Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles What has happened with the .220 Swift?

As a factory chambering, the .220 was pretty much dead.
Then about 1976 Ruger resurrected the round with a limited run of Model 77's. It was successful enough that it became a standard choice in the 77 and the Number 1 rifles. Other manufacturers may have chambered it as well but I'm not certain. I seem to recall a guy with a Savage rifle at my club. Single-shot and I believe it was a Swift.
Now the round seems to have fizzled out again despite a dedicated fan club.
Why so little love for this cartridge now?
My Ruger 77 in .220 Swift was an excellent rifle and a 'chuck killing machine.

I’d guess due to the popularity and vast amount of models chambered for the 22-250. Coupled with the inability to handle heavier higher BC bullets nowadays there just isn’t much room for it.

This is 22-250 territory here in SW OK, practically everyone had one for a coyote gun when I was growing up. Never saw a Swift in the wild until I moved to Alaska.

No reason a faster twist .220 Swift can't one-up same in .22-250. Don't know why it hasn't. Maybe the WSSM or the .22-250 had too much head-start. Still have a couple pre-64 M-70 Swifts. We burned out a 40XKSS Swift (about 4k rounds) on paper, crows, and chucks.

Seemed the bomb back in the late '80s. Now you need a 6 C-more and high-BC 107s to kill anything, or shame will drive you home. Of course, the stuff we killed felt otherwise.

I started out back in the middle 1970s with a Ruger 77 in .220 Swift with a 3-9 Bushnell. It shot like a laser, and I loaded it hot. Then I owned a Shilen DGA Light Varmint in the same chambering with a 10x Leupold on it, and that shot lights out, too. Nothing wrong with the Swift, but I left the hot rod behind and simply standardized on .223 Remington. My varmint rifle now is a Winchester 70 Stealth in a McMillan A5 stock. I guess I just concluded that for the ranges I was shooting, the .223 worked just fine, plus there was the Lake City brass available.

I like the swift and have owned a number of Rugers, and now have two 700's rebarrled to the Swift.. For my purposes the heavy bullets requiring a fast twist are a waste of my time and money.. The Swift does just what I want with 50 gr. bullets, if I need more bullet wt. I use the bigger calibers in the safe.. I also think that in addition to the .22-250 the .223 does pretty good at the ranges most varmints are shot.. So it has hurt some, plus the cheap ammo for the .223 is another huge factor... I like my .223's, but they are not a cool as the Swift..

I've had a Ruger 77V .220 Swift for about thirty years. I got rid of my .22-250s and don't miss them even if ballistics are about the same as the Swift. My 77V is on it's second barrel. When I was living in great coyote country in North Texas, my gunsmith remarked: "a .222 or .223 is fine for coyotes, but the kills are more dramatic with a Swift". I found that to be a true statement.

I guess the reason I Love the swift is because it was the first non big game rifle I ever bought...........I started out with a 22LR and a 300WM when I was 15 since then I have put thousands more rounds down the swift than any other chambering..........oh sure you have the Gaymoor's and the Ultra's but I will always own a swift.

Remington chambered their classic, and the VSSF in the 220S? Think that was back in the 90s. I had one of the latter and shot a lot of PDs with it. Barrel heat becomes an issue, very quickly.
I think the 220 Swift is a great coyote cartridge.
I have a custom, Rem 700, trued Stainless action, Lilja stainless sporter barrel, Mcmillan Hunter stock. It is a coyotes worst nightmare.

I have a vssf in 220 swift, fun gun to shoot but hard to get ammo if you don't reload, at least around here. Only ever seen 55gr varmint loads.

I have a Swift in a Remington I bought new a few years ago. The Swifts only problem is it is semi-rimmed and you have to make sure you load the magazine correctly or jam the gun. Accuracy and velocity are great.

Graf and Sons lists a few if you're willing to order some.

https://www.grafs.com/retail/catalog/category/categoryId/95?

I think the rise of polymer tipped bullets has "killed" the Swift. The SAAMI standard rate of twist is 1-14" which limits the Swift to the bullets of old or the very lightest of the new polymer tipped bullets with better B.C.'s. The polymer tipped bullets made cartridges like the 223 Remington which was once considered a 300 yard cartridge on varmints to one which can do 400+ yards. Most varmint hunters don't shoot 400 yards anyway. Also, less recoil, less barrel wear, less muzzle blast and the smaller cartridges still get the job done. Plus for reloaders, you don't have to worry about turning necks like some have to do on a Swift as the brass flows.

BTW, I used to have a Ruger 77 tang safety sporter in 220 Swift. That rifle would clover leaf 40 grain Hornady V-maxes and turn a groundhog's guts inside out. I really loved that gun in my 20's. I also loved the 22-250 Remington. Now I am in mid 40's and I am finally getting around to shooting the 17 and 20 caliber cartridges. I wish I had found/tried these when I was in my 20's. Oh well, experience is a very fine teacher.

I like the 220 swift a lot. This is my third one. Ruger 77, 12x Leupold, Canjar trigger. It Is still pretty accurate, for fun load is 52gr Sierra HPBT match and 44gr of Ramshot Hunter. Very accurate in my rifle, give it a try. I got the load out of Handloader magazine, an article by JB.
I think there is just to many choices now in varmint cartridges, and a lot of people like the newer stuff, they don’t know what they’re missing.

Like so many other great chamberings the Swift is a dinosaur like many of us ! Mine is in varmint config here and wears a Redfield 6400 fine hair dot 20x however I've killed many deer and several speed goats with the other Leupold 3x9x40 AO topper.. All are vintage and purchased shortly after Washington crossed the Delaware..

Uncle Alvah: Gee I hope nothing serious has happened to "the Swift"!
I own a bunch of them - 4 collector Rifles (pre-64 Model 70's) and 9 heavy barrel Varminters that I shoot.
I still remember the "elation" I felt when I took my first 220 Swift into the Colony Varmint fields (a pre-64 Winchester Model 70 Varmint complete with 15x Unertl Ultra-Varmint scope).
My thoughts when my first distant Chuck "took flight" was, this thing is like a "ray-gun" (lasers hadn't been invented yet as I recall!
When I am headed out on a "serious" Varmint Safari (predator or colony Varmint) I always have at least one 220 Swift along.
My second heavy barrel 220 Swift came a lot later when I bought a new "Liberty Model" (1976) heavy barrel Ruger Model 77. I still have those Rifles and enjoy them dearly.
Yeah the shine has worn off the 220 Swift cartridge and new Rifles chambered for them, AGAIN, but for those with the need this cartridge does a lot of long range "things" REALLY well.
My most accurate 220 Swift is a Remington 40XB-KS with factory 27 1/4" heavy stainless barrel.
Believe it or not this Rifle just LOVES the 55 grain Sierra Blitz (not the BlitzKings!) and not only is the accuracy outstanding but the "terminal effects" on all manner of Varmints (from Prairie Dogs to rock Chucks to Badgers and Coyotes) is impressive, very impressive.
Anyone with a TOP quality barrel on your Swift I highly recommend you try this 55 grain Sierra Blitz bullet - he-he. It is cheap, accurate and "explosive".
Long live the 220 Swift (at least in my heart and hands).
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Have a pair of 77's somewhere around here.

The 77v (circa 1990) is the most accurate factory rifle I have ever SEEN, much less owned. With Hornady 52 gr HPBTM's over 3031 it'll do .1's for 3 shots at 100 and .3's for 5 shots in my unsteady hands. Bad thing is, the Hornadys are inconsistent and unpredictable on critters. Sometimes explosive............sometimes a paper punch. So my money shot is a 50 gr NBT over 3031. Still very accurate........and faster........and just GRUESOME on the receiving critter's end.

There's also a 24" 77 sporter in there. I honestly have not shot it enough to give an honest assessment yet. Sad. Guns with no time to shoot 'em.

What happened with the 220 Swift? I heard that it got drunk at a family reunion, started hitting on its cousin, some 6mm cartridge, also drunk, and the Swift's wife caught them going at it. She then cheated on the Swift with the 250 Savage, and got pregnant. That's REALLY where the Creedmoor came from.

Ha... the dirty bastard.

I've had a few Swifts ranging in age from a Model 54 Winchester to Ruger 77Vs & enjoyed them all. A groundhog killing buddy saw what the Swift did at over 450 paces & promptly got one of his own. Brass was hit or miss back then. Norma was absolutely the best but expensive & not always available. The W-W stuff was not the greatest dimensionally for the Ruger's chamber, but was better than the Frontier/Hornady stuff. The 4000+ fps with 50s was unattainable with even reasonable accuracy in any Swift I've owned. Norma loaded ammo came close. In the early 90s I got a bastardized 22-250 Ackley long in trade & after some work got far better speed & accuracy, so the Ruger went on the sale rack. It sold quickly. A few years ago the well pump went south & a guy really wanted the Model 54, so I got to take a shower & he now owns an old Swift. If I come across another Swift at a decent price it might have to follow me home. I have dies & all needed components. When the Ackley barrel is done I'll probably build another. Just because.

My friends grandfather owned a pair of 220 Swifts, a custom Arisaka and a Savage Model 112 single shot. Both had heavy barrels and huge scopes mounted on them. I remember admiring them, never handled them though as I was just a kid. They lived in the middle of no where in PENN and he killed tons of crows and woodchucks in the summer and a fair amount of deer. I wonder where those guns are now?

The 40XBKSS came with a 27.25" bbl. We got well over 4k, closer to 4100 fps using IMR-4064 and H-380 behind 50 gr Rem PLHPs. Those bullets were the only things we tried that about never exited chucks. Pulped them, really. Nothing was as good out to 350 yds or so. Eventually we gave up on speed for the sake of less drift with 63 gr Sierra SMPs and IMR-4350 for the 350 to 450 yd shots. IIRC, we got about 3700 fps from that gun.