The Sovereign of Speed, the 220 Swift
#LongLivethe220Swift
Factory Remington 700 VSF 100-yard three-quarter inch group with factory Hornady ammunition. You can read my review of this rifle by following this link.
To truly appreciate the .220 Swift, it is essential we journey back some 90 years to a time when the world was a vastly different place. A gentleman named Grosvenor Wotkyns first conceived the idea of necking down the .250-3000 Savage case to .22-inch in an attempt to have a bullet mimic the trajectory of a laser beam. With the .250-3000 already a record-breaking cartridge (the first to top 3000 fps), necking it down could create a true monster. Imagine an engrossed Mr. Wotkyns laboring away in some dimly lit laboratory with all forms of loading presses, manuals, dies, and state-of-the-art gauges (for 1934), working feverishly on his creation. I must believe the Swift coming to fruition bore some semblance to the Frankenstein monster drawing forth its first breath. The beast of all .22 cartridges, the sovereign of speed, was about to be set upon the world and many an unsuspecting varmint.
6mm Lee Navy.
Always chasing the bottom line, Winchester started cutting and necking down surplus 6mm Lee Navy cases and modifying them to a semi-rimmed case with a standard rim diameter. The scuttlebutt is Winchester had way a plenty of the 6mm Lee Navy brass on hand due to expiring U.S. Army contracts. That is not the end of the story of the .250-3000 conversion, though; more on that in a bit.
The Swift became available to the public in 1935 with the Winchester Model 54 bolt-action rifle, marking a significant step forward in the history of firearms and what centerfire cartridges could be coerced to do. Many authorities consider the Winchester Model 54 the most accurate rifle of its time. The .220 Swift would break the 4000 fps ceiling, the first commercial cartridge to do so. The initial factory loading was a 48 gr. bullet coerced along to a hot 4110 feet per second, give or take a warp factor.
When experienced hand loaders entered the fray, the factory velocities were surpassed while staying within safe pressures. The Swift unequivocally comes alive at the loading bench, adding to the cartridge’s mystique and efficiently recruiting hand loaders into its cult following.
When the legendary Winchester Model 70 came to fruition in 1936, the .220 Swift was a standard caliber and remained so until that original design was discontinued in 1964.
The .220 Swift still holds the world’s record for velocity in a commercially available cartridge with a 29 gr—bullet making 4665 fps. Look here, y’all, that is flat-out getting it done. However. there is no such thing as a free lunch, so with all that speed, you generate considerable heat and barrel wear. In short order, .220 Swift began to accrue negative monikers, such as a barrel burner. There was a modicum of truth in that, but on the flip side, a faction of gun writers tended to embellish their results and ideals to push their agenda. With proper bore cleaning and backing off 200-300 fps, barrel life is reasonably good, and you still have plenty of pepper for varmint hunting. However, the die was cast, so to speak, and the cartridge could not shake being branded a barrel burner.
Outdoor writer Robert Ruark tried to discount the Swift based on results from an African hunt. However, it was his ignorance of varmint bullets and the sturdiness of the warthog posterior, rather than Swift’s ability, that caused him to crusade against the cartridge.
Not all reviews of the Swift were negative. Several gun writers, such as Frank Glaser, Jack O’Connor, and P.O. Ackley, held the cartridge in high regard. P.O Ackley said, “It has been proven to be extremely deadly on deer in spite of what some authorities want to think and would like their readers to think.” He goes even further, calling out some gun writers, but I will encourage you to discover Ackley’s wisdom in his exemplary books, Handbook for Shooters and Reloaders Vol 1 and 2. I would jump right to page 283 in volume 1. Glaser, for example, was reported to have stopped a charging grizzle with his .220 Swift. That was one of the many feats Frank performed with his favorite cartridge.
P.O. himself tried to improve on the Swift, with the.220 Ackley Improved; though the results were minimal compared to most cartridges, he tuned for more speed with less than 100 fps gained. Speed freak Roy Weatherby also tried his hand with an improvement hailed as the .220 Rocket. His results were similar to the Ackley’s, and the .220 Rocket died on the vine. In fact, to form the new cases for the Ackley Improved and the Rocket, a .220 Swift cartridge is fired from the Ackley Improved or the Rocket chamber, fire forming the Swift brass into the “new” cartridge. Many of the more seasoned riflemen knew any increased velocity of the .220 Swift would be minimal at the cost of far more powder burned and shorter barrel life.
From left to right, .223 Remington, .22-250 Remington, and .220 Swift.
Bear with me as we delve into the .22-250, Grosvenor Wotkyns also developed the .22 WOS or .22-250 with JE Gebby and J Bushnell from the .250-3000 Savage case necked .22 with a twenty-eight-degree shoulder. The .22-250 was also known as the .220 Wotkyns Original Swift and .22 Varminter. The latter is a copyrighted name by J.E. Gebby. Now you know where the 250 comes from in the .22-250. In 1963, the .22-250 transitioned from a 1937 wildcat cartridge to the commercial .22-250 Remington load due to a perception that it was a bit easier on the barrel. The eclipse of the .220 Swift seemed inevitable, and now, with the .22-250 hitting the scene, it was hastened in 1957. The .223 Remington was introduced in 1962 based on the .222 Remington. The .223 is still considered a varmint cartridge but underperformed the .22-250 in velocity; however, accuracy was on par.
Dialing in the Remington 700 after a few changes, such as MDT chassis and Timney Trigger. Three-and-a-half five-shot group at 500 yards with Hornady V-Max ammunition.
Despite shortcomings, real or perceived, the Swift still held some advantages over the .22-250, such as velocity and inherent accuracy. Due to the design of the long and slender .220 Swift’s case, there is a great deal of surface area of the propellant exposed to the ignition. This design promotes uniformed ignition and deflagration, which is conducive to a more complete and consistent burn and, in turn, a more consistent velocity and a more inherent accuracy. The 28-degree shoulder on the 22-250 retains the powder longer in the case, allowing a more complete burn within the case, which is a bit easier on the barrel but perhaps not quite as uniform. In truth, when similarly loaded, the barrel life between the .220 Swift and the .22-250 Remington is comparable.
As metallurgy and propellant technology have advanced in recent years, barrel erosion problems are easily mitigated. Several other factors can curtail barrel erosion, such as keeping an eye on barrel temperature and avoiding long strings of fire. Clean the barrel every twenty rounds or so after a break-in and keep the velocities under a few hundred feet per second from full tilt when applicable. Why bother with the Swift if running at reduced velocities? When out punching paper, you can still take advantage of the inherent accuracy of the more consistent deflagration of propellant due to case design, even with a reduced load, all while saving propellant and barrel wear. When you need to step on the gas, per se, the Swift has that ability in measure. Having the ability to best the SR-71 Blackbird in a drag race is sometimes enough to justify case capacity.
My Swift is built from the Remington VSF action and barrel, with some fine-tuning to the action. The chassis is from MDT, and the trigger is Timney. The glass is Leupold. It is easily a half-MOA rifle.
The first photo shows my two-and-a-half-inch group shot from my Remington 700 at 500 yards with factory Remington ammunition.
During my two-decade love affair with the .220 Swift, I’ve had the opportunity to shoot with and talk to some old-time Swift shooters and a gentleman who shot for real bench rest matches with the Swift. I learned a lot from those men who were there and made it happen with wooden stocks, Accura Glass bedding, and Unertl optics.
After a brief courtship, Candy developed an affinity for the Swift in the factory Remington VSF offering.
Having explored the romance of the .220 Swift, that cartridge always commands attention at the firing line, stirring the memories in older shooters while engaging the curiosity of the newer generation. The new shooters always want to know about it and are shocked by its performance and the fact that the cartridge is nearly a century old.
Several manufacturers, such as Hornady, Winchester, and Remington, still produce quality factory Swift ammunition.
For the reloader, there are plenty of premium components to tailor your rounds for your rifle.
6mm Creedmore as compared to the .220 Swift
That leads me to a final point. While manufacturers constantly churn out new cartridges, it must be said that whatever new hotness you are falling in love with, there is a comparable cartridge courted by your granddad and dad decades ago. I am not attempting to take away from whatever new cartridge is in vogue plastered on the cover of the gun rags. Still, as enthusiasts, we should not ignore history and the strides made by wildcatters many, many moons ago. Realizing what these men of vision were able to accomplish without all t.220 Swifthe technology available today only makes you appreciate such cartridges as the 220 Swift – still the undisputed king of speed and a monster in its own right.
As I finish writing this, I again extend this bourbon glass to Grosvenor Wotkyns and PO Ackley and question why more manufacturers are not producing a Swift rifle.
