220 swift

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kd5exp

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I got in a bind and sold my Ruger M77 220 swift bull barrel and am really sad about it. It was a tack driver as long as you keep it down to around what I loaded my 22-250, around 3600 fps. Put everything up for a few years and just decided to get back into reloading again. I found a lot of 220 brass I had and don't need anymore. If anyone is interested it's free. I found one of the small "if it fits it ships" box and it is plum full to where it doesn't even rattle. Don't know how many is in there , maybe couple hundred. Anybody interested contact me and we will get this done. Thanks, Gene
 
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A nice offer. I had a stupid accurate m77 decades ago & sold it. I keep thinking i want another but would probably go 22-250ai instead. Cheaper brass & i can use just about any short/308 based action, slower twist & heavier bullets loaded long.
 
I had a Remington VSSF in .220 swift and it was with that gun
i shot the best 5 shot group of my life off a bench at 100 yds.

Measured under 2 tenths center to center. One ragged hole.

Never done anything close to that from a bench with any of
my rifles before or since.

And when a well placed shot hits a Prairie Dog with a 50gr.
V-Max going around 3400 fps it's an up and down cartridge.
Pieces going up and down.

Chuck
 
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Brass has found a home, Thanks guys.
Yea I really liked my 220 but had a same rifle in 22-250 that was a little better. I live in the country and just go out my back door to shoot. One day while working up a load for the 220 at 97 yards there was a big fly landing on my target and with the 24 power scope I could see him. I put it on him and you can see the splat on the paper from him. I put that target up somewhere but haven't found it yet, like a lot of other stuff. I tried every powder you can think of and IMR 4320 worked the best for me. Every gun is different. Good luck with it and enjoy.
 
Glad there to hear people still shooting it.Still have my Ruger 77V, best load was IMR-4064, Sierra 52gr HPBT, CCI-200, WW brass. Dispatched many a varmint, Also have a 77V in 25-06, with a Leupold 36X on top..both great shootin guns..

-Snoopz
 
I have a couple of 22-250's that I take Prairie Dog hunting, and deliver top notch accuracy to way out there. (Witnessed kill at 517 yards in a 7mph right hand wind 2 years ago). My shooting buddies have a standing joke that you have to be "old" to shoot a 220 Swift, and that I"m not old enough, (be 75 in 2 weeks). Maybe then I'd be "old" enough.
 
Somewhat on topic of an interesting thread.

My son and I got a half-crate of semi-rotten oranges, still whole but not fit for juicing or human consumption. We have never really practiced on anything but paper to prep for deer/varmit shooting. We are .223/.243 fans for our varmit rifles and we are not the level of shooters of any of you--100 to 200 yards is about max of what we try. Here in SE is it pretty brushy.

We had an absolute blast busting those oranges. You should try sometime if you haven't. Grocery is glad to get rid of them.
 
I to sold my 77V/ Swift, used almost the same as Snoopz, only
difference was 55g Speer bullet. Had a straight 16x Redfield on
it. When groundhog hunting was in full bloom I had 8 Varmint
rifles. Sold or traded off all but 222-223-243.
 
kd5exp said:
Brass has found a home, Thanks guys.
Yea I really liked my 220 but had a same rifle in 22-250 that was a little better. I live in the country and just go out my back door to shoot. One day while working up a load for the 220 at 97 yards there was a big fly landing on my target and with the 24 power scope I could see him. I put it on him and you can see the splat on the paper from him. I put that target up somewhere but haven't found it yet, like a lot of other stuff. I tried every powder you can think of and IMR 4320 worked the best for me. Every gun is different. Good luck with it and enjoy.
Click to expand...

My late brother (Federal law enforcement) did that fly trick at 20 yards with an iron sighted S&W 66. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't hung the target and stood there and watched. We were both a lot younger then.
 
H Richard said:
I have a couple of 22-250's that I take Prairie Dog hunting, and deliver top notch accuracy to way out there. (Witnessed kill at 517 yards in a 7mph right hand wind 2 years ago). My shooting buddies have a standing joke that you have to be "old" to shoot a 220 Swift, and that I"m not old enough, (be 75 in 2 weeks). Maybe then I'd be "old" enough.
Click to expand...

Richard,
This made me chuckle. As i was a mere "pup" by those standards when i started playing around with a Swift.
I was 46 years old and am still shooting it. It's not a rifle you want to shoot 30-50 rounds "real quick" on a hot day on the prairie because you WILL burn up a barrel. But if you watch
yourself and don't get too carried away on a Dog town they
can reach out and touch em'.
BTW Back when we were making twice yearly trips to S. Dakota
for P-dog shoots i was a member of the Varmint Hunters Assoc.
It's just a group of folks dedicated to varmint hunting.
They had a 500 yard club and 1000 yard club. To get the patch and be a member you had to make a kill at these distances on
a varmint. It had to be witnessed by another person and it had to be a measured kill. This was back before they had hand held Range finders. So my buddy and I took a surveyors wheel with us on our P.dog trip to try and get in the clubs.
We shot .22-250, Swift, and a .308 to get a confirmed, measured p-dog kill at 500 yards.
But to get into the 1000 yard club my buddy tried and tried with his .308 but couldn't make it happen on the p-dogs.
I took a Remington 700 in .300 UltraMag and it took me 17
rounds but i got a clean kill and my buddy was on the spotting
scope to see it. Measured at 1086 yards. Good times !!


Chuck
 
.220 Swift brass can also be used to form cases for the old .303 Savage, but it's a pain to do, mainly because of the neck expanding needed after the case forming.

I have one of the very seldom-seen FN Mauser commercial rifles from 1952, factory chambered in .220 Swift. FN made a special action specifically for the .220.
 
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My first big centerfire..Pre 64 Swift.. I had a hornet for a year or so and was making bullets with my Rock Chuck Bullet Swage press and dies. Shot my first round in the swift and the bullet never made it to the target. Disintegrated about 50 yds out. Made 'em with 22 LR cases for jackets. Hurt me to have to buy jackets. It was an accurate rifle. but like many it was sold. My last Swift was also a Ruger 77 with a Unertl 16 power(I think) I got at an auction. Only paid 400 bucks for it and got more'n that for the Unertl. Put a Burris Signature on it and shot Pdogs one spring a couple times. My longest shot on a ground hog back in Md was with a Pre 64 Win target gun in 243..Had a B&L 6-24 Target scope on it. measured at 617 yds a surveyors wheel also. Absolutely pure luck It just wasn't that G hogs day.. Came real close to that yardage on a P dog not too far from where I live now. Dead calm day and shot him with my Barrett 50. My Leica RF said 595 yds. Also pure luck. I find that the older I get the harder it is to shoot a rifle well. My heart seems to beat harder and the reticle just keeps jumpin around. Have to shoot between the beats hahaha. I was shooting groundhogs back in Pa with one of the guys in the 1000 yd rifle club. I witnessed a shot on a groundhog over 1300 yds by one of those fellows. He was using some big a$$ed 300 mag and shot 6 times. Amazed me. Probably coulda fried an egg on the rifle bbl. Some people are unbelievably good rifle shooters. Unfortunately..not I.
 
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Skeet 028 said:
My first big centerfire..Pre 64 Swift.. I had a hornet for a year or so and was making bullets with my Rock Chuck Bullet Swage press and dies. Shot my first round in the swift and the bullet never made it to the target. Disintegrated about 50 yds out. Made 'em with 22 LR cases for jackets. Hurt me to have to buy jackets. It was an accurate rifle. but like many it was sold. My last Swift was also a Ruger 77 with a Unertl 16 power(I think) I got at an auction. Only paid 400 bucks for it and got more'n that for the Unertl. Put a Burris Signature on it and shot Pdogs one spring a couple times. My longest shot on a ground hog back in Md was with a Pre 64 Win target gun in 243..Had a B&L 6-24 Target scope on it. measured at 617 yds a surveyors wheel also. Absolutely pure luck It just wasn't that G hogs day.. Came real close to that yardage on a P dog not too far from where I live now. Dead calm day and shot him with my Barrett 50. My Leica RF said 595 yds. Also pure luck. I find that the older I get the harder it is to shoot a rifle well. My heart seems to beat harder and the reticle just keeps jumpin around. Have to shoot between the beats hahaha. I was shooting groundhogs back in Pa with one of the guys in the 1000 yd rifle club. I witnessed a shot on a groundhog over 1300 yds by one of those fellows. He was using some big a$$ed 300 mag and shot 6 times. Amazed me. Probably coulda fried an egg on the rifle bbl. Some people are unbelievably good rifle shooters. Unfortunately..not I.
Click to expand...

Made bullets from .22LR cases also but never shot them in the Swift only in the .223, shot Sierra 50gr Blitz in it, would be looking at the target 100 yds away not one hole, soo shot a target about 50 yds out, well it looked like a shotgun was used...I know I read what it said about pushin them fast, be hey had to try..

-Snoopz
 
I can vaguely remember back in my younger days when I was only knee high to a grasshopper they were trying to reach that 5000 fps and one guy came up with some steel 15gr 22 bullets and I think the record was set by someone necking down some case to take a steel phonograph needle. if I recall right barrels didn't last but a few shots. Don
 
I have seen some videos where they pushed so fast the exploded half way to the target. Had a teacher friend at the local vo-tec who is a gun nut sit and figure out the spin on a pullet at 4000 fps and came up with 45,000 rpms. Said the bullet was opening up and went everywhere. I'm sure that's what was happening on the expoding bullets. Looked like a grey cloud.
 
Ah yes, remember that load very well...........

Sierra bullets had a note on some of their 22 bullets that they were only good in lower fps and not made for the high fps of the "Swift", back in the day.

A friend loved it for long shots on rock chucks and Nevada "Yotes" that were shy about coming in. He even used it on deer but found out that he would have to use head or neck shots, to come home with a lot more meat, for the table.

Back in the 60's I almost got one but decided on the little smaller case 22-250 instead.

The Swift and 264 magnum are the two loadings that I was really amazed at for speed and accuracy in my younger days in the field.
 
I have one question I have been thinking about. I tried to load a heavy bullet, 68 gr and another that slips my mind. They would keyhole because of the slow twist. What does a light bullet do in a fast twist, explode like we were talking about? I have no fast twist rifles to try this.
 
I had the "Brain Storm" to do just that many years back when my 22-250 was only two years old.

Took a 50, 53 and 70gr bullet load out into the desert and fired them into three 20x12" boxes full of Nevada sand at 80 yards.

Dumped the sand through a small screen and found.............
NOTHING !! not even the back end of a bullet.

That ended my external bullet testing for about thirty years.
 
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