Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles .220 Swift--anybody using Hunter

I am itching to try something new in my Swift. I just bought a pile of Berger 52gr FBV bullets and looking around, see that I have several pounds of RS Hunter.

Anyone familiar with this powder in the Swift?

Or would I be better off sticking with RL15? (another powder I have plenty of)

The new Enduron powders have me curious too....so if anyone can make an argument for them, I wouldn't be opposed to picking up a pound or two.

RL 15 will get her done.

IMR-3031 is the schizz in my tang safety 77V with 50's and 52's

I found accuracy with 43.3 grains of Hunter pushing a 53-grain Varmageddon at about 3840 fps. I'm using some Nosler brass I found. If you try it and find a good load, I'd be interested in your results.

Forgot to mention...I'm using Remington 9.5 Magnum primers.

Swift is rough on barrels.

AA2700 has one of the lowest heat index's of any powder that will work well in the Swift.

I shot 44.5g of AA2700, Rem 9 1/2, 50g bullets at 4000 fps into tiny bug holes with Standard Deviation less than 10 fps!
You will see an improvement in barrel life using this AA2700. 2700 goes through a powder measure like water, as the flakes are tiny balls.

Many, many people are using AA2700 in the Swift as it works great from 50-55g bullets, fast and long barrel life.

Thanks everyone. I appreciate the replies. I am going to move ahead and try Hunter.

River Rider, I will report my results when I finally get around to trying it.

I worked up to 44-45 grains of Hunter with 50 and 55 gn Ballistic Tips. Got good accuracy and 3700fps with the 55 gn bullets.
My preferred powder is Reloder 16. Smaller groups and considerably higher velocity than Hunter. Speer Manual #15 has data.

Cheers,
Walt

Wow, hadn't even realized they published a 15th manual. Had kinda given up on Speer. Their online data showed promise though. Wish they would show the pressures they're testing to though.

I got better results with IMR4064:

Agree, 44 grains AA 2700 52 Sierra 5 shots

Sounds like my next .220 load to try out, I love the 52/53 grainers on coyotes.

I have heard good things about IMR4064 for the Swift, but also heard it was one of the worst for burning out barrels. What has been your experience with that.

I've gotten excellent results with Hunter in the Swift. In my last rifle it worked the best of any with 55-60 grain bullets.

Does Hunter burn cooler then AA2700? I am wondering if they might have applications for the 17 Rem. which probably has similar barrel life concerns.

I shot the barrels out of 4 Swifts.

IMR 4064 is very, very accurate, but eats barrels if you are shooting colony varmints. Shooting ones and two shots here and there is not such a big deal.

AA2700 with 50's at 4000, Rem brass and rem 9 1/2 will make a True Believer out of you.

As the barrel gets the leade shot out, go to the Sierra 55g Sierra semi point, then the 63g Sierra.

Swifty52's groups are typical of what 4 of us with Swifts shot.

For coyotes, we shot the 52 or 53g Sierra match. Some barrels like a flat base, some like a boat tail, and I am talking groups like Swifty52's groups.

Tejano, for our 17 Remingtons, we found if we slowed down the bullet to 3850 and used 22-23g of H322, we got tiny groups with long shot strings in between cleanings. You would be in the relm of 26-28g of Hunter or AA2700 with the 25g Remington and berger match 25g HP.

Tagged.

I have no qualified opinion, being on my first Swift. Barrel was trashed when I swapped into it about eight years ago but still shot "ok" if you're not very demanding...but I had it rebarreled it a while back and I'm somewhat demanding of my .22 centerfires.

These guys have convinced me to give AA2700 a try. I'm not too heavily invested in 4064, so I'm willing to try a pound and see.

I see you’re shooting 53 gr Nosler Varmageddons. What twist barrel do you have?

I think the original barrel was 14. I swapped into the rifle about 12 years ago, then after I bought a Lyman Bore Cam a couple of years back, and discovered the bore was pitted from chamber to muzzle. That would explain why the rifle rarely shot under 3/4 of an inch. I had Pac-Nor rebarrel it with a 1:12 barrel 24 inches long. Had I been aware of the availability of the 70-grain Accubond I would have gone with about 1:9, I think.