.22-250 or .220 Swift

[North Star]

What is the practical long range capability for these cartridges? Please no USMC Sniper talk because I will NEVER be up to that standard. I want get into long range rifle shooting and want a cartridge that's not murder on my shoulder. Yeah, my shoulder is a wuss when it comes to hard kickers, but hey I'm only 19 and will get stronger.

So what kind of practical ranges am I looking at here with these two cartridges?

 

[SpotcheckBilly]

Re: .22-250 or .220 Swift

It mostly depends on the twist rate of the barrel and the bullet that you're using.

The typical varmint rigs in these two calibers are usually configured with a 1/14 or 1/12 twist for bullets in the 50gr. to 55gr. range. With the velocities these cartridges are capable of they can shoot these bullets flat as a lazer out to around (approximately) 400 to 500 yards (or possibly less), but because of the relatively low BC's these bullets start dropping like a stone after these ranges.

Now put a 1/7 or 1/8 twist barrel on a .220 Swift or a .22-250 and push a 77gr. or 80 gr. SMK, or even better something like a VLD Berger, and you might be talking a 1000yd. .22 centerfire. The caveat being - will any of these bullets hold up to a fast twist barrel at the velocities these cartridges are capable of pushing them to?

 

[fcordrey]

Re: .22-250 or .220 Swift

If you are going stock form then I'd say 500yd's easy . I have a .22-250 Kimber Longmaster VT with a 1-14 twist and shoot 55gr bullets to 500yd's alot. Have gone 600yd's a few times but not many and did notice my groups falling apart.

I believe the .220 swift is the same or a little better in performance than the .22- 250 so the range should be about the same or better .....maybe.

Just depends if you are going stock or custom like SpotcheckBilly said above.......

 

[North Star]

Re: .22-250 or .220 Swift

Yeah, stock. Sorry about not including barrel twist stats because I don't have a specific make and model in mind. I am just curious as to the general long range capabiliy of these cartridges. I know I want a long range rifle that can be a target and a varmint rifle. Just looking for advice here from folks who have far more long range shooting experience under their belts than me.

 

[wadebrown]

Re: .22-250 or .220 Swift

I built up a 22 x 47 Lapua about 2 years ago which has a capacity close to the 22-250 and it will push 80 g VLDs at 3,200 which will do an adequate job at long range. The barrel is an 1-8" twist 28-inch Brux. The hitch with factory tubes in 22-250 and the Swift will be their slow twist, they are designed as varmint rigs shooting 55 grain bullets. The right barrel and loading will allow you to get either of these to long range but there are probably better options for you.

The recoil on rifles built off the 308 Win cartridge are not bad, I shoot them all the time. I am recoil sensitive due to three major surgeries on mt right shoulder none of them due to recoil so most adults are probably ok. I have to admit I did put my 375 Ruger in a recoil reducing stock.

Just my two cents,

 

[cattle buyer]

Re: .22-250 or .220 Swift

I love and own both but the Swift is the king of varmint .22's (since 1935) , as Frank said above with good factory ammo , 400 and 500 yard guns , my '56 mod 70 varmint loves Hornady 55 and 60 gr ammo, Fed prem 52gr SMK's, my .22-250 is a Winchester custom shop Sporter Varmint and it shoots any ammo Ive ever run in it very well! Im Winchester to the bone, keep your eyes peeled for a early to mis 90's Sporter Varmint in .22-250, I had an early Ruger tang safety 77V from the late 70's in .220 swift ( Douglas made their barrels back then)that was a nail driver as well,the pre 64 mod 70 in swift are high $$ as only 900 were made.

very best

 

[North Star]

Re: .22-250 or .220 Swift

So 500 yards is what I'm to expect on average? Thanks, that's all I needed to know and an extra thanks to those who included their own experiences. I look forward to getting my rifle and showing what it can do. Thanks again.

 

[Ajaxxer]

Re: .22-250 or .220 Swift

If you're a reloader, the Swift will definitely outpace the 22-250 by a decent margin in the velocity war. However, what this means in real practical trajectory is debatable.

The Swift is definitely strong to 500m. I've not monkeyed with it any farther than that as I shoot strictly 50 and 52 gr. stuff. I imagine these will not fare too well much further.

 

[ertlonggun]

Re: .22-250 or .220 Swift

i have had a ruger 77 mk II VT in 220 swift for 10 plus years. it is a tack driver. my fav bullets are 40 v-max at about 4250 fps. it makes the parts fly on varmints. i have several friends with the 22-250 and i can hit further out, but it is a good round also.

 

[MOOSEKNUCKLE]

Re: .22-250 or .220 Swift

I have a Remington 40X in .220 swift but I havent been out to 500 yet. Closer ranges with hand loads are one hole.

 

[bignada]

Re: .22-250 or .220 Swift

.22-250 Ackley Improved with 1:8 twist barrel is the best of both worlds.

 

[shooter65]

Re: .22-250 or .220 Swift

6mmBR is the way to go.

 

[dave338]

Re: .22-250 or .220 Swift

just a note , i used to shoot the 22-250
but changed to .223 , regretted it then a friend put me on to using n120 now iam pushing 40g vmax at 3870 and 500-600 yard rabbits are possible so long as its not very windy, still blows up at that distance
so you should have no probs with 22swift or 22-250at those yards
happy shooting

 

[Wild_Bill]

Re: .22-250 or .220 Swift

hi if you are looking for longer range shooting it is hard to go past a 6mm if you buy a factory 243 remington rifle you can stabalise the 105gr A Max and they will shoot past 1000 yards no problem with a true 9 twist they will shoot any 105-107gr projectile. I also use a 6mmBR for my varmint shooting and it is a rechambered remington varmint barrel and it will shoot 90gr Berger vld,s to 1000 yards i would look at the 6mm,s but if you are set on a 22 get a 8 twist barrel fitted in 22-250AI it will give you the velocity of the swift with no case streching the case streching is the only downside of the swift and if you have an 8 twist match barrel fitted the 90ge VLD's will also stabalise very well.

Hope it helps but for long range the extra BC of the 6mm projectiles realy makes the step uo worth it.

 

[Hummer]

Re: .22-250 or .220 Swift

One other consideration no one else has mentioned and that is feed reliability and reload ability for rapid fire in competition. If you can find a rifle suitable for a clip slot and magazine capability to take five rounds you could use this rifle for highpower competition. Best platform for this is the pre war Mod 70 as they came with clip slots.
Thusly 22-250 is the way to go as it will feed rapid fire and you can reload it in mag using stripper clips. Actually a 03A3 would work for such a project gun.
I had a Wilson Arrow which is an improved Swift and while a fine gun was useless for rapid fire competition.
With a good tube and good loads 600 yards will not be a problem and I wouldn't mind taking 80 gr. to 1000 with 22-250.
You might as well get enough rifle at the first build to do the job all the way.
If you could find a pre war Mod 70, all you will need is a barrel.This is like the pic of the fine specimen above. A No 5A 26" barrel contour, 8 to 8.5 twist rate in 22-250 and you can play with the big kids.

This barrel contour will allow for two set backs which is cutting threads off and cutting a new chamber.On second set back you will still have 24" barrel and assuming you clean it often should last you 7500 rounds.

If you order your own custom reamer to min dimensions you will also get long brass life and a reamer is good for at least 25 chambers. If you get a rougher reamer as well good for a hundred chambers on the finsh reamer.

The Pre war with clip slot can also be rebarreled to 240 NMC, 243, 7/08/260,308,30.06, 280, etc etc and no expensive rework.

 

[E.Shell]

Re: .22-250 or .220 Swift

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: bignada</div><div class="ubbcode-body">.22-250 Ackley Improved with 1:8 twist barrel is the best of both worlds. </div></div>
This is a good combo.

The problem with most smaller caliber cartridges in factory rifles is that the twist rate is too slow to handle the heavier bullets needed for long range. Even a 1:8 .223 will outperform a .22-250 at extended ranges, despite initial velocity differences.

I've been running .22-250s since the '70s and unless you have a fast twist and 70+ grain bullets, 500-600 yards is about as far as you'll be able to achieve consistent results, and the wind will still murder you out there.

I had GAP set up a fast twist .243 for my daughter and it has been a great rifle, shooting 105 Scenars and 115 DTACs to 1,200 yards very easily and with drop/drift numbers that rival rival the .260.

The .260 is another excellent starter rifle when used with a rifling twist fast enough for 123 to 142 grain bullets.

 

[03psd]

Re: .22-250 or .220 Swift

I have a 700 VFS in .22-250 and love it. Ammos is pleantiful and easy to reload with 52smk and gamekings. At 200 yards its still about .5moa If I was going to shoot out past 400 yards I would condsider something different but for what I do its a great round.

 

[Cheyenne19]

Re: .22-250 or .220 Swift

I have a 22-250AI and a 220SwiftAI. It all depends on what twist rate you can find in a factory gun. Both of those with 8 twist barrels will do well to 1000. You should see how well a 22-243AI cheats the wind with 90gr VLD's

 

[head2h2o]

Re: .22-250 or .220 Swift

Savage makes a 22-250 in the 12FVSS that are great shooters out of the box. I don't say this lightly, but probably the best shooter out of the box that I have ever used. Consistent sub-MOA with just about anything I feed it. It holds sub-MOA to at least 300 yds. The problem you will run into is that if you want to get a lot further out, you will need a faster twist rate than generally comes on this rifle. But for bullets up to 62 grains, it is impressive. The recoil in a heavier rifle like this is minimal with this caliber, but as a whole, a 22-250 will not beat you up.

 

[steve123]

Re: .22-250 or .220 Swift

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: cheyenne19</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I have a 22-250AI and a 220SwiftAI. It all depends on what twist rate you can find in a factory gun. Both of those with 8 twist barrels will do well to 1000. You should see how well a 22-243AI cheats the wind with 90gr VLD's </div></div>

Do you have problems with bullets blowing up at those velocities ?

At what speeds are the 90 vld's going?

Steve

 

[Cheyenne19]

Re: .22-250 or .220 Swift

I am not blowing them up. They're running 3500fps out of a 30" tube. It has less than 200rds down it so far. I spoke with eric steckler about it, and it's probably a matter of time before the throat gets rough and tears them apart, but for the time being that's what I'll run. It'll run 80gr amax's close to 3700

 

[steve123]

Re: .22-250 or .220 Swift

WOW!

 

[Ant264]

Re: .22-250 or .220 Swift

Shooter65 Nice pic

 

[sjm229]

Re: .22-250 or .220 Swift

I gotta vote for the 22-250 AI in an fast twist barrel as well. or a 6br.

 

[BKS]

Re: .22-250 or .220 Swift

+1 for any of the 6mms

 

[SuperSeal110]

Re: .22-250 or .220 Swift

Build a custom .223ai w/a 8" twist.

Less powder then the .22-250/ai/ .220.
Cheaper brass
Better barrel life
No recoil at all

We run them out to 1k. We love the look on ppls faces when we ring 1k gongs at our 1k range with out .223ai's.

I currently have (3) .223ai's. All with 8 twist barrels to run 75g Amax.

 

[christpher7]

Re: .22-250 or .220 Swift

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Frank Cordrey</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> If you are going stock form then I'd say 500yd's easy . I have a .22-250 Kimber Longmaster VT with a 1-14 twist and shoot 55gr bullets to 500yd's alot. Have gone 600yd's a few times but not many and did notice my groups falling apart.
</div></div>

How did this Kimber shoot, there is one at a local gunstore that i was looking at. We have a 550 yard range so that would probally be the longest distance that it would see.
Do you reload your bullets, I was wondering what the oal of the chamber measured in yours. Thanks

 

[ridge]

Re: .22-250 or .220 Swift

No complaints running 75gr amax in a 22" Rock 1-8 twist 22-250

All killed withen the last month from 47 yards to 656 yards

 

[mscott]

Re: .22-250 or .220 Swift

I just got ahold of a Savage 22-250 with a 1-12 barrel. While looking at available bullets I noticed the Berger 60 and 64 grainers. I got the 60s moving out at 3,700 with loading them long and Varget. According to JBM that should be 29.1 minutes of drop at 1k, but wind sucks at 13.6. It seems to be a good option for the factory barrels.

 

[AMAC]

Re: .22-250 or .220 Swift

I routinely kill Groundhogs at 500yds with my Swift, using 55gr Balistic tips over 37.5gr of 4064.

my rifle is a Remington 40XBKS single shot.

 

[steve123]

Re: .22-250 or .220 Swift

I worked all summer(my first job,14 years old)in 1974 to purchase my first centerfire varmint rifle.It was a new Ruger M77 heavy barrel in 220 swift.It was my introduction to long range!I didn't know about ballistics,drop charts and such back then.

I shot allot of Pdogs with that rifle.I sighted it in 1.5" high at 100Y and would aim at the top of the head to put the round in the midsection at 400Y.

I've owned most of the other varmint cartridges throughout the years,including 22-250 and still find myself missing the 220 Swift.

I think it would make an even better cartridge with a 8 twist barrel and bullets like the 75-80 amax.

Steve

 

[noname]

Re: .22-250 or .220 Swift

have a sako in each of swift and 250, ave loads shoot about 10 moa drop at 500 yds, but with a bc in the 25 range almost 2x the drift as a comparable 308 rd. unless your going to use heavier 22 bullets with higher bc, the 204 will shoot with the swift and 250 with 1/2 the powder and barrel heat, with the same accuracy.

 

[hiddenmongoose]

Re: .22-250 or .220 Swift

i own a remy vs (the older black barrel type) in 220 swift for 8 years or so and have taken foxs and rabbits to 512yds.its a complete tack driver and i will never change from it as my fox rifle. I use a reflex t8 silencer and 55grain ballistic tips it is pure dynamite on fox and rabbit. Get 1 with a decent heavy barrel and you will never be sorry