While I have frequented this site for a few years, I just recently registered so a newbie to the group. I searched around on the forums before posting this, found some interesting info here or there, but perhaps I’m not versed enough to narrow down search data. All that said …

I just picked up a Rem 700 VSSF in .220 Swift and looking forward to working up some hand loads. I have all kinds of load books, but would like to hear from ya’ll about what has worked best for you on powder and projectiles – have .40’s, 50’s, 55’s and 60’s to load that I got in a package deal. Will be doing a prairie dog and coyote hunt next year, looking to see what others have loaded for the 300-600 yard ranges. Open to any help or thoughts you can share.

Thanks in advance for the help.

Never had the urge to shoot 60’s, but 40-55 Nosler, Sierra and Speer have all performed very well. As far as powders AA2700 is the primary choice. Excellent fill ratio, good velocity and accuracy. Burns a little cooler so it’s easier on the throat plus not as temperamental on warmer days. That said have also had good luck with
H380
H4895
Varget (although poochy in velocity)
4064
Benchmark

Good luck.

Appreciate the help here.

What Swifty said would also add Re 15 from years of experience.

On RL-15 had a recommendation of 38.5 gr up to 40gr … seems I’d get signs of pressure around that 40gr and too high?

Shouldn’t but that’s the reason to work up as every rifle is different. The only reason I left out 15 is I never got the results I was looking for.

Understood Swifty, appreciate the help.

Every rifle is different. Start lower & work up in 1/2 gr. increments. Also seating depth can make a big difference in group size. I settled on RL15 too after having pressure excursions with H380 & 2700 on hot summer days, so 86ed their further use. Too lazy to dig out the old notes but I stopped a touch below book max with both H4895 & RL15 because the groups were so small & started growing with more powder. RL15 got a bit more fps than H4895, both shot tiny groups. I had a lot of Hornady 50gr SXs that shot very well & was able to get them close to 3900fps without them coming apart in flight. Speer 52 & Hornady 53 match bullets shot well too but didn't have the same 'splodey effect as the SXs out at 450+ yds. Norma brass couldn't be beat at the time & may still be top of the food chain if you can find some. As always my stuff is/was different than your stuff so YMMV.

Also, my Swifts were all 14 twist which limited pointy bullet selection to 55gr & under. Not that that's a bad thing... Unsure what twist yours has.

IIRC all remmy 220 Swift had 14 twist. Also if you can find 60-63 grain bullets less than .75 in length they should stabilize. As far as hot days getting pressure with 380 and 2700 I just backed off .5-1 grain if it was going to be over 85.

I have been reloading for the swift longer than any other cartridge that I use, I thought that I had tinkered with every powder possible until I saw Swifty52 listed Benchmark ???????? I never tried that powder in a swift. Then I realized Benchmark was not even created yet when I did most of my load development.

My hands down favorite powder for the swift is W760 (most say H414 and AA2700 are the same as ???)
Never shot anything but 55 grainers in any of my swifts saved the 40's for my 222.
Always liked Norma brass the best and Fed 210's
All of my swift's have been picky with seating depth and prefer close to the lands
Have proved it to myself and others several times that a well tuned 220Swift is more accurate than a 22-250 10 times out of 10.
The only thing I could disagree with Swifty52 on is......H380, I Hate this powder, I loathe this powder, most temp sensitive powder ever

I use the 50 grain Sierra Blitz, regular or medium velocity version (both chronograph identical velocities and shoot to the same point of impact) in all centerfire from the .222 on up including the Swift because this bullet is accurate in everything I've used it in. For the Swift, I've seen slightly better accuracy with Varget vs. H4895, one of the few times I've seen a Varget load shoot more accurately than an H4895 load.

Thanks 358WCF on the RL 15, helpful info for sure, have some Norma - curious if any particular primer or really didn’t matter?

B52... WLR, but these were from 2 different late 80s lots in the grey & red boxes. All my Swifts are gone, but at least one lot of the newer WLRs in the blue box seem to produce pressure sign a bit sooner in other chamberings with no corresponding velocity increase. Try a few different brands/types to see which your rifle likes best. Magnums should be unneeded with RL15, but...

The mid velocity IMR3031/50SX load I used in my Model 54 Winchester liked RP 9 1/2s.

B52, boy, you need a wake up pill on how R#15 is a barrel eater....no schitt! Heat index is among the hottest on R#15. IMR 4064, while popular is also a barrel eater.

Read BoatAnchor's post....take it to heart! AA2700 is one of the coolest powders on the market today, and 44-44.5g in a Rem case, with a 9 1/2 primer shoots tiny bug holes with the 50g Nosler ballistic tip at a solid 4000 fps in a 26" barrel with less than 10 fps SD!

Win 760 is a great powder for the 50-63g bullets, but AA2700 burns much cooler.


Seat those bullets no more than .003 off the lands. As the lands gets washed out, try and find a 55g Sierra Semi point or a 55g Sierra BTHP, then go to a 63g Semi point as the leade gets washed out.

Sell the R#15 to someone that you do not like.

PS. Start off at 43g of AA2700 with a 55g what ever, Rem 9 1/2. tiny kiss on the lands, expect no paper between the bullet holes, 55g Noslers are wicked ugly on coyotes, 55g hornady SP on hogs and deer.

Love the forums here, you get school’d from every angle and learn all kinds of great stuff with some good humor along the way.

Many thanks to Swifty52, 358WCF, lotech, and Keith - appreciate y’all taking the time to provide me with some helpful info!

I bought my 220 in the early 80’s. It’s an old tang safety Ruger from the mid 70’s. Back then, some gun writer said that the gold standard load for the 220 was 38.5 gr of IMR 4064 behind a 55 gr bullet. I worked up to that load, found he was right, and that’s the same load I use today.

Thank you kindly sir for taking the time.

Just going to throw this out there for info. According to Phil Sharpes 1938 book Winchester produced 3 factory loads.

45 grain bullet, 41 grains 4064 for 4250 FPS
48 grain bullet, 39 grains 3031 for 4140
56 grain bullet, 34.5 grains 3031 for 3497

See those powders worked just fine back then, and that is why they are still around today....

which is kinda why I have plenty of it stocked up....

how many people would be claiming 4064 or 3031 would be too fast of a powder to consider in a 220 Swift in today's world...

I stick with good old W760/H414 in my Ruger 77 Mk. II. When I shoot the barrel out, am planning to go with a 1:12" or faster twist to stabilize the wonderful high-BC Hornady 53 grain V-Max (if accurate, of course.)

Same rifle as the OP. 55 grain Sierra and Nosler have worked well. Probably won't be able to get to the lands without run out issues with these stubby bullets. 760 is my go to powder because it meters well. A bit of a case stretcher, may find a good trimmer is helpful.

Cooper 22, Montana Varminter 26” tube



5 shots

Nice pictures bartman and I see another 760 fan … helpful info here and many thanks to you.

[quote=Swifty52]Cooper 22, Montana Varminter 26” tube



Glad there are creative financing options these days … beautiful rifle Swifty.

I have a Remington M700 Classic in 220 SWIFT. It dotes on H414 and Nosler 50gr Ballistic Tips. Longest kill to date - 488yds - Montana prairie dog.

A load JB had in an article a few years ago 44gr of Hunter powder, 52gr Sierra HPBT, Federal LR primer. It has became the load I shoot in my Swift. A Ruger 77 heavy barrel varmint.12x Lehpold, Canjar single set trigger. No complaints.

It was a gift from my wife about 04. I had to buy the glass though.

SS, nice old tanger.

Thanks TwoCup, timely … just picked up some 50gr Spitzers from another member on the Classifieds Forum so will use your info to work up some loads.

Thanks SS396, love that M77 and details on 52gr Sierras.

from research, it seems as though most people have better luck with 50 grain than 55 grain out of the swift. I just bought some 50 grain bullets to try to work up a load in the spring for the 220 swift. Right now I have several hundred rounds of swift loaded with IMR 4064 and 55 grain ballistic tips, but they are like a 1" grouping. My .22-250's love the 55 and it seems like more people have success with 50s out of the swift. Give some things a try.

There is a simple reason, most 22.250 and Swifts were a 14 twist. Now if you look at all 40-55 grain they are basically all under .825 in length, plastic tips don’t count. After passing this length 14 just couldn’t stabilize them. There were some 60-63 grain bullets made that came in under the .825 length to which a 14 twist would stabilize. Simple answer.

As I remember the Swift as originally designed, wasn't ever thought of as a deer rifle. So why would you need heavier bullets and a faster twist?

I once considered rebarreling my 220 to a faster twist, but it wasn’t for deer hunting. I used it for coyote hunting and was happy with it, but the pigs moved into my area. Seemed like every time I took out the 220, I’d see a big hog at 200 yards. It was either rebarrel the 220 or go to the 260. I went to the 260.

That old tang safety Ruger is so amazingly accurate as is, I could not bring myself to seriously consider changing it.

If I was going to deer hunt with it, I’d limit the shots to 150 yards or so, and I’d use the 63 gr Sierra SMP bullet, which will stabilize in the rifle.

So I'm currently working up some loads for my Ruger 77 sporter barrel swift and have come across a couple that have proved promising. 37, 38 or 39 grains of IMR 4064 with Berger 50 grain varminter flat base with CC1 200 primers have produced less then half inch 3 shot groups and .750 5 shot groups. Gonna fine tune and see what happens. I've noticed several people touting seating depth and I'm curious what most of you all are doing with the depth. I think I have mine at 10 thousandths off but am considering getting a little closer. Thoughts? Also I'm currently working with Norma brass but I have RP, Hornady and WW. Not sure what this means but when I run all of these through my full length sizer, the Norma is smooth as butter, followed by the RP and then a tossup between the Hornady and the Winny.

I had one of those. I moly coated 50 grain Nosler Ballistic tips and pushed 'em with 43.5 grains of H380. MV was 3987 fps average. Groups were around 1/2 inch at 100 yards. Impact was vicious.

My gun did not shoot real well with new brass. Once fired, it was a different story. I finally found an accurate, though slow, case forming load: I used the minimum load of 4320 in Hornady data with a Speer 52 grain bucket mouthed flat base HP shoved hard into the rifling. It'd shoot quarter inch done that way at roughly .223 speed.

I had another Swift .. my last one .. with a 1.25" straight cylindrical barrel 26 inches long, 1-14" twist. It'd knock push-pins through the paper at 200 yards with 55 grain ballistic tips and 44 grains of IMR 4831. It had a real tight bore and with other powders it was blowing primers with the starting loads.

Tom

B52RadarNav: You have probably settled on a load by now but I thought I would add a bit here.
One of my most accurate 220 Swift Rifles (I have about a dozen of them!) is an all stock Remington 40XB-KS single shot with the 27 1/4" barrel.
I have a Leupold 6.5x20 variable scope on it and this Rifle is just plain ACCURATE!
And of all things one of the first bullets I tried in this rig was the humble Sierra 55 grain Blitz (not the BlitKing).
I use Norma brass, Federal 210 M (Match) primers and good old IMR 4064.
Some of my friends poo-poo'ed my idea of trying the "explosive" Blitz bullets in the Swift but they hold together for me (in the 40X's quality barrel!), the accuracy is wonderful and the lethality is "impressive" to say the least - on everything from Prairie Dogs, Rock Chucks, Badgers and especially Coyotes.
Anyway anyone looking for an inexpensive bullet to try, for spectacular kills, on Colony Varmints I highly recommend the 55 grain Sierra Blitz for your Swift.
Long live the 220 Swift.
Hold into the wiind
VarmintGuy

Don't know where my post went....

https://stevespages.com/224_4_63.html

H414 or W 760, same powder..... noted for the 220 Swift and the 63 grain bullet...

if you want a little more thump.... met a guy out shooting prairie dogs, who was a good friend of my buddy who lives in Billings

His friend works for Montana Fish and Game.... and one of his jobs is to get rid of nuisance Elk ...

He used a Ruger VT in 220 Swift, shooting 70 SMP Speers.... with an 8 x 32 Burris on top....head & neck shots, using a bipod off the hood of his State Pickup....

He hunted deer, antelope and elk for his own personal hunting, using the Sporterized version in a Model 77, with like a Burris 4.5 x 14 scope on it..
but same load with the 70 grain SMP Speer on it...

Pretty effective combo.. and the 1 in 14 twist, didn't hamper the load... worked just fine...

Dana was telling my his friend and that Swift were pretty bad ass, in doing their job.

Well, as it happens, life happens … been taking care of my dad for last few months with not much down time. So, your post was timely as I’m finally able to start working some loads up. I’ll throw the 55 GR Blitz into the mix with 50 GR Spitzers and 52 GR Sierras I have, Out of curiosity, what’s the twist on your Rem 40XB-KS?