Any market for rifles in .220 Swift or .222 mag?

[Litetrigger]

"Any market for rifles in .220 Swift or .222 mag?"
First of all, if you are looking to sell either or both of these fine rifles there is little point in hoping to find someone wanting to buy a .220 Swift, and even less a buyer for the .222 Mag. So what you are actually presenting are two beautiful custom rifles that just happen to be in those calibers. An example of how the market works is a nice .35 Whelen I recently paid over $3K for even though I already had two more lovely custom Whelens and had absolutely no use for another. But the wood is gorgeous, with stock and metalwork by a rising custom gun artist of respectable reputation.
So, getting back to your M-70 Winchester .220 Swift: which it isn't, as no serious Winchester collector would look twice at it. What you have is a Custom rifle built on a M-70 action, which could have been some other caliber in its former life, with a barrel made and fitted by another party. This by no means a criticism, as your rifle could well be more desirable-and valuable-than an original Wichester Swift because it has a beautiful custom stock by an artist who obviously knew what he was doing. So the primary question asked by any collector of custom rifles is: Who made the stock? Which is not irrevelant because, as in fine art circles, the name of the artist can be, and often is, vastly more important to the value of the piece than it's size and subject. The same with custom guns, with work by legendary custom stockmakers sucn as Monty Kennedy, Dwane Wiebe, Dale Goens, Alvin Linden, Leonard Mews, RogerGreen, Gary Gouldy, Al Bieson, Jerry Fisher or John Hearn, having greater collector appeal and fetching higher prices than equally good work by lesser known artists. A good way to sell fine guns, especially custom rifles, is through a dealer or broker who specializes in the fine gun trade. Some of whom I've occasionally delt with, and who keep tabs on the market. For example if I were to have a hankering for a rifle with a Tom Shelhamer stock, there are brokers who might have a list of available Shelhamers and can broker the deal. Further, if you happen to have possesition of a fine piece but have no idea who did the work, an experenced broker who has seen many custom works might be able to pinpoint the unknown maker at first look because many custom gunsmiths have unique, recognizable features.
Oops, sorry, this piece has gotten too long so I'll sign off. .Have a great 4th.

 

[Trey Veston]

"Any market for rifles in .220 Swift or .222 mag?"
First of all, if you are looking to sell either or both of these fine rifles there is little point in hoping to find someone wanting to buy a .220 Swift, and even less a buyer for the .222 Mag. So what you are actually presenting are two beautiful custom rifles that just happen to be in those calibers. An example of how the market works is a nice .35 Whelen I recently paid over $3K for even though I already had three lovely custom Whelens and had absolutely no use for another. But the wood is gorgeous, with stock and metalwork by a top custom gun artist high reputation.
So, getting back to your M-70 Winchester .220 Swift: which it isn't, as no serious Winchester collector would look teice aqt it. What you have is a Custom rifle built on a M-70 action, which could have been some other caliber in its former life, with a barrel made and fitted by another party. This by no means a criticism, as your rifle could well be more desirable-and valuable-than an original Wichester Swift because it has a beautiful custom stock by an artist who obviously knew what he was doing. So the primary question asked by any collector of custom rifles is Who made the stock? Which is not an ineleverent because, as in fine art circles the name of the artist can be, an often is, vastly more important to the value of the piece than it's size and subject. The same with custom guns, with work by legendary custom stockmakers sucn as Monty Kennedy, Dwane Wiebe, Dale Goens, Alvin Linden, Leonard Mews, Gary Gouldy, Al Bieson, Jerry Fisher or John Hearn, having greater collector appeal and fetching higher prices than equally good work by lesser known artist. A good way to sell fine guns, especially custom rifles, is through a dealer or broker who specializes in the fine gun trade. Some of whom I've occasionally delt with, and keep tabs on the market. For example if I were to have a hankering for a rifle with aTom Shelhamer stock, there are brokers who might have a list of available Shelhamers and can broker the deal. Further, if you happen to have possesition of a fine piece but have no idea who did the work, an experenced broker who has seen many custom works might be able to pinpoint the unknown maker at first look.
Oops, sorry, this piece has gotten too long so I'll sign off. .Have a great 4th.

Great info! One of the biggest challenges in selling the rifles and shotguns that I don't want is figuring out who did the work on them. My dad used Al Biesen for many items, and two of the rifles have his name on the barrel...



He also used Jim Zahm, who also signed his work...



But who made a stock like this is a mystery to me. It could have been one of Biesen's. I know my father would buy stocks from him and use them on non-Biesen built rifles.

 

[Legionnaire]

@Litetrigger is exactly right. That's a fine custom rifle that happens to be in .220 Swift.

Not knowing full provenance will be an obstacle to a serious collector. You might pull the action from the stock to see if there are maker markings inside the stock. But if you're not interested in putting in some work to learn more, put it on Gunbroker with what little info you have supplemented by a lot of quality, detailed pictures. Someone is likely to be willing to take a chance on it.

 

[CoalCrackerAl]

Why did the 220 swift fade out? My neighbor has a Ruger 77? With a Unertl scope. It's very accurate.

 

[marksman13]

Don’t sell those rifles and if you do, buy something that will remind you of your father when you use it. I’m sorry for your loss and for all of our loss in the gun community, as your father was obviously a man of fine taste.

 

[Bwana John]

“IF” the barrel on that .220 Swift has not been shot out, “AND” the accuracy was proven, “AND” I had time to liquify enough capital, I would be very afraid of myself getting in a bidding war for that rifle.

 

[Legionnaire]

@Bwana John, that made me smile. I was thinking the same thing!

 

[horsemen61]

@Trey Veston personally I’d keep the rifles but that’s just me ymmv but remember this once they are gone more often than not they are gone for good! So unless I needed the money for food or basic needs I’d keep them!