Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Predators and Varmints The disappearing .220 Swift...

Of 19 people shooting sqeakers in Christmas Valley this weekend 2 of the 12 adultscarried 220 Swifts. Velocity has a quality all its own on varmits, and the Swift is still the king of .22's

Have a pre-64 model 70 in 220 swift. Probably the most well balanced gun I've ever shot. I would take it over my .223 any day.

I love my Ruger m77VT in....................220 Swift!!

I've had a Ruger 77V in Swift for over thirty years. IMO it's the greatest varmint cartridge ever. Some years back a friend of mine was at the range with me. He shot some groups from my Swift and kept the target. A few weeks later I saw his father (an old varmint hunter from way back). He said, "David showed me the target he shot with your Swift when he was up. I said, 'That's pretty good.' Then he told me it was two hundred yards, not one hundred. If any other man but David had told me that I'd have called him a liar." Just one of those things that stick in your mind.

"I" am NOT criticizing those that do so but using a 220 Swift on Sage Rats is comparable to toasting marshmallows over a blast furnace!
It can be done but... why?
I have 6 Varmint type Rifles in caliber 220 Swift and my beloved father would roll over in his grave (he used to shoot Ground Squirrels in eastern Oregon in the 1930's) if he saw me shooting Gophers with a 220 Swift!
I was out at the huge Gunshow in the Puget Sound area last week and an old friend of mine relayed how every couple years he would take his 458 Winchester Magnum Rifle out and "plink" a few Picket Pins with IT!
Yeah, it can be done but... why?
In the areas I Hunt Ground Squirrels in the 220 Swift WOULD have a high probability of sending some ricocheting piece of bullet into a distant cow, irrigation line, piece of farm equipment or a ranch worker! With the exceptionally high volume of Furrbie shooting I need (and want!) to do, the 220 Swift is simply out of the question for my uses!
I agree with cra1948 about the 220 Swift "to a certain extent" the Swift is capable of fine accuracy and very flat trajectories along with its impressive lethality on all manner of Varmints, BUT, it also has certain attributes that diminish its desirability as a Varminting round. Among them are its tendency to heat barrels VERY quickly, it also has a recoil that interferes with spotting ones bullets point of impact. The Swift also WILL use up a barrel much quicker than other Varmint cartridges - this is an expensive situation.
Also reloading the Swift is not exactly economical - brass life is relatively short, powder charges are relatively large - money matters these days especially!
The Swift is a great cartridge but its NOT "the greatest Varmint cartridge ever" IMO.
Long live the Swift!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

VarmintGuy - First let me say I envy you guys out west. To me, "high volume varmint shooting" has always meant three woodchucks in one field. I would take issue with your belief that the Swift is more ricochet prone than other varmint cartridges, that doesn't make sense to me. I think to that, to most shooters, "the greatest" isn't necessarily synonymous with "the most economical." There's always a price for performance. I will say, however, if I had any kind of that western style, several hundred rounds a day varmint shooting, my .223's would get more use than my Swift, for sure. Probably the .17 HRM for that matter.

I'm curious too VarmintGuy why a .220 Swift would ricochet more than other .224 rifles. It would seem to me that highly frangible bullets moving at high speed would blow up rather than ricochet. Enlighten me oh Guru!!!

Of course there are disadvantages to everything.
They do heat up fast but so does a 25-06.
For years I used a heavy barrel 25-06 and a No 1 Ruger 220 Swift.
The rancher complained that the dog hid under the porch when he heard me shooting.
You learn pretty quick to shoot one until it gets warm and then switch to the other one. On July 4th they get warm and stay warm all day!
I use my Swift for prairie dogs and they have never complained that I shot them to much.
Even the 223 seems like to much when they are young and up close. So bring along a 10/22 and have at it!
A 243 is a barrel eater if you shoot it a lot and so is a 22-250.

People who bad mouth the 220 Swift probably say that "more than a mouthful is a waste".
Everyone is entitled to their opinion.
This one is mine!
whelennut

Whelennut & Derby dude: If a higher velocity bullet turns into a ricochet then its initial momentum will carry it further - thus more danger - than a lower velocity bullet.
No, the 220 Swift shooting the same bullet as a 223 probably isn't any more prone to ricochet, but, if it does the danger is then dispersed further downrange.
And to begin with I was referring to the 220 Swift versus a rimfire when I spoke of increased ricochet worries!
I send between 3,000 and 4,500 bullets downrange each year in pursuit of Ground Squirrels and 98% of them are rimfires - I simply could not afford to send 4,500 centerfire bullets downrange - especially when a person can get within rimfire range of these worthy Varmints!
NOR, would I want to spend the huge amount of time it would take in my loading room to assemble 4,500 MORE centerfire rounds than I already do make!
AND, visualize sending 4,500 220 Swift bullets downrange at Ground Squirrels from one Rifle! That regimen would call for about 2 new custom barrels a year - and that would be before Prairie Dog season got rolling real well around these parts!
Again I am NOT criticizing anyone who uses 220 Swifts or any other centerfire on Gophers but for my uses it (the Swift) is out of the question!
Last year I took some of my new centerfires (couple of 204's, my 17 MachIV and my 17 Remington Fireball) out for Ground Squirrels and its a lot of fun centerfiring for "Furbies", but the noise does slow down the shooting as compared to when rimfires are in use.
And on those days when the centerfires were along they were only shot 20 to 40 times then set aside and kept handy for when Badgers, Jack Rabbits, Fox, Coyote or other "long distance" type Varmints appeared.
Back to ricochets for just a moment - for many years I Hunted a remote area of Idaho for Rock Chucks. Much of the shooting was in an area that had dairy cows in it!
I had been in the area for a couple of days with two partners when a dairy farmer we knew and Hunted on his place told us a story as we were in his home obtaining permission to Hunt. It turns out he had to "put down" one of his prize dairy cows due to a festering large wound on its hip that would not heal. Once the cow had been killed and the rendering folks were about to take it away the wound was explored and a 22 caliber projectile was removed from it!
That 22 caliber bullet had hardly deformed!
No it was not a FMJ military type projectile! As when I examined it I was certain that it was a Sierra 52 gr. Match bullet!
These are very accurate bullets but they are hard as nails and do ricochet readily! I quit using them for Varminting purposes at least 25 years ago! My friend the rancher told us no one had been granted permission to Hunt his huge property yet that year and he was sure the bullet had come from an adjacent ranch! I asked for the bullet with the intention of showing it and relaying the story of the wounded (dead!) cow to my Hunting partners. The dairy man declined - he had the same intended use for it in mind!
I even had an idea of the "Hunter" who had done this deed. But thats another and a long story. Suffice it to say it was a Varminter who I knew and who had been along on a Hunt with me but he refused to quit using the Sierra 52's in his 22-250 and was never asked along again. He took a tight jawed stance in this regard and took pleasure in finding out when I planned my Safari to this area each year and he would show up the prior week! I verified this several ways including going through the non-resident small game license dealer copies every year which were sold at a small remote country store in that area!
I can be devious myself it seems!
Anyway I made it a point to tell this "Hunter" about the Sierra 52 "killing" the dairy cow and made sure he knew I had a hunch it was him!
Yes many times proper Varmint bullets do "disintegrate" upon impact with the ground or what ever! But I Varmint Hunt in "dry country" and I have very good eyesight! I see dust flying behind intended Varmints sometimes 800 yards past said Varmint! On occassion a Hunter can hear a ricochet from a centerfire projectile! From these sounds it is obvious that they cover a lot of ground fast! Again signifying a sizable mass going further downrange than the intended target.
Hearing ricochets from rimfire projectiles is VERY commonplace! But these projectiles seldom cover much distance (comparatively!) past their initial encounter with the Varmint or with the ground!
Several types of centerfire 22 caliber projectiles do not disintegrate upon contact with the ground, the rocks or the Varmint! These bullets are poor choices for high volume Varminting. I have even seen some folks using FMJ bullets for Colony Varminting - poor choice this, and I seperate myself from these types by at least two miles!
The worst ricochets I have ever witnessed were from the projectiles sent downrange from two "characters" I was shooting Ground Squirrels with! They had the "hots" to shoot some Ground Squirrels with their Kimber pistols in caliber 45 ACP!
The area we were Hunting had a huge flat cultivated field backed up by saw tooth ridges immediately behind the fields - a safe background.
We counted as many as 8 ricochet points (each of which caused a dust plume to rise up at!) from their ammunition! These "trails" of dust plumes seemed to always curve to our right!
Anyway I would not let them shoot their "hardballers" in certain places, at all.
Safety first!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

VarmintGuy thanks for the post.

Now my second question what about 6mm bullets do they richochet as much as the .224's?

And while we are on richochets, what about the new Barnes Varmint Grenades in .22 and 6mm, anybody got stories on them and richochets?

A Swift will never disappear from my gun rack. Have shot them for over 30 years, and love the Swift. Took my 40X Remington out today to check the zero before hunting chucks this summer. It is still shooting fine, as you see in the photo of 5 shot, 100 yard group I shot today at the range. I'm ready for hogs now.

Derby dude: My good friend Mark out in Washington State provided me with about 60 of the new 22 caliber Varmint Grenade bullets for me to test!
I have not decided which of my Varmint Rifles to try them in as yet.
To date I have no experience with them.
As for the 6mm bullets having a high (or higher!) ricochet factor than the 22 cals - I would tend to say that I seldom have ricochets with them while Varminting. I use a lot of Nosler Ballistic Tips in the 6mm (lower weights) for my Varminting and they don't ricochet much if at all!
The only bullet in 6mm that I have used and remember it having a "ricochet factor" was some time back with the Sierra 70 gr. Hollow Point Boat Tail "Match" bullets. I have not used them or seen anyone use them for some time now. Maybe they are more frangible now than they used ot be - I doubt it though.
I do use a lot of the 55 and 70 gr. Nosler Ballistic Tips and again I do not remember seeing or hearing a ricochet with them (I don't wear hearing protection while Coyote Hunting for instance and I would remember a ricochet while doing this).
I'll bet the 6mm Sierra 80 gr. "Blitz" bullet would readily disintegrate and keep ricochets to a minimum!
I need to try that bullet myself.
I LOVE to Hunt Rock Chucks and that should be a wonderful Rock Chuck bullet!
Good luck with whichever 6mm you may choose.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Hunter01: Great shooting there with your 40X Swift!
Good for you and for Remington!
I have a Remington 40XB-KS in caliber 220 Swift! Its the single shot model, kevlar stocked with a SS 27 1/4" barrel!
This Rifle is "death" on long range Coyotes and Rock Chucks!
Which model of 40X is your Swift?
Again great shooting there!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy
P.S.: Do you have a measurement on that fine five shot group?
I did some on screen crayon work and came up with a WAG of around .330" for those five shots!

Varmint Guy,
I like the 22 rimfire quite a bit for close shots on prairie dogs. I use a
Winchester 9422 XTR and CCI Stingers. This is fun out to 100 yds or so depending on how windy it is.
Beyond that I like my .223 or the 220 Swift depending on how frisky the dogs are.
I only shoot them once or twice a year and want maximum effect!
The 25-06 has been retired because it uses twice the powder of a .223 and you can only shoot so much 25-06 in one weekend!
The Swift does heat up faster than a .223 but I use it at the end of the day when all the close range dogs are hunkered down in their burrows and afraid to come out, and who could blame them?
In my experience ricochets are very common with a 22 rimfire.
I have never had one that I know of with my 220 Swift but then I use soft bullets at about 3800 fps.
Once upon a time I got the not so bright idea to use 120 gr bullets in my 25-06 because I thought they would drift less in the wind at long range. I had a ricochet where I could see the dust kick up several times as the bullet got farther and farther away. I prayed that the bullet would run out of gas in the near future!
I don't bring anything bigger than a 22 anymore!
whelennut

My 40X is the XB Rangemaster. It is single shot, with 27 1/4" barrel with 2 oz. trigger. Has wood stock. Wish I'd of gotten Kevlar. More durable. Didn't measure group. I don't do lots of group shooting. Just test for good loads, sight in, then go blast the hogs. Once I find a load I like, I keep it and don't look any farther. I have 24 power Leupold on it. I load 39.5 gr. of 4320 with a 52 gr. Berger. Goes out the tube at 4027 fps. That load was used for the group I shot today. Not considered my accuracy load, actually. I shoot 37.5 gr. of 4320 with Berger 52 gr. I'd like to change to a Kevlar stock. But that gun is instant death on any chuck I can get my crosshairs on. Love that Swift.
P.S. On that target I shot today,,,,,,,, I did move my scope 1 click to the right. Now it should be right on the button.

I've always wanted to build a Swift. I hope it doesn't go the dodo, but once you do the Swift you can't add metal back on the boltface.

Seems minor but I'd 22-250 AI or 22-6 instead. Sorry for the basphemy. The ballistics are "Swift" like.

Hawk1: ONE of my five 220 Swifts literally EATS brass!
I mean I only get about 5 reloadings and the brass is toast! My other Swifts are somewhat better on brass.
I have two friends with custom Varminters in caliber 22-250 Ackley Improved. They get REALLY good brass life with their A.I.'s!
Brass life is one factor in choosing a Varminting cartridge and I hope to have a 22-250 A.I. Varmint Rifle someday myself.
I have shot right along side these two 22-250 A.I.'s out in the Varmint fields and know how well they perform.

Whelennut: Lesson learned with the 120 grainers - for sure!
Safety first.
I am with you on the smaller calibers for high volume Varminting. I never use anything larger than 24 caliber for Colony Varmints and have lots of 17's, 20's and 22's that shoot VERY frangible (no big pieces left over!) type bullets.

Hunter01: Yes it appears you have a lot of accurate shooting left in that 220 Swift 40X! Again great group!
I have to tell a Swift eating a barrel story here!
My good friend and Varminting buddy "Irv" from Puget Sound country took a liking to MY Remington 40XB-KS in 220 Swift several years back.
He bought one just like it.
Now Irv is a super sharp and dynamic fellow (retired VERY early, former NRA Director, all around shooter and nice guy!) BUT he is a little "excitable" when Varmints are downrange!
Things were going well with his 40X Swift and I saw him shoot groups measuring .500" at 200 (two hundred) yards on more than one occassion with his new Rifle!
Irv preferred to do load testing and sight in verifications at 200 yards!
Well Irv the "excitable" one gets one season under his belt of Varminting with his Swift then two seasons and during this time I had REPEATEDLY "mentioned" to him he should SLOW his rate of fire with the Swift on Colony Varminting situations! He was used to 223's for Varminting by the way!
Well midway through the 3rd season Irv discovered that his throat was WAY long - I mean like 1 1/2" longer than it used to be! This after only 1,500 rounds! Well accuracy had diminished somewhat but Irv decided to have Remington re-barrel the Rifle at a cost near $400.00!
Well the new Swift barrel would only shoot 200 yard groups right at 1.000"!
He was miffed, somewhat.
Moral of this story - if you have a really good shooting barrel PAMPER IT!
NEVER shoot it hot and clean it carefully!
Especially if it is in 220 Swift!
Wishing you many hundreds more shots of accurate fire with your Swift!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

M77 Mark 2 (KM77VTBBBZ) in 220 Swift Brown laminate stock, gray finish is a catalog item at www.billhicksco.com

Varmintguy,
I have a friend who bought a .222 Remington ADL at K-mart a long time ago. We found a good dog town and shot there from about 8am to 8pm. He kept up a steady cadence most of the day. The barrel was NEVER the same. I think he toasted it in one weekend!
When we drove by the ranchers house on the way out we stopped by to thank him.
He was laughing and said, " If you guys didn't know how to shoot when you got here, you sure should know how by now!"

The next year we went back and that dogtown had been poisoned out!
I think my barrel has one more trip left before it goes south.
I have a bunch of Nosler 55 gr Ballistic Tips loaded and ready to go! I can't wait.
whelennut

I live in Idaho and we have some prevailing winds in the Snake River Canyon, Rock Chuck country..I prefer the 6x45 because it shoots heavier bullets..I used a Swift for several years, but its loud and the 25-06 recoils a bit too much if your going to shoot 500 or more rounds per day..

I also like the 223 as its close enough for govt. work and I dont' have a cat if I miss a chuck now and then.

I would not worry about the swift going to the way side there will always be custom reamers for it. I have a Remington 700 that has a barrel that was chambered in the Remington custom shop it has a .260 no turn neck and it is 1-8 twist the rifle will shoot any bullet between 52 grains and 75 grain amax. I am considering selling either the barred action or just the barrel if any one is Interested email me and I can send pictures of the gun and the targets. The reason I am selling is because I have to many varmint rifles and I safe has over floweth. Here is a picture of what my carry swift does to a coyote. (not the one for sale) [img][IMG]http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r115/killahog/decemberyote003.jpg[/img][/img]