220 Swift Reloader Favorites?

I need one. I used to read articles about the Swift when I was a kid (70's) and always wanted one. These days, it seems like it needs to end in PRC or Creedmore to garner interest.

I would bet on BLC(2) with the 35's and 40's for best efficiency. I'll be interested to watch this thread.

I hunt prairie dogs with a couple of guys who shoot .220 Swifts. Their powders of choice are either IMR 4064 or Varget. Can't give you any load info however.

H380 out of the powders you have on hand, I think you will find it on Noslers load data as most accurate powder for 50g pills

I did some load testing for a buddy’s 220 but I will have to go back and check

From my old notes:
38.5/4064, 50-53gr bullet
40.5/H380, 50gr NBT
43.0-44.0/H414, 50-53gr bullet

Long live the Swift!

Another vote for H380!
my .22-250 with 39.0gr of H380 occasionally shoots 5 Sierra 55gr soft points into one hole at 100yds. It shoots “ok” with IMR4064 or Varget. It’s not cold-bore sensitive, nor does it string the shots. It’s a Remington M700 ADL with a thin taper barrel…
IMR4320 (discontinued) as well as Reloader15 are excellent.
You’ll find that H414/Win760 will be better with 60gr bullets which are about the heaviest that will stabilize in a 1/14” twist which is standard for the Swift.
The best long range varmint bullet IMO is the 53gr Hornady Vmax.
Forget the 60gr and heavier plastic tipped boat tails as they won’t reliably stabilize from the standard 1/14” twist of the .220Swift and .22-250.
The 55gr Hornady bulk pointed soft point boat-tail bulk bullets shoot at or under MOA and are my choice for general purpose which includes doe deer…

Imr 4064 or Win 760[if its still around].

One more vote for H380 and 50-55 grain bullets.

But like others I’ve used just about every suitable powder for the Swift.

For many years I used a 40 grain Ballistic Tip on top of a max charge of H414 for amazing accuracy and performance.

I’ve killed more coyotes with that load in the 220 Swift than parvo, distemper, rabies and the mange.

ATCDoktor said:

One more vote for H380 and 50-55 grain bullets.

But like others I’ve used just about every suitable powder for the Swift.

For many years I used a 40 grain Ballistic Tip on top of a max charge of H414 for amazing accuracy and performance.

I’ve killed more coyotes with that load in the 220 Swift than parvo, distemper, rabies and the mange.

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That is quite the wound.... was this one put down with a 40 grainer?

I have .220 Swift brass, but no gun to go with it.

Another_Kelley said:

That is quite the wound.... was this one put down with a 40 grainer?

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Yes.

Believe it or not that’s the entrance wound.

Running that 40 grainer as fast as I could get it going was extremely effective on coyotes but entrance wounds at 100 yards and closer could be bad.

The wounds at 200 yards and beyond aren’t quite as bad but still impressive.


I took this javelina at around 100 yards (again with the 40 grain load) with a shot through the eyeball and outwardly the wound wasn’t that bad but the skull was crushed like an eggshell.

No European mount for this one.

That 40 grain load is quite effective.

Shovel said:

I dusted off this 220 Swift with E.F. Bright - Vineland NJ on the barrel that was built on a Springfield 1903 action (S/N 125000XX) with a 1903M3 sniper bolt. Bedded stock, light taper 26", 14:1 tube from 1.125 - 1.0". Bore looks new, leade is perfect. I ran 30 light loads of 50Gr Hornady's through it in 2001, but can't find the range data.

Anyone have some favorite pet loads? I took advantage of Bass Pro's sale and picked up a bunch of 35 & 40 Gr V-Max. Have plenty of 50 Gr V-Max. On hand powders are Win 760, BLC-(2), H-414, AA2700, H-380.

Heck, does anyone even shoot a Swift anymore?

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I should add:
Go easy on the 40gr bullets and extruded powders!
A former coworker burned the barrel out of a Savage 110 in a single morning on a well populated prairie dog town. 500rds in 2hrs burned the barrel for 2” past the throat! He was using 4X.x gr of Varget. The gun was only 6mos old, so Savage replaced the barrel, but stated no further barrel replacement.
If limited to 20-30rds per outing, and through cleaning with a copper removal solvent will go a long ways towards preserving the barrel.
Don’t let it get too hot!

GooseGestapo said:

I should add:
Go easy on the 40gr bullets and extruded powders!
A former coworker burned the barrel out of a Savage 110 in a single morning on a well populated prairie dog town. 500rds in 2hrs burned the barrel for 2” past the throat! He was using 4X.x gr of Varget. The gun was only 6mos old, so Savage replaced the barrel, but stated no further barrel replacement.
If limited to 20-30rds per outing, and through cleaning with a copper removal solvent will go a long ways towards preserving the barrel.
Don’t let it get too hot!

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My neighbor went on a few of those hunts. They each took 3 guns to allow the barrel to cool down. They started on the close shots and worked out to 300+ yrds. Each ended up shooting over 1500k rounds in 3 days.

Shovel said:

I dusted off this 220 Swift with E.F. Bright - Vineland NJ on the barrel that was built on a Springfield 1903 action (S/N 125000XX) with a 1903M3 sniper bolt. Bedded stock, light taper 26", 14:1 tube from 1.125 - 1.0". Bore looks new, leade is perfect. I ran 30 light loads of 50Gr Hornady's through it in 2001, but can't find the range data.

Anyone have some favorite pet loads? I took advantage of Bass Pro's sale and picked up a bunch of 35 & 40 Gr V-Max. Have plenty of 50 Gr V-Max. On hand powders are Win 760, BLC-(2), H-414, AA2700, H-380.

Heck, does anyone even shoot a Swift anymore?

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H-380 is very commonly used in .22-250 as it has been one of the go to powders for that cartridge for a long time. Given that the .220 Swift is an overbore .22 similar to the .22-250 I would definitely give it a try.

GooseGestapo said:

I should add:
Go easy on the 40gr bullets and extruded powders!
A former coworker burned the barrel out of a Savage 110 in a single morning on a well populated prairie dog town. 500rds in 2hrs burned the barrel for 2” past the throat! He was using 4X.x gr of Varget. The gun was only 6mos old, so Savage replaced the barrel, but stated no further barrel replacement.
If limited to 20-30rds per outing, and through cleaning with a copper removal solvent will go a long ways towards preserving the barrel.
Don’t let it get too hot!

Click to expand...

Ok so ima ask most extruded powders are single base, run lower velosity and are cooler flame fronts.... what's the theory here????

The extruded grain powders are more erosive, and bulkier than the spherical. The increased volume at greater velocities means greater erosion.
Think sandblasting the throat with every shot. And, as the barrel heats up, the effect becomes stronger.

I inherited two 220 swifts. One is a pre-64 model 70, and the other is a custom Rem 700 that has been bedded. The custom is a bit too heavy to coyote hunt for my taste, and I hate taking a cherry pre-64 to the field. I have stuck with my beat up M77 22-250.

Coder14 said:

and I hate taking a cherry pre-64 to the field

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I have a friend who has one in every caliber Winchester offered, from .22 Hornet to .375 H&H!

Savage30L said:

I have a friend who has one in every caliber Winchester offered, from .22 Hornet to .375 H&H!

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That would be awesome. I only had one model 70, a featherlight in 308 from the 1990's. But then when my father passed, even after I split the guns with my brother I got 6 more model 70's, 3 of them pre-64. The 220 swift, a 300 H&H, and a 30-06. Two of the model 70's were new in the box and had never been fired. A 7mm STW model 70 classic, and a 375 h&h Safari express.

Another vote for H-380 in the swift it's all I've use in mine for a couple decades. I am usually running 50 - 52 grain bullets in mine.