The 220 swift was introduced to the public by Winchester in the summer of 1935 and was the end result of Winchester trying to build a super speed 22 caliber centerfire.
Its 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 varmint hunting and has been used for deer quite successfully over the years, where allowed.
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.
Any decent rifle will need a good scope. Check out this one from Bushnell.
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 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 Ballistics Chart:
The following ballistics table assumes a 55 grain bullet being fired out of a 24″ barrel. Ballistics coefficient is .255.
| Range | Muzzle | 100 yds. | 200 yds. | 300 yds. | 400 yds. | |
| Drop | –1.5 | +0.9 | 0 | – 5.2 | – 15.9 | Inch |
| Energy | 1654 | 1292 | 1003 | 770 | 582 | FT/LB |
| Velocity | 3680 | 3253 | 2867 | 2511 | 2183 | FPS |
220 Swift Hunting applications:
The 220 Swift is perfectly suited for hunting varmint sized game. It is also quite capable of taking up to medium sized deer under 200 yards with a very well-placed shot.
