.22-250 vs .220 Swift

Call me crazy but I just like the old cartridges. I have a 22 Hornet, 222 Rem, 220 Swift and 6MM Rem and all are shooters. I also have a 250,223 and 204 so I like the new ones too.

But shooting the old ones can really bring a smile to your face. And they still can get the job done.
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Originally Posted By: Jack RobertsI think of the Swift like the Hornet. It is a nostalgia thing. Go for it if you want it, but there are better choices available today.

Jack

Heresy!!
 
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Originally Posted By: TimberToesOriginally Posted By: Jack RobertsI think of the Swift like the Hornet. It is a nostalgia thing. Go for it if you want it, but there are better choices available today.

Jack

Heresy!!

I agree 100%! There really are no better choices today, but simply more choices. Due to better (read longer lasting) barrels, lots more powders and bullets, and better glass to help you get those bullets to your targets the .220 Swift is better than ever. Of all of the centerfire rifles that I have ever owned I don't believe that any of them will as accurately shoot such a varity of loads as my Swift will. It seems as though one might have to try to find a load that won't work. I was even discussing this with a fellow Swift owner today at the shooting range. Someone that I had never met before. We both agreed that one thing that made the Swift so dear to our hearts was that it is such an inherently accurate cartidge. How can you not fall in love with a round that will still make you whistle when you connect on a target the size of an egg at over 400 yards?

Thankfully I have enough .220 Swift ammo and brass to last me the rest of my life. And that's a good thing, because my life would certainly be alot more empty without at least one .220 Swift in it.
 
Originally Posted By: CatShooter
So, you buy a rifle in 22-250 and pull the barrel and set it back and punch it to 22-250 AI - around here, that's ~$200 - if you are going to spend that kind of money, it makes no sense to replace the old factory, and so you add a new barrel - then the extra price of dies for a wildcat... and the reduced value cuz once you make it an AI it looses value.

You are lookin' at spendin' a goodly chunk of money - just to equal a .220 Swift that you can buy right off the shelf.

You're kidding us, right???

Thank you! I've said that for years and yet people just keep converting to an AI. Me, if I were unhappy with the performance of a cartridge I'd get another barrel in something bigger.
 
Originally Posted By: CatShooterOriginally Posted By: HoierI would go with a 250 and punch it out to a Ackley. Then you get about the same performance. Also if something happens you can go get some factory ammo which with the Swift might be tough. I like the Swift to but would go with the 250 Ackley.

So, you buy a rifle in 22-250 and pull the barrel and set it back and punch it to 22-250 AI - around here, that's ~$200 - if you are going to spend that kind of money, it makes no sense to replace the old factory, and so you add a new barrel - then the extra price of dies for a wildcat... and the reduced value cuz once you make it an AI it looses value.

You are lookin' at spendin' a goodly chunk of money - just to equal a .220 Swift that you can buy right off the shelf.

You're kidding us, right???

Man I couldnt agree with this more. I dont own a swift but I do own a 223wssm which is faster than the swift, and I do have a 22-250. I like them both but the 22-250 is just so dang handy its flat shooting brass and factory ammo are everywhere.
 
EJ, don't mention the .223Wizzer in a Swift thread
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It gets the Swift fans all emotional when you remind them that there is a factory available cartridge that beats it, handily...
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Yes, the Wizzer is waaay overbore.
Yes, it might be tricky to load for.
Yes, many (but not all) of the factory rifles chambered in it, SUCK.
Yes, it might be a throat torchin' SOB
Yes, it has failed to retain a consumer following for most, or all of the aforementioned...

But one can't ignore the fact that ~5 more grains of case capacity in the Wizzer = more raw horsepower to harness. Heck, I think Swift fans might speak ill of the .223 Wizzer simply because it has knocked their beloved cartridge down a notch on the .224 caliber food chain.

But it is what it is, THE fastest commercially available cartridge ever produced in .224 is no longer the .220 Swift. That fact will never change, no matter what. The Swift will always be #2 to the .223WSSM in speed. Always and forever more. No matter what becomes of the Wizzer commercially in the future, it will remain the King of that hill.

Come to think of it, I don't know of many rifle manufacturers who offer their new product line in .220Swift. So for all intensive purposes, it may very well become as "commercially dead" as the WSSMs are claimed to be by their naysayers...

And before the Swift fans get all knotted up, I can understand shooters having an emotional attachment to a particular rifle or cartridge. I've got my favorites, too
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So use what ya like & like what ya use!!!

(notice I never said anything bad about the Swift)





 
You wssm guy's need to buy a chrono and quit relying on what some add agency try's to sell you.
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wssm been there... worst DOG I ever owned. Some people need to visit the Remington VS SFII site.
 
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Originally Posted By: ninehorsesYou wssm guy's need to buy a chrono and quit relying on what some add agency try's to sell you.
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LOL, right.
If you could explain how a cartridge with less powder capacity can push the same bullet faster than a cartridge with 10% MORE capacity, then I'd be all ears
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As if the Swift could somehow beat the speed of a Middlested, or TTH in the same fashion, c'mon
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wssm been there... worst DOG I ever owned. Some people need to visit the Remington VS SFII site.

So is that the fault of the cartridge, or the rifle itself?

If you feel that is a shortcoming of the cartridge itself, then are you implying that the .223 Wizzer has some type of inherent design flaw so as to inhibit it from being accurate? And what would that be???

It's OK Swift fans, I understand. I really do.

Denial is like Step Two of the healing process...
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If the Swift were based on a more modern shorter case with a rebated rim, less body taper and therefore could cycle from an AR-15, I'd prolly be spoutin' off about it too!!!


Just pokin' some fun at the Swiftaholics, don't get too upset...
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I think the 223 Wizzie suffered from bad design and "Faditis" and was doomed from the start.

None of the Super Phat cartridges have taken hold - it was a fad during a time when the gun makers needed something... ANYTHING... to get them out of the sales doldrums, and the current wet dream was "If phat is good, more phat is more better."

And the appeal of the cartridge was to the "common man" who did not understand the limitations of these large case cartridges - they treated them like 223's and burned them up faster than anyone ever thought was possible... and then returned them to the factories because they were unhappy with the poor performance... and the factories didn't want these pigs back.

Last time I looked, no one was chambering the 223 Super Phat Wizzie, and the others from 243 and up, had awful sales.

There were also technical reasons - the cases were awful for a hand loader... overly thick necks and they were short lived. The the working flame duration and temperature of the case meant that the barrels had to be chrome plated so they could have a little bit of life... but the chrome kept flaking off inside of the barrel, and that scored the bullet jackets and accuracy went down the crapper.

With the Middlested, TTH, these were custom riffles, and the builders knew what they were getting into - and loaded heavy bullets as appropriate, and used them with discretion.

The 223 Wizzie had light bullets and not very fast either - a 55 grain bullet at 3850fps (advertized) (and delivered a bit less) is not something to brag about - my Swift runs 55gr bullets at 4100fps true speed, no pressure signs.

The 223 Wizzie should have been better, but it just didn't make it because of a string of bad decisions.
 
Been thinking about a 223 wssm a long time I guess I am going to step of the cliff soon and get me one.
I think I would prefer a bolt this time over a AR just for a change.
 
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