220 Swift History and General Information. The 220 swift was introduced to the public by winchester in the summer of 1935. The 220 Swift is the end result of Winchester research of trying to build a super speed 22 centerfire, the 220 swifts cartridge case was the adaptation of two well known cartridge cases, in winchester's own words "we used a special Lee case with a 30/06 head on it".
The first Winchester rifles that were chambered for the 220 Swift and released in August of 1935 had a rifling twist rate of 1 turn in 16 inches, this was later changed to 1 turn in 14 inches.
The 220 Swift has a well known long standing reputation as being extremely accurate for varminting and has been used for deer quite successfuly over the years, there are 31 states that allow the use of the 220 swift for deer hunting.
The 220 Swift sends most 50 grain bullets downrange at around 4,000 feet per second and 60 grain bullets around 3,600 feet per second because of these speeds and the heat they generate it is highly recommended to space out shots for longer barrel life.
The 220 Swift even with its high velocity will recoil very little and is a very accurate cartridge that almost anyone would enjoy shooting, it has a very loud sonic crack to it because of the hyper velocity of the bullet so hearing protection is well advised here as when shooting any rifle.
220 Swift Barrel Specifications.
Common Barrel Twist Rate - 1/14
Bore Groove Diameter - .224"
220 Swift Reloading Specifications.
Bullet Diameter - .224"
Maximum Case Length - 2.205"
Trimmed Case Length - 2.195"
Primer Size - Large Rifle
220 Swift Loading Data Hints.
The 220 Swift responds very well with i.m.r. 3031, 4064 and 4895 powders, case life is excellent when moderate loads are used but they will stretch in the neck when working at higher pressure levels.
220 Swift Reloading Data.
Hodgdon Reloading Data Center.
220 Swift Trajectory and Hunting Applications.
Reloading
Equipment
