I am thinking of building either a 22-250 or a 220 Swift. I like shooting 80 grain bullets in my 223s.

Does either of these rounds perform better with the heavier bullets or am I barking up the wrong tree.

The real difference is marginal. The 220 swift does win in the end, but the 22-250 is definitely more popular. I have the 220 swift and have never regretted it. I haven't shot over a 64 gr bullet in mine. Your barrel twist will determine, but I don't think the standard twist rates are going to work for that heavy a bullet. Of course if you are building from scratch.... The biggest problem that I have is it being so populated around our area that you can hardly shoot the darn thing except at the range. FWIW

The 220 Swift has a rimmed case, if that makes any difference.

The rim protrudes about .013. Is there any history of feeding problems in bolts guns?

22-250. The rimmed cartridge doesn't really matter but you're more apt to find ammo for the 22-250 if needed everywhere. Brass for the 22-250 is much more common. A couple of hundred fps and the idea of having "something different" is the real appeal of the swift.

I've owned both .....twoswifts and five 22-250....IMO the 22-250 is the one to own.....

As to heavy bullets..... Either of these cartridges will shoot prairie dogs in the wind much better with the heavy bullets....how heavy is up for grabs but I've be looking for something about 70 grains.

I have a buddy who did a 22/284 for shooting 80gr+ bullets. He said if he could do it over again he would just have a 22-250 built with a long throat and a fast twist. That would be the way id go!

quote:

Originally posted by Mike70560:
I am thinking of building either a 22-250 or a 220 Swift. I like shooting 80 grain bullets in my 223s.

Does either of these rounds perform better with the heavier bullets or am I barking up the wrong tree.

The Savage M12 Long Range Precision Varmint in a .22-250 fast twist could be worth looking at. Between the Swift and the Varminter (.22-250 old name)I prefer the Varminter. In fact what might be the best answer is a .22-250 Ackley Improved.

FWIW, I've been working with the .223 wssm fast twist and heavy bullets and like it very well.

Very litle differnce in performance between the two and the 22-250 works a lot better through a short action.

the difference in brass cost alone would make me use the 22-250 case.

quote:

Originally posted by 30378:
Very litle differnce in performance between the two and the 22-250 works a lot better through a short action.

About the same difference between a .30-06 and a .300 Mag. I guess it's up to the shooter to decide if that's significant.

I've shot and loaded for my Swift for around 20 years. At the same time a buddy bought and loaded for a .22-250. Both 26" guns. The .22-250 ran 50 grainers in the 3850 fps ballpark. The Swift would run 50 gr. Ballistic Tips at 4080 fps. Pretty fair difference, IMHO. At any rate.....my buddy wished he had bought a Swift, too.

Mine's a 77V tang safety. Never had any issues whatsoever feeding from the magazine.

I think the guys have it pretty well analysed. For the advantage of the swift in terms of speed, you will pay more for factory ammo and for brass. Once fired 220 is out there but not at all common to the degree that 22-250 is. The 220 Swift is no longer the fastest thing out there as it once was but it still is pretty zippy.

Personally I shoot the Varminter and like it very well.

quote:

Originally posted by Lamar:
the difference in brass cost alone would make me use the 22-250 case.

That sounded a bit off to me so I checked a couple of sources. The price varies from 0-$.04/case. Not a deal breaker for me at least.

quote:

Originally posted by 30378:
Very litle differnce in performance between the two and the 22-250 works a lot better through a short action .

The 220 swift's COL is .2" shorter than a .308 win so how can that be?

My dad is a 22-250 fan and I love the 220 swift. One day he did a spreadsheet comparison of the two and the swift is indeed less efficient than the 22-250, however, the 223 and 22 hornet both made the hotrods look like the gov't's stimulus package in terms of efficiency and bang for the buck. I think that ultimately the twist rate will have more influence on your bullet weight selection than caliber choice. FWIW

Good luck.

quote:

My dad is a 22-250 fan and I love the 220 swift. One day he did a spreadsheet comparison of the two and the swift is indeed less efficient than the 22-250, however, the 223 and 22 hornet both made the hotrods look like the gov't's stimulus package in terms of efficiency and bang for the buck.

LOL, you don’t shoot the 22-250 or the Swift with the idea of saving money. That would be like driving a corvette for its fuel economy.

quote:

Originally posted by MickinColo:
LOL, you don’t shot the 22-250 or the Swift with the idea of saving money. That would be like driving a corvette for its fuel economy.

Precisely!!

I have never bought any gun on the premise of fps per volume of powder burned. Silly, IMHO. I have a job needing done....I buy the best tool for the job. I needed 50 gr. bullets going real, real fast. I bought a Swift.

BTW, Mick..........did you see the new 'Vette?? 190 mph and 26 mpg highway.

26 mpg? That’s impressive. The ZR 1s I’ve driven (driven not owned) do not dare pass a gas station.

quote:

Originally posted by Mike70560:
I am thinking of building either a 22-250 or a 220 Swift. I like shooting 80 grain bullets in my 223s.

Does either of these rounds perform better with the heavier bullets or am I barking up the wrong tree.

I like your thinking! If I were to customize either, I'd use a 1:7.7 & the 77 grain Sierra.
The only drawback to the Swift is that some bolt faces and extractors might need a little modification, otherwise it's pure poison for varmints.

I have both in their standard forms, and both are equal in the field. Any misses can be blamed on me, or my misreading the wind, and both bark with authority when the bang switch is pulled. Both will make bunnies do a full reverse gainer w/layout when bullets are placed in the sit bones!

FWIW, I like 55 grain ballistic tip bullets, but 52 grain H.P.'s will shoot into one ragged hole from both rifles. The Swift is a vintage M77 Ruger wearing a heavy barrel & 10X Unertl, and the 22-250 is Remington's heavy offering with a 4.5X14 Leupold.

22-250AI with a 1-7 would be a smoking hot rig.

By the time your build is done Lapua will probably be out with their 22-250 brass. So get yourself 200rnds load up the first 100 and go have fun. You'll be amazed that your fireforming loads will shoot nearly if not as well as your AI loads and you will spend little to no time ever trimming a case again.

Mmmmmmm a fast twist 22-250AI with Lapua brass it doesn't get much better than that.

22-250

I love my old .22-250 but if I wanted to shoot bullets that heavy I'd opt for the case with the larger boiler room. There's no way to substitute for cubic inches when you seek heavy-duty power.

I shoot the Swift, but my buddy has a 22/250, and with 50 grain bullets and 4895 powder he gets more than 4,000 fps, and very tight groups.

Any argument, as to velocity, action length, rim etc, is not important at all. Pick the one you want, and I guarantee you'll be happy.

Jerry