22-250 or 220 Swift?

[rbernie]

Another thread about heavy bullets in 22-250 got me to thinkin'.....

If you were going to build a 22cal centerfire rifle on a commercial (say, a Savage) short action using a 1:10" or 1:9" twist rate barrel for shooting 75gr+ bullet weights - would you choose the 220 Swift or 22-250 as the chambering to do so? Or would you choose something like a 220250 AI?

 

[rangerruck]

if you ae gonna reach way out there, and burn your bbls up real fast, might as well not just "fool around in the back seat" . Get the 220 swift, the king of all the 4000fps rounds, hand load 'er up, and let em fly.

 

[Terrierman]

If I was looking to shoot high SD high BC 75 grain plus bullets I would not be looking at anything in .22 caliber. I'd be thinking about one of the hot 6MM offerings.

 

[taliv]

last month i bought a 220 swift to do exactly this. it came with a factory 14 twist, but i'm going to replace it with a very fast twist... maybe even 1:7 to push large bullets. i talked to sierra's hotline about this and they told me what to expect in fps out of the swift for 80 grainers... i was impressed.

i wasn't going to post anything about it until i tried it though in case it was an embarassingly stupid idea, but since you asked...

more than this, i'm planning to use a gain twist.

oh, and someone above mentioned burning out barrels. i've spoken to several swift shooters lately in the course of my shopping for a swift and they claim the reputation for barrel burning is from inferior steels from the last century, and is really not a problem now at all. fwiw

 

[jlmurphy]

When you order your barrel, research the twist rate carefully, the .220 Swift will really push those long bullets at a decent clip. I'm not an expert, but I thought the faster rate for .223 barrels was for slower cartridges. A slower twist combined with higher velocity might give the same RPM. The bullet tables always specify a velocity for twist rate stabilization. The barrel tech support people would be the people to ask. At any rate, good luck, I love my .22-250.

 

[rbernie]

If I was looking to shoot high SD high BC 75 grain plus bullets I would not be looking at anything in .22 caliber.

It's funny - everybody thinks that a 75gr .224 bullet is heavy-for-caliber. In reality, it's just about average for most hunting chamberings and is comparable in sectional density to a 150gr in 308. Heavy for caliber in 224 would be a 85gr or above. We're just too used to shooting tiny little varmintin' pills out of the .224 caliber chamberings...

i talked to sierra's hotline about this and they told me what to expect in fps out of the swift for 80 grainers... i was impressed.

3400fps from a 77gr Nosler 77gr gives plus or minus three inch trajectory out past 350 yards. That is SMOKIN'.

i wasn't going to post anything about it until i tried it though in case it was an embarassingly stupid idea, but since you asked...

I'm used to being embarassingly stupid.

The real question to me is whether using a Swift or 22-250 for such an endeavor would be better. The Swift gets the nod in terms of powder capacity, but the 22-250 seems to have better brass availability and the 22-250 AI gets prety close to the 220 Swift....

When you order your barrel, research the twist rate carefully, the .220 Swift will really push those long bullets at a decent clip.

Velocity is important - no doubt. A bullet that might require a 1:7" twist in 223 might only need a 1:9" or 1:10" twist in a 220 Swift. I think that a 1:9" twist would be a good place to start.

 

[rangerruck]

the problem with bore burning is really the throat area, if too much of the burn plug makes it all the way into this area, just around/past the neck, it sits there and burns like a hot coal. i'm slowing this way down, to conceptualize, but this is what happens. This is why you wanna wait at least 1 minute between firng the smoker rounds.

 

[taliv]

rbernie, i'm hoping to get basically 1000fps more out of the swift (for 80 and 90g sierra mk) than my AR service rifles.

i noticed the brass issue too, specifically, that i coudl get lapua in 22-250 but norma and winchester are really my only swift options. on the positive side, i've heard nothing but goodness about the winchester 220 swift brass. and it is very cheap, so i'm not really all that concerned.

another difference is the swift is semi-rimmed. i started recent threads about all these issues.

 

[berettashotgun]

I love the 22-250, but it is what it is- designed to shoot small bullets-FAST. Same for the 220. A normal old 270 loaded with 100gr. bullets is pretty cool- in the charts. Same for a 7 mag with 120 gr or a 7mm STW with 120 bullets. I'd be happy to hear that you have the success you are looking for with the 80 + gr bullets in the swift, but they just might blow up from rotational speed. I had that happen with a magnumn loading in a 22-250 Ruger #1. Thing shot bullet fragments after an intentional overdose of powder. A 22-08 will get you there, on the cheap, but the dies run a little on the high side. everything can be accomplished- for a price. Staying within your offerings- I'd go with the swift, powder capacity is a wonderful extra in the pursuit of speed.

 

[BrainOnSigs]

1) What is it's intended use?
2) At what ranges?

 

[rbernie]

rbernie, i'm hoping to get basically 1000fps more out of the swift (for 80 and 90g sierra mk) than my AR service rifles.

Dude - that isn't going to happen without some serious overloads. I can get 2700fps out of my 20" ARs using a Hornady 75gr OTM; there's no way in earth to get 3700fps for that bullet out of either of these two chambering choices. I'd consider myself lucky to get 3400fps from the 220 and 3300 from the 22-250, and that from a 24" tube.

Were I a betting man, I'd expect 2600fps for a 80grVLD from a 20" 223 tube and 3300fops at best from a 26" 220 Swift tube set up with an appropriate twist for the bullet.

another difference is the swift is semi-rimmed. i started recent threads about all these issues.

I've been wondering abotu feed issues with the Swift. Guess I better go back and search for your old threads.

1) What is it's intended use?
2) At what ranges?

Just playin' around, basically. Toying hwith the idea of building a long range low recoil rifle that uses components I already have and doesn't require a huge investment to try. Swapping out a Savage bolt action barrel isn't a big deal, so the cost of all of this is the cost of having a barrel made.

 

[OK-gobbler]

As mentioned before, you might consider something in 6mm. Such as a 6mm/06 or weatherby mag. I have a 1:9 twist 6mm/06 that shoots everything from 65 gr to 105 gr very good. Haven't shot it over a chrono yet, but I figure I am getting getting 3400'ish out of the 100's and 3700 + out of the 65 gr v-max. These are using middle of the road loads of IMR 4831. 3800 is very possible with a 70 to 80gr.