Heavy bullet 220 Swift.

[jackson1]

Got an old varmint barreled Ruger Model 77 in 220 Swift with a shot out barrel. Was thinking about going to a 1 in 8 twist for bullets in the 70 to 80 grain weight class to reach out further than the 50 grain class of bullet I am currently loading for this rifle. Just wondering what kind of experiences people have had with this combination?

 

[Twicepop]

I've had four .220 Swifts over the years, it's a great cartridge, but has one big limiting factors about it IMHO. No one makes premium brass for this cartridge, your stuck with Federal, Remington and Winchester if you want to shoot this cartridge. All of these have a very high reject rate when you sort brass for neck thickness and weight variations. Not for that reason alone, I decided to go with a 22-250 AI, fits the same bolt face without alteration and the Swift load data can be safely used in this cartridge, (the 22-250AI can actually be loaded a tad hotter). Premium brass for that round (22-250) is available from Lapua and Norma.

 

[jackson1]

Twicepop, would have agree with, but I enough fully prepped brass (including neck turning) plus both RCBS and Wilson dies. If I had to do it over again, would purchased something than a Ruger, but you live and hopefully learn. The rifle has served me well on coyotes and in and out of the truck.

 

[OKyote73]

Have a good friend with a 1/8 twist, seems to like 77 Scenars for target and 80 TTSX for hunting. He's killed whitetail, antelope, and yotes with great success

 

[B23]

I've always been a Swift fan, it's a cool old cartridge, but Lapua brass has spoiled me and I have to admit, I've become a brass snob and like has already been mentioned, the available brass for the 220 Swift is mediocre at best.

Not to try and talk you into something else, BUT, there are other ways to skin the same cat and will allow you to use better components.

As was previously suggested, the 22-250AI is a ballistic twin to the 220 Swift and the 22 Creedmoor is a near mirror image to the 22-250AI, but without any fireforming. So unless you just have your heart set on a fast twist 220 Swift for nostalgia reasons, IMO, the 22 Creedmoor would be the more practical choice, certainly the easier one, and would actually work better in your short action shooting long heavy bullets. I know just saying the word "Creedmoor" insights rage among some folks so if a Creedmoor anything forces you to reach for your nitro pills, just call it something else like the 220 Wachuma Call It or whatever name helps lower your heart rate.

 

[hpshooter]

"No one makes premium brass for this cartridge, your stuck with Federal, Remington and Winchester if you want to shoot this cartridge."

Still fortunate to have enough virgin 220 Swift Norma brass to wear out two more barrels.

Stopped at a gun and watch shop in Milton WV in the late 70's and they had quite a large number of boxes of it on a sale table, brought it home to Virginia.

Have also toyed with the idea of a fast twist barrel on the next go around.

 

[natdscott]

I think it will be fine, provided you are okay with the barrel life numbers.

All I will say in that regard is that hot loads in the little 22 casing are enough to burn a barrel in 1,500 rounds if you run only long/heavies.

A .220 Swift might cut that to 500.

 

[jackson1]

donaldduck, my most interesting personal coyote hunting story does not involve coyotes. Was along ways back on a fire trail in mid winter and called in a pack of timber wolves. Don.t carry a back up pistol as I have Joe Pickett's disease when it comes to pistols and high pressure moments.

 

[Barlow]

Everyone has their own idea as to what they want a cartridge to do. And this experimentation has brought advances (when they work) to the rifle community. I have used the standard Swift since 1976 in two Ruger 77 ts rifles. I have used many different bullets over the years. The 14 twist stabilizes the Hornady 60gr hp very well, and I and my hunting buddy have killed a bunch of Whitetails with them. I have not checked the stability factors, but if I have my old Swift rebarreled, I would have a 12 twist and call it good. Imho, there is nothing like a 220 Swift. Barlow

 

[boltfluter]

Go for the 8 twist and something like a 75 A-max and they will drop as far as you can place the shot. Many kills over 500 yds with a similar set up. Just plain fun.

Paul

 

[17VLD]

Love seeing posts on the Swift.Like a lot of others here I have a fondness for the Swift that I believe was fostered from an earlier time when shooting varmints was a highly regarded hobby that had a sense of duty as people worked together for our GIs during WW2,after all varmints were considered the enemy too.I use my older Ruger in 220 Swift for crows and coyotes and pace my shots and don’t expect I will ever rebarrel it,but if I had a shot out Swift I would definitely enjoy putting a fast twist barrel on it.Today when I consider a new build I look at what Lapua has for brass and usually base my choice on what those cases can be made into.Just like B23 said so many great choices for a long range Varmint getter,I think what it boils down to is that you should choose a cartridge that makes you happy,you’ve got a bunch of brass for the Swift and can probably turn up some Norma or maybe even Nosler stuff and keep the old warhorse shooting
Matt

 

[FrankG]

It was the 2nd custom rifle I ever built. A 220 Swift with a 1-9 twist barrel. This was back around 1989. At that time if I remember correctly there where no bullets heavier than a 70gr. I shot 70gr JLK VLD’s and 69SMK and 52 Hornady HPBT match bullets thru that gun at targets and prairie dogging. It was awesome shooting rifle.

As far as brass goes I shot Winchester primarily but I have some Norma brass and Norma still makes brass for the Swift.

Later, Frank
Bartlein Barrels

 

[Zero333]

220 Swift Ackley Imp. would be a very serious hot rod.

I don't have one. I was thinking, because the 220 swift has so much body taper. I assumed the AI version would gain lots of boiler room.

 

[B23]

220 Swift Ackley Imp. would be a very serious hot rod.

I don't have one. I was thinking, because the 220 swift has so much body taper. I assumed the AI version would gain lots of boiler room.

You're correct, the 220 Swift and Rem 6mm both have so much case taper they gain a larger percentage of case capacity than just about any other small or medium size cartridge out there. I've always said, the 220 Swift and Rem 6mm are two cases that are just begging to be "improved". The thing is, they both really need at least a medium length action to shine, because they're so long and when you use them as a repeater in a SA with long heavy for caliber bullets the OAL constraints force you to seat the bullet deeper, then you lose a lot of what you gained when you blew the shoulder out. Probably why the 22-243 and all its "improved" variants has always been so much more popular, they work better in a SA.

 

[gman47564]

I too am a fan of the 220 swift.. got a 77 new in the early eighties.. at that time it was the fastest thing going and i thought that was cool. Still got that old swift.. will always have it.. killed alot of critters with it.. never did shoot long strings with it and the old gun still looks and shoots as good as it ever did.. this thread brings back good memories

 

[357Mag]

Jackson -

Howdy!

Apples, and near apples.......

Real close to the 1-8 .220 swif w/ heavier than 50 gr bullets you mentioned....... I shot my wildcat .22-35 Remington.

First in a 24” 1-14 SS Hart, using Hornady 55SX bullets.

When the barrel at last started to key hole some bullet holes, I re-barreled
( in .22-35 Rem, again ) in a K&P 28” .224” cal SS 1-8.

My intention was to use the rifle as a dual-role varmint target rifle,
w/ 1,000yd capability in either discipline. I like to shoot groundhog.

I shoot high load density, and ended up using AA3100 for my varmint/accuracy load.

I had gone w/ the 28” barrel length, believing that to be the longest barrel I could use on my Wichita WBR1375 action; along w/ a 14.75” trigger
pull length.... and still fit in an “Air Glide” case.

I use 450ft lb as a guide for minimum energy required for reliable groundhog kills. My chose accuracy/filed load was 40.5gr AA3100 and
FED LR Match under Hornady 75”A”-Max; which gave 3,420fps.
Switch in load time use of FED Large Magnum Rifle Match boosted vel to
3,500; w/ a slight opening up of the grouping.

While my energy threshold was maintainable out to around 938yd, I found out that I could have gone w/ a 29” lg barrel and still fit the rifle case.
That barrel length w/ the sample load mentioned would have given
me an additional boost in deliverable energy, which could have given me the full energy value I mentioned out to 1,000.

One challenge area you might face is cartridge oal.
I shot the 75”A”-Max in my .22-35 w/ the boat tail seated beneath the shoulder/neck juncture. My Wichita WBR 1375 is a single shot bolt action.

My .22-35 cartridge oal was just a tad too long for cartridge insertion into the load in post from a straight fore&aft horizontal position. No biggy for me, as I single load my cartridges in the rifle anyways. But again, for a longish .220Swift in your application........?

I liked the 75 “A”-Max on groundhogs @ all ranges I tried, albeit I moved from NE Indiana before ever getting to take a 1,000yd groundhog shot.

I DK if this helps any?

With regards,
357Mag

 

[357Mag]

Correction to previous...

.....” Insertion into loading port “


With regards,
357Mag

 

[jackson1]

donaldduck, Was hunting in Wisconsin, east of Mountain and northwest of Crooked Lake just off of TarDam road. Check it out on Google Earth. Summer time photos will look very different but you can get an idea of the area. Wish I lived in Montana or Wyoming but we play the hand we a dealt.

Once upon a time this was prime whitetail country. Post reintroduction and establishment of timber wolves, deer hunting declined rapidly. Sadly so did the coyote hunting in the area.

Saw you post regarding 243 brass at Huntington's. A long time ago, I called them about a part for a RCBS die, we got to talking. My Great Uncles were custom gunsmiths in Montrose Colorado and Fred Huntington used to fly out and hunt with them for many years. Fred's son put his dad on the phone and we talked for over an hour. That was back in the day when I had to pay for the call.

 

[jackson1]

Would like to thank every one for their responses to my question about my Swift idea. 357Mag enjoyed reading about your project rifle and in depth response.

 

[mfrye]

Got an old varmint barreled Ruger Model 77 in 220 Swift with a shot out barrel. Was thinking about going to a 1 in 8 twist for bullets in the 70 to 80 grain weight class to reach out further than the 50 grain class of bullet I am currently loading for this rifle. Just wondering what kind of experiences people have had with this combination?