220 SWIFT: Goin' to 'dog town with Dad

[KY_Windage]

My current .220 Swift is a Rem 40XB stainless single shot with a Nikon Monark 6.5-20x44 scope.

Now that would be cool! I got a 40X like yours not long ago but it is in .223. Twist is 12 so I stay at 55-gr. or smaller. Major fun.

 

[killahog]

I got out of the Swift business after buying a 22-250AI. I do however have some cases and probably some loaded ammo for sale.

 

[CatShooter]

I got out of the Swift business after buying a 22-250AI. I do however have some cases and probably some loaded ammo for sale.

What make of brass and how many times fired??

 

[NEMTHunter]

Always was a fan of teh 220 swift. Never did get on though. Ended up with a .243.

The thing that gets me about this thread is how many of them are Rugers.. Again one of my favorite guns.

 

[silverbullet_99]

I have a Swift and it actually skipped a generation. My grand dad was always they collecting kind of guy that picked up whatever was a good deal, guns included. I remember him telling me about answering an advertisement about a Ruger rifle for $300. I asked to see it and it turned out to be a Ruger 77 red pad sporter barreled Swift. Having grown up on the open prairies of Western Nebraska, fast and flat filled the bill. Also, 2 guys I knew who were **** good coyote callers shot nothing but a Swift and if they could see it, it died.

I offered him his money back against it and as a 16 year old kid that was a he'll of a dent in a paycheck. Dad just shook his head as he was a .22-250 guy, but I got it bought. 20 plus years later, any time I need to have a chat with grandpa I grab that rifle, park myself on a side hill and cut loose with a cotton tail in distress knowing I've got his approval no matter the results of the stand.

 

[wildcat455]

Nice story silverbullet!

 

[silverbullet_99]

Nice story silverbullet!

Thanks Wildcat. Harvesting a trophy/game is nice, but as the op pointed out....Hunting is about the memories. Who you were with, what you saw, sharing of stories, kindred spirits enjoying similar things. That rifle doesn't see a lot of duty with grandpa having been gone 5 years now this Christmas day, but it sees enough he knows I still love it and any time I take a Swift after a dog ya know it's a serious proposition.

 

[shane holt]

So the past few weekends my dad and I have been going prairie dog shooting. (He is 79, I am 55). I've been a 220 Swift nut since I was a kid, and currently own 2. One is a older Ruger 77V, now on its second barrel, and one is a Remington Varmint SF. I guess what I love most about them is the nostalgia, retro, history thing, and the connection I feel when I am shooting, reloading, etc. for this and other rifles/cartridges I shoot and reload for.

Anyway, I can see I'm going to have trouble staying on topic in my own thread, so let's just put it out there anything I put in here is the topic. LOL!

Dad has a 220 Swift also, and he was instrumental in getting me my first one, which is the Ruger mentioned earlier.
So here we are, 2 old timers out there getting a hoot out of poppin the poodles with our Swifts. I think he brought his because he knows how much I love the caliber. He likes it too, but he also has a 22-250 and others, where the 220 Swift is it for me.
Anyway, we don't press our rifles much out there anymore, it's more about enjoying the moment, and this was a pretty memorable trip, just like all the other hunting trips I've been on with Dad. We spent all day hunting 3 separate towns, looking over some ancestral (dead) towns, and while driving in between them, talking politics, laughing, joking, spotting antelope, deer, etc.

On the way home he was dozing off in the truck, we were listening to Willy's Road house, which is some really old country music, and it kind of hit me: Some of the same songs on the station that used to play when I was 5 years old and going hunting or fishing with Dad, 50 years ago. Anyway, I realized how RICH I was to have him to share all this with, and realized again those days are truly numbered.
Kind of put me in a very thankful mood.

I don't see the 220 Swift talked about too much on here, just wondering who else shoots this cartridge still?

I'm still out there making memories with it, anyone else?

Tell me about it!

doesnt get any better than that

 

[wildcat455]

My dad and I are still making memories, Shane holt.

This year, last month in fact, we took a road trip from Arizona to West Virginia to go see my nephew (Dad's grandson) and Dad's great grandchildren. (My nephews kids). I think the main reason we did this was so dad could see the kids, but he also wanted to pass down the rifle that my nephew shot his first elk with. Also, we would be there for thanksgiving.
My nephew has deer on his property, and we plan to hunt while we are there. The road trip out was awesome, always wanted to do something like this with Dad. I got to see allot of country I haven't had the chance to see yet, so that was nice. Kind of embarrassing, but we were listening to old country music and bellering the lyrics for a good portion of the way there. 32 hours of driving, you're bound to do anything for entertainment. We arrive to my nephews place and the following day we do some scouting. No need to leave the house, as it turns out. Deer are all over his property. Opening morning I find dad all set up on the back porch of the house. I'm still drinking coffee and I go to the front door to look out the front. I can see deer moving in the woods. I call to my nephew and he joins me out on the front porch where we sit and wait for the deer to come out into clear view. The wait wasn't long, and 7 minutes after season opening, my deer is on the ground. My nephew and I process that deer up while dad continues to hunt the back porch. Then I assist my nephew in spotting his deer. Dad continues to hunt the back porch but isn't finding the buck he is looking for. He hunts up to thanksgiving this way, and on the day after, we load up and head home.Before we left, He passed that rifle on to his grandson. The rifle originally belonged to my dad's grandfather. It was an 03A3 30-06.
Anyway, I thought it was pretty cool to shoot deer off the porch in West Virginia. Dad didn't seem to mind not getting a deer. On the way home, all I could think about is all the birds my Dad killed with one stone for making that trip. Probably why he didn't mind getting a deer this year.

 

[hunter67wa]

The older I get the more fun I have just seeing the wife and the kids and soon grandkids getting stuff. Do you know how light my kit is when I'm not carrying a rifle. All the talk of rifle weight is nice but I do like to leave it and just carry my Geovids and point. I find that everyone thinks I'm fun to hunt with that way cause I carry more goodies to eat. hahahaha. This year my brother in law and I were hunting and it was cold and we came across a camp site where people had already left. Well it was 1000 on they left fire wood. My bil wandered off and when he came back I had a fire going and food out, he grinned and said good call and we set there for 1.5 hours and laughed and reminisced. We kind off hated putting the fire out and leaving. I remember I used to gage the day by how many miles I covered now its just the memories made.

 

[killahog]

What make of brass and how many times fired??

I will let you know shortly.

 

[killahog]

I got out of the Swift business after buying a 22-250AI. I do however have some cases and probably some loaded ammo for sale.

.

Sold

 

[remsendero]

Great write up! I love hearing anything when it comes to the 220 swift. I'm 52 and a friend of mine turned me onto the swift back in 1997. As with most of today's hunters just starting out, I had never heard of it but since I was just getting into woodchuck hunting I was thrilled to find out I had just purchased the king of varminters. It was a lightly used model 700 Remington VS with a canjar set trigger. I had no idea how the trigger worked so my friend showed me how. I went on to take my furthest shot ever with this gun at a lazer ranged distance of 602 yards. I hit the chuck in the neck lying down on my first shot! My friend was blown away as he never thought the the gun or I was capable of such a feat. He took ownership of that rifle and I think it continues to be his favorite. As for me I still own two Swifts and they both shoot lights out, one with a stiff load of RL17 and the other with a stiff load of IMR4064. They are my favorite rifles and I don't think I'll ever part with either one. God bless and good hunting!!!!

 

[remsendero]

Here's some pics