I checked out the gun rack last week when I was in town. There was a like new 700 VSSF in the rack. It came with two half bags of brass (Rem & Win). The dam thing followed me home. It must have been meant to be. When I got it home the wife had gone shopping ,so I didn't even have to sneak it into the house. I was planning on trying 55 gr bullets. Anyone have any pet loads they would care to share? What powder (s) do you fing the most consistant? Thanks for any input.

Snowman

Sounds like a great rifle.

IMR 4064 is a classic old powder for the SWIFT.
Start around 35.0 gr - 38.0 grns with the 55 gr bullets.

Hal

I had one and sold it. They are excellent rifles.
Sold mine cause it was a bit much for most of the PD shooting that I do.
I have moved to 17s and 20s for the most part. Still love the swift for real long range and especially coyotes.

Thanks guys. I seen that IMR was popular in a lot of the older manuals.Looking through the newer Hornady and Nosler manuals I see that top velocities are being obtained with W760, IMR 4350 and IMR 4831.Just curious how consistant (small SD )and accurate these slow powders are compared to medium burning powder like 4064. Has anyone had sucess with some of the slower powders?

Snowman,
I've had great luck with w760 in a variety of cartridges. It would be high on my list. For staters, I would probably try W760, and 4895 (either), for starters.

Snowman,

I have the same rifle. I use both IMR4064 and W760 in mine with accuracy being the determining factor.
My best groups with the Hornady 40 gr. vmax are .126 and .206. using W760. The goups are only 3 shots but,since I only use this rifle for coyotes I don’t care for 5 or 10 shot groups.
I’ve had good success with 38 gr. of 4064 and the Nosler 55 baltip as well. I think the Swift will work well with a number of powders.


Good luck,
Nitro Nut

Have loaded Swifts for pre-64 70s and a 40X.

John Dewey's load was 37 gr 4064 with 55 (I used 53 gr Sierra flatbase). That is still a great load.

We found 4350 worked best with the 63 gr Sierra SMP that we ultimately settled on for really long range .243 wannabee stuff. Less wind drift, etc.

We used H-380 quite a bit. It gave the best groups of all at 100 yds. IIRC, 50 gr PLHPs were clocking 4100 fps. But we discovered the IMR ads were right - accuracy at distance was not as good maybe due to the higher ES we were seeing.

I think you will love the Swift. Ignore all that crap about "barrel-burning". It is no worse than a .22-250 unless you are not loading to sane pressures.

Sam

Be sure to let us in on how she shoots after your first range session snowman!! May have to get me one some day...hard to beat the good old 220 Swift

I like NN found my .220 Swift to the most accurate with the 40 Vm and 760, best group from memory was .110 I believe - 5 shots at 100 yds., should have the target somewhere. A 700 Rem (a 1993 vintage), in a wooden stock (was on of those plastic thingys), pillar bedded, barrel free floated, 6 oz. after market trigger. FWIW --- John303.

Put a 6-24X scope on the swift and went to the range this morning. Had a variety of test loads to shoot to 1/ get the rifle shooting on the paper and 2/ see if it prefered or disliked anything I had loaded. Started with some 55 gr Hornadys and IMR 4350 in Rem brass. 42 grs shot under one inch at 200yds for 3 shots. Not a max load but getting warm. Going to try some 50 gr and 53 gr bullets and a couple more powders.I think I'm going to like this thing!

As other people have pointed out, don't overlook IMR 4064 with a 55 grain bullet. That combination works well in a lot of Swifts and makes them a good 400+ yard Prairie Dog gun.

Mick I'm not overlooking 4064. I realize it has been the powder of choice especially with bullets lighter than 55 grs.4064 is the powder that I am comparing the accuracy of other powders to.The new Hornady and Nosler manuals reference some of the slower powders W760,H414,IMR 4350 & IMR4831 with 55 gr and heavier bullets. I was curious if there were some Swift users out there that had used some of the slower powders and I might gleen some of their experience without having to run a pile of test loads through my rifle.

Snowman, We never tried 760/H414 (same powder), and used 4350 b/c we wanted to go to the 63 gr Sierra. That was the heaviest projo the 40X would stabilize adequately at distance. And it sure did work, totally outclassing the 55s (and the 60s) at 300 yds and up in terms of accuracy, wind resistance, and terminal effects. The Sierra 63 gr SMP is a very underrated projo. Sam

Samuel Thanks for that. What twist do you have? I was concerned that the 1 in 16 twist I have may not stabalize bullets heavier than 60 grs. The 60 grs bullets were even a question.What I wanted was a 55 gr @ about 3800fps or better yet a 60 gr @ 3700. The higher BC of the heavier bullets make a difference between 3 & 400 yds.

Snowman, Are you certain about the 1:16? Remington has used 1:14 both for the 40X and the 700s in Swift, same twist as the .22-250.

We had no trouble stabilizing the 63 possibly b/c it is a SMP and not a full spitzer profile. It was extraordinarily accurate at distance - you would not see it stand out at 100 yds. We were getting 3700 fps from the 27.25" bbl. I would think you'd get 3600 from the 26" tube with 4350.

Sam

When I purchased my Swift a friend purchased a 22-250, we both found that the lighter the bullet and the faster we pushed it the better the accuracy got. Just to add a comment - I've shoot a lot of different calibers in my time one thing I can say is the sharp blast from a Swift at speed wakes up the neighbor-hood, you and your hunting partner(s) like no other. --- John303.

Samuel My mistake 1-14 twist. I played with the seating depth and tried some loads with IMR 4831 as well as the IMR4350. The 4831 didn't shoot that well 1 1/2 inch groups @ 200yds. However the 4350 is really working with the adjusted seating depth. I was only shooting 3 shot groups so I didn't get the barrel too hot. 42 grs of 4350 and 55 gr Hornadys are right at 1/2 inch @ 200 yds. With the bullets seated out a little that is Max in this rifle. I think I can make that work on coyotes this winter. Thanks for the input guys.