Greg,
thanks for posting that...far southern part of WVa, that is where the stork delivered me to...Lots of family, and Lord knows they sure use to have a lot of ground hogs...but guess Coyotes moving in have cut those numbers down quite a bit... and in a pre 64 Model 70...
Guy here in town, always love to run into me at the range, because I turn green when he brings his Grandpa's 1941 purchased Model 54 in 220 Swift.... it had an Alaskan 6 power Leupold thrown on top sometime in the 50s...this thing looks like its 6 months old... it was his grandpa's only rifle he saw him with as a kid... and Grandpa was a hunter and used it for EVERYTHING... nuisance varmints to elk... and in those days getting an elk every season around here was no big deal... they were a dime a dozen...
I have a Husqvarna in 270, that I have been thinking of rebarreling to a Swift ever since I got it... but also have a Marlin X 7, I've also had pretty much the same idea of doing since I got that one also... but the Swift doesn't give me anything the 22.250s I have don't.... except the cool factor...22.250s are cool, especially the one I have with a one in 7 twist, but is still not as cool as a 220 Swift... especially if it is on a Model 70 or Model 54 action...
never shot that many Groundhogs on relatives' farms down in WVa, have sure shot a bunch of prairie dogs and millions of Sage rats.. ya don't need a Swift for that...at all...and that was out here.. ya know someone would pop up and tell me there is no prairie dogs in WVa...
after all this is the campfire....
hey hope that stuff on the 444 helped you out some..
cheers and best regards my friend...
