what bullet in 220 swift

[laudy]

new to this caliber, wife let me purchase a nib 1885 28" barrel 220 swift in high grade. Im not up on this caliber and would like to know what grain of bullet to use for maximum barrel life. probably be shooting mostly under 250 yds most of the time.
thanks in advance.
laudy

 

[BoydAllen]

I do not think that bullet weight is so much the issue for barrel life as how hot you load and taking care not to shoot at too high of a rate. I shot and loaded for a Swift for a number of years. Basically I loaded for accuracy and the ranges that I was shooting, generally at varmints at 300 yards or less. For that application something like Varget with a 40 gr. Vmax gave spectacular results. Generally I did not try to impress myself with velocity numbers but looked for the best accuracy, at a more moderate, but still respectable velocity.

 

[1911nut]

A heavy bullet takes less powder so probably longer barrel life. I loaded my Swift conservatively for longer barrel life, 14 twist barrel. Berger 55g and 52g target bullets were the easiest to get to group consistently. H414 has been discontinued but 760 is the same powder and still made.
5 shots @100 yds


I prefer Winchester brass because it’s thicker in the neck than Norma or Hornady.

 

[WyleWD]

Based on my experience with the Swift, I'll guess that it will either shoot 4064, or Winchester 760, (maybe R17??) best with a 50-55gr bullet. Perhaps a Vmax, Nosler Ballistic tip, or one of the Sierra 52gr match bullets pretty well. I have had my best luck with Remington 9 1/2 primers. As Boyd eluded to, you can get a lot of speed with a Swift, but find a good accuracy load and don't shoot long strings of shots and get the barrel too warmed up. Winchester and Norma brass is my preferred brass. Just my experience.

That is a really nice looking rifle too by the way. WD

 

[cem]

Twist matters a good deal here. As described I'd go with 48-52 grain with light loads, essentially duplicating light .223 ballistics. 760 in one of its various incarnations works with some temperature sensitivity as will any number of newer powders. TAC will do fine in lighter loads and meter equally well. More shooting with less wear. Enjoying the rifle but not getting the best out of it.

But that depends a good deal on what other rifles in what other chamberings are on hand. Myself I may start at short range with a .17 HMR move to a .223/5.56 then a .204 Ruger and reserve my Swift for annoying people who are using a laser range finder and dialing in the 40-500 yard range. I can take the shot no waiting with a hot loaded Swift. Because mine is a 1/14 twist I can't use the best ballistic coefficient plastic tipped boat tail bullets. I can lift many small varmints by holding on the ground at shorter ranges, holding on the middle at middle ranges and holding on the highest point at longer ranges then giving up and moving to a higher ballistic coefficient cartridge and a laser range finder and dialing myself.

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

I would load AR comp or Varget to 3600 fps with 55 gr Nosler, coyote,deer,antelope. Bump it up with 50 gr bullets just for fun once in awhile.

 

[284winner]

I know being an older cartridge with not many current users but I'd think any powder that works in the 22-250AI would work in a 220 swift. Lots of new powders out there that perform well. Just obviously need to start low.

 

[BoydAllen]

Years ago, I had a line on premium factory ammo for the swift from a number of manufacturers. Testing them in a laminated stock, single shot Savage, I shot five shot groups that were measured carefully. The Winchester, and Federal, both 55 grain loads did well at an even half inch each, but the Hornady, with 40 grain Vmaxes loaded to a box label velocity of over 4,100 FPS was the best. I happened to be going down to a sanctioned group match and took the target with me, curious as to what an "official" measurement would be. It measured .440 which I still think is pretty good for factory ammo in an unbedded rifle, no flags, and just a trigger adjustment.

 

[Gary in MD]

Agree with the others 100 percent for the most part but I load my Swift to get Swift performance, if I wanted a 223, I would shoot one of those.
Any bullet is fine as long as it’s a 55 grain varmint bullet loaded up to 3800+ or a 50 grain pushed faster. (Of course it has to shoot up to your accuracy standards)
The powders already mentioned are gold standards. If a Swift won’t shoot well with 38.0 grains of IMR 4064, then there is something wrong.
Enjoy your Swift!
Gary

 

[ninehorses]

I like the Nosler 55 grain BT, Fed 210, 44 grains of IMR 4831. Maximum load, right out of the Nosler manual. For best groups a 100, my rifle likes the Hornady flat based soft point, cheap too! Same load as the Nosler.

 

[B23]

I'd probably give the Sierra 53gr MatchKing a try first. Those 53gr SMK's always seem to shoot really well in 14tw 22-250 and 220 Swifts.

I talked to one of the Sierra Techs awhile back and he told me he had a friend that was using 40.7gr of RL16 with the 53gr SMK at 2.680 OAL and it was just making one big ragged hole with that load. He did say it was fairly moderate load somewhere around 3830 from a 26in barrel and it shot very consistent for him.

 

[Tommie]

55 grain bullet. Pick your favorite brand.

 

[AckleymanII]

I shot the barrel out of 4 Swifts on ground squirrels, and jack rabbits with the occasional Crow.

Rem brass
Rem 9 1/2
44.0-44.5g of AA2700
50g Ballistic tips
Touch the lands
A single bullet hole opened up at 4000 fps

AA2700 is one of the coolest burning powders on the market. IMR 4064 eats swift throats, learned this the hard way on three barrels. A San Diego Gunsmith showed me the way to longer barrel life.

 

[Triple BB]

Pick whichever bullet you can get yer hands on. Yer choices will get narrowed down real fast. I found a box of a 100 52 grn Sierra's at a local pawn shop not long ago. Must've been there awhile as I blew the dust off to see the price. They were marked at $5.

 

[justinp61]

Not a Swift but I load for a pair of 1-12 twist 22-250's using Varget in one and it looks like 4064 is going to be the powder for the new one. Both will shoot Sierra 1365, 55gr Game kings well under 1" at 200 yards and I've killed groundhogs out to 470 yards with it.

 

[AlNyhus]

AA2700 is a very good powder for the Swift, along with WW760.

On any Swift, it's prudent to get after the hard powder fouling in the throat routinely. After cleaning normally, use a cotton patch wrapped around a worn bronze bristle brush and loaded up with JB cleaner and a few drops of cleaning solvent. Short stroke it (4-5 inches) in the throat area 15-20 times, then a couple of sloppy wet patches down the bore followed by a couple tight fitting dry patches. Add a drop or two of Hoppe's #9 on a patch before you fire the first round after JB-ing helps, too. Might need a couple foulers to settle it down but you'll be good to go after that. I did this every 100 rounds in my Swifts and it really made a difference, especially with factory barrels.

Make sure and get a good bore guide for it. Possum Hollow makes one specifically for the B78/1885's that works very well.

Good shootin'. -Al

 

[bullseyeshtr]

I've had very good luck with AA2700 and RL-17 in my Savage 112J swift. 52gr Nosler CC shoot like a house of fire. I moly coat and do drive them very hard. 4150 fps and 1/4" groups at 100 yds.

GW

 

[nakneker]

I love 220 swifts, such a classic and still keeping up with the best of them in many ways. I’ve always used mine for varmint hunting, heavy barrel bolt actions. I had good luck with any of the plastic tipped bulet’s, Vmax, Blitzkings, Ballistic tips in 55 grain. I also used a sporter 220 swift when my kids learned to hunt deer. 60 grain Nosler partitions are wicked and yes they are legal here in Arizona. Very little recoil and lethal. One other side note, those 60 grain partitions worked great on coyotes when I was trying to save the fur, hitting coyotes or foxes at 100 yards with a 55 grain varmint bullet made a mess if you hit a shoulder bone, the partitions generally made a very small exit wound.

 

[Richard Jones]

I always used the 52 gr Speer HP more than anything else when I was groundhog/crow hunting around the neighborhood. Shots seldom exceeded 350 yds and the terminal ballistics were something to behold.

 

[358WCF]

I used the Hornady 50gr SX in my Ruger 77V @ around 3950fps. This was a particularly good lot & still have a few boxes left. None ever came apart in flight but they sure were 'splodey on groundhogs out to 450 paces. I used various 52gr match bullets too, but they weren't near as much fun. H4895 turned in the best groups until RL15 came out. RL15 added a little speed to the accuracy load too. Norma brass was worth searching for back then. The WW stuff had thick necks & the Frontier stuff was pretty much junk & that's all there was. A Model 54 Winchester liked the same bullets over a mid range load of 3031 best & I never pushed the old girl too hard.