with the button below. Include your Forum Name in the PayPal Notes field.
To DONATE by CHECK, or make a recurring donation, CLICK HERE to learn how.
Click Upgrade Membership Button ABOVE to get Gold or Silver Status.
You can also donate any amount, large or small, with the button below. Include your Forum Name in the PayPal Notes field.
To DONATE by CHECK, or make a recurring donation, CLICK HERE to learn how.