220 Swift Reloader Favorites?

[billj888]

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?

In 9 years of reloading I settled on 55 gr VMAX over 36.5 gr of 4064. I sold my Swift impulsively at a gun show in 2018 and am still sitting on 95 rounds of this load. Wish I could get them to a Swift owner or find another gun myself.

 

[lightman]

A friend comes over when He needs to load for his Swift and I steered him onto 4064. If you want a ball powder I would expect H380 to work well.

 

[Litetrigger]

When reloading for the .220 Swift the magic number is 39, meaning that 39 grains of several different powders with get you close to the Swift's maximum performance. For example , the 1957 edition of Lyman's Reloading Handbook lists 39 grains of HiVel, 4895,3031,4064 and 4320 for velocities in the 4000FPS neighborhood. Later day powders such as ReLoader15 follow the rule of 39. The Swift tops my three all-time favorite calibers amd I've been reloading for it since before, well, before 4895 was 4895. I was a green teenager, stuck on a farm back then when powder, bullets and other reloading stuff was not available, even forbidden, in our town's hunting gear shops. But an adult in town, who who offered to teach me something about reloading, also sold basic reloading supplies: powder, primers, bullets and also my first reloading press and dies. His small inventory included surplus powder known as "3031 data" meaning use same charge weights listed for 3031. He measured it out in paper bags for 50 cents per pound. Reloading guides of the day listed 39 grains of 3031 for 50 grain bullets, so of course that's what I weighed out for loads with 50 grain teepee shaped Hornady bullets, for a newly acquired .220 Swift. I loaded pound after pounds of that long ago "3031 Data" powder until it became the more respectably named 4895, which Bruce Hodgdon was selling by the tons. Over the following decades I've forgotten how many Swifts I've had, and lost count of the barrels sacrificed in prairie dog patches. Like most Swifties, I've mainly loaded IMR 4064, 39 grains of course, but have also loaded samplings of other powders that work as well in this quartet of Swifts, from top: Dakota arms with left side bolt I prefer for prairie dog shoots, (2)Shilen DGA, (3)Pre-64 M-70 with Al Bieson stock and RugerNo.1.

 

[Rimfire McNutjob]

Beautiful set of rifles. Love the checkering style on #3.