Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats 220 Swift vs the 22/243?

I've been dinging around with the idea of a Swift for a long time... but ready some of the other posts about a Swift having feeding problems if the action was originally with a regular .473 bolt fact, that one would encounter feeding problems...

three is alos the issue of brass... I am loaded with 243 brass, and can get police range brass in 243 also for what I consider cheap...

Hornady makes a nice neck die for 22 calibers, that just sizes the neck... not the body of the cartridge.. I have them in about 5 calibers and they are great...

but wouldn't the 243 be easier feeding than the Swift?
and case capacity should be real close...
AI the 243 if need be...

my major motivation here is the amount of 243 brass I have and its availability vs the Swift....

and then also the feeding issue...

was debating on a walking varminter, using my favorite contour for that, a heavy magnum contour...

any thoughts and experiences would be greatly appreciated...

Having had and used both, I would say 22-243 all the way and it is not even close.

Velocity - advantage 22-243 by a goodly margin

Case life - same as above

Feeding and reliability - 22-243

Number of firings possible before trimming - 22-243 again by a wide margin

Outside of finding a good deal on a swift or nostalgia (and I totally get both of those rifle looney 'reasons') There is no arena where the 220 Swift can compete or claim an advantage over the 22-243.

I have had several swift's over the year's, never had feeding problems because all of them liked being seated close to the rifling making the OAL too long for a short action. I single load all of mine.
A 22/243 is a waste unless you use a fast twist barrel for VLD bullet's then it's OAL is too long for a short action also.
In a long action the 22/243 will feed better but if you want to use a short action a 22-250AI is your best choice.

What's the fastest Swift you have heard of? I had a .22-243AI. There was no problem getting 4,200 with fifty-five Noslers with it. It's like they get there before you pull the trigger.

Hope you get a good case trimmer for a Swift.

I have a 243 WCF.
http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/4180469/1
I would not do it again.
Case, like the Swift, is a PITA.
Short case life, short barrel life for the both of them.


Heres a thought.
http://6mmar.com/Super_LR.html
Run a 105g AMAX.
Chucks will die.


dave

I have no experience with the 22-243 so I can only comment on the Swift.
I have ran a Swift in a Rem 700 VS for years and have no issues with feeding. My main load utilizes 52 grain Bergers.
As stated if you run the Swift as it is meant, then it will strech the case. Only way to avoid streching is to go to the Ackley version.
My factory barrel has close to 1100 rds down the tube and is still in the 1 moa area but is showing signs of opening up.

I think when the barrel is completely shot out I will rebore or rebarrel to a 6mm cartridge.

Good luck
David

Seeing as how you have and can get a train load of .243 brass I guess it's .243 all the way.

As to wearing out a barrel, any time you use an over bore .22 CF and go over 4000 FPS you are going to wear out barrels fast. I've yet to talk to anybody that has a hot .22 CF that doesn't wear out barrels faster than normal. Depending on barrel maker and the barrel some wear out faster than others.

I would love to see these over bores being fired at night at over 4000 FPS, I bet the flame coming out of them would make them look like flame throwers.

I'm thinking the easy solution here is a plain vanilla 243 running 55BTips. It's easy enough to hit 4000fps, or even 4200 if you want to step on it.

Why bother with necking down????

I've run both and I like the 22-243 better. Have had a few now. Current one is set up specificly to run the 75gr Amax. At an oal of 2.750 they run flawless in a short action. Getting 3500fps out of an 8 twist 27" Kreiger.

Build a 22-250AI with a reamer dimensioned for Lapua 22-250 cases. -Al

Good point.
Seafire,
The 243 win has a case capacity of 54 grs, the Swift is 48.
Max loads in both 22/243 and Swift about 1250 to 1500 rnds barrell life as in any caliber that hits 4K+ IME.
The Lazzaronis have a barrell life of 750 rnds per the builder if loaded to spec.

Swifty