I plan on building a .220 Swift this year. The cartridge is set, I have to scratch the itch. Plan to focus on 60-80gr bullets....especially looking at the 77gr TMK.
I plan to build this on a M700, duplicate a Remington sporter contour and stick it in a HS take off stock.
As the subject implies, I am wondering if I should stick with a short action or if I should go ahead and opt for a long action to allow for more COL latitude.
Who's BTDT?
Have not BTDT, not with heavies in the Swift. I had a 700 VSSF in .220 Swift years ago that was an absolute terror, half inch 5 shot groups with 50 grain ballistic tips within spitting distance of 4000 fps. I've also messed with the 77 grain TMK in an AR which gave me a bit o' experience with those long doggies in a magazine with limited length. Puttin' the pieces together, here's what I'd do:
I would pick a good varmint bullet, either 60 grain VMAX or 60 grain Ballistic Tip, seat to something slightly under magazine length, and have the reamer cut for that. Then either load the heavies long and single feed or load them at mag length and see what happens. Sometimes a bit of jump is not a bad thing.
The idea of a .22 Creedmoor is not a bad notion. You said 60 to 80 grains for bullet weight. If your focus is on the 80s more than the 60s, the shorter Creedmoor case may be the way to go. Like you, though, the Swift case just ... captures my imagination.
