The .220 Swift — History of a Great Varmint Cartridge
A History of the .220 Swift Cartridge
by Sierra Bullets Ballistic Technician Paul Box
This cartridge was introduced by Winchester in 1935 in their model 54 rifle. A year later, it was added as a standard cartridge in the model 70. What might not be common knowledge to some reloaders is that the prototype for the Swift was developed in 1934-35 by Grosvenor Wotkyns by necking down the 250 Savage case, but in the end, Winchester chose the 6mm Lee Navy case for the foundation for this cartridge.
This cartridge was far ahead of its time and for that reason it received a lot of bad press. We’ve all read the horror stories through the years. Many of those stories were just simply repeated from previous articles even the wording was just slightly different. So how bad was the Swift? Let’s take a deeper look.
Some of the early Swifts had soft barrel steel and some of the rare ones even had barrels that were .223 in bore size. This stemmed from the fact that the .22 Hornets prior to the end of World War II were .223 in bore size and some of these barrels were chambered in the Swift. It was rumored that the Swift peaked in pressure far too quick. I’ll bet they did with a turkey extra full choke barrel.
Burn rates of powders were limited at that time as well, so the Swift was limited in its true ability due to that. It was almost like building a funny car for drag racing when only kerosene was available.
One of the longest lasting black eyes was that it shot barrels out so fast. If you get the barrel branding iron hot and fail to clean it often this can happen. Common sense will go a long ways here. Keep the barrel as cool as you can and properly clean it every fifteen rounds or less will go a long way to improving accuracy life of a Swift.
So what is the real truth about this cartridge? I’m glad you ask. I’ve been shooting the .220 Swift for over 43 years now. It is one of the best varmint cartridges I’ve ever owned. It is not hard to load for, it doesn’t suddenly peak in pressure and it isn’t the barrel burner that you’ve heard. Hodgdon powders once reported a Remington 40-X with over 3,000 rounds of full power loads averaged .344” for five, 5-shot groups. My findings have been the same. It isn’t as hard on barrels as it has been made out to be.
I’ve also read that down loading it slightly will help in barrel life. This is true, but if you buy a thoroughbred you want him to run. Barrels are threaded on the end for a reason. If you have enough fun to shoot out a Swift barrel, just rebarrel it.
The bottom line is enjoy the .220 Swift for what it was meant to be. The popularity of the Swift has slipped in the last twenty years and few factory rifles are now available in this caliber. There is no reason for this and I know the Swift will always have a strong and loyal following.
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Tags: .220 Swift, Cartridge Guide, Paul Box, Sierra Bullets, Varmint, Varmint Cartridge
I have owned a Swift and agree that it is a great cartridge, but I did not load mine to the max because it did everything that I asked of it loaded to a more moderate pressure and velocity. It was accurate and fun to shoot, with great terminal ballistics on California ground squirrels.
Very much cartridge before its time. Misunderstood, misreported and definitely mishandled by most owners.
Using 50 to 52 grain bullets that can handle the velocities and revolutions is key in the hunting space.
And being prepared to look after your barrel in the target space with faster twists and heavier bullets will reward you.
Ken Waters in his ‘Pet Loads’ series reckoned one cause of the bad reputation for sudden appearance of over-high pressures allied to loss of accuracy was shooters’ failure to measure case length and trim them back in the 30s-50s. The Swift case grows pretty fast and so will see the case-mouth jammed into the throat in not too many loadings and firings.
I love my 220 Swift. When SAAMI went to PSI standards from CUP I feel that the 220 Swift was really watered down. Powder and bullet manufacturer’s reloading data hasn’t been really updated with all the new and even some of the older powders (H4350, N540, RL16, IMR4451, etc.), especially with all the new wonder 6.5’s being introduced. It is a great and grand old cartridge and I think is greatly ignored being and cast aside by manufacturers and the media.
I have owned two swift’s and I loved them both very very accurate, easy to reload for and extremely flat shooting with any bullets you want to use. It is a great cartridge.
A fantastic round. Watch out for the tendency of necks to thicken with high pressure loads. So don’t hesitate to slightly turn your necks every other reloading session if you load full throttle. It makes the overrated Valkyrie gasp for air when you chamber it in a 7.5″ twist barrel of no less than 28″ with 80 grainers. Thor’s hammer up to 1,200 yds with no recoil.
Great article, and true to the word! I got my first Swift 42 years ago, Ruger M77V, used, from a gunshop owners son. Didn’t know how many rounds shot through it but estimated 500-700. Said it was well taken care of. What a gun and cartridge!! With 52gr McCracken Match bullets(a name familiar to western Canadian BR shooters in the 70’s)and IMR 3031 it shot <.25" groups at 100 yrds. Sold it to my brother in law for an engine job, just got it back after 30 yrs and gave it to my oldest son. Groups .35" to .45" now. I have my own Rem. VSSF in 220AI. Love the Swift!