# 22-250 vs .220 swift



## D5smoke

Hello I'm new to the PT my name is Dillan and I'm out of Oklahoma I've hunted coyotes for fun but I'm fixing to get into seriously and I've made my mind up on either a 22-250 or a .220 swift. I was hoping y'all give me feedback to help me make up my mind


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## stevec

Welcome Dillan!

22-250 ammo has more factory choices if you don't reload.

Steve


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## 220swift

Welcome to the PT forum!

WAY more choices, if you do reload, I would give a slight advantage of the down range ballistics to the Swift.......ya I've got a predisposed opinion...........boy have I started something here...lol


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## youngdon

Welcome to the forum D5smoke.

The 220 does have an advantage of about 70-90 fps depending upon the bullet powder combination at the cost of 2-6 grains of powder on light projectiles. The 22-250 gains all the velocity back on heavier bullets (60+gr).The 220 definitely has an advantage on long (past 300yds) shots but as noted above the cost if you have to buy your ammo is quite a bit higher for the 220 as well. Even brass for the 220 is getting harder to find. All said and done I'd love to have a 220 swift and have kept my eye out for the right one for a few years, but (you knew there had to be one more) I'd also buy another 22-250, the one I have is fine...shoots great, I just have a few empty slots in the safe.


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## glenway

Good explanation of the ballistics, YD. There are trade-offs in everything and that summary provides them well.

I never had a .220 Swift but have a .22-250 in a Remington 700 and it's as accurate as anything I've ever shot. If I were in the market, I could only hope to get one like the one I have.


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## azpredatorhunter

Welcome to Predator Talk... I just shot my wife's Savage Axis .22-250 and I am sold on it. For the price of a Savage you can't go wrong, it will leave you with some extra cash to buy a good quaiity scope... like the others have said, unless you plan on reloading the .220 swift, get a .22-250... JMO


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## number9

In have 2 22-250s and wouldn't take nothing for either one . One is an axis and the other is a custom built heavy barrel on a modified Savage action they both are deadly accurate 40 grn hornadys at 100 yds touching each other , 45 grain Winchester at 100 cover with a nickle and the custom is dead ass accurate almost no matter what you put in it except it dosent do well with 55 grain rem for some reason the best it will do with them is 1/2 inch @ 100 yrds, so my vote would be 22-250


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## Varmintnv

Ok, I'll be the a-hole joker on this one. First, Welcome to PT. Now why bother with a .220Swift when you can buy a .22-250 and have your gunsmith run a .22-250 Ackley reamer in it and still get the velocity of the Swift? The Ackley does require that you handload to get those results. And in a pinch you can shoot standard .22-250 ammo in it. 
Anyone care to guess what caliber I had my gunsmith rebarrel my old Ruger M77 to? Lol. It's sitting upstrs waiting for me to finish fitting it into the new stock.

Life's too short not to hunt coyotes!!


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## olsonfia

I have a remington 700 22-250 so im biased. But I bet ya cant go wrong with either. Settle the debate and buy both

Sent from my LGL86C using Tapatalk


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## youngdon

Varmintnv said:


> Ok, I'll be the a-hole joker on this one. First, Welcome to PT. Now why bother with a .220Swift when you can buy a .22-250 and have your gunsmith run a .22-250 Ackley reamer in it and still get the velocity of the Swift? The Ackley does require that you handload to get those results. And in a pinch you can shoot standard .22-250 ammo in it.
> Anyone care to guess what caliber I had my gunsmith rebarrel my old Ruger M77 to? Lol. It's sitting upstrs waiting for me to finish fitting it into the new stock.
> 
> Life's too short not to hunt coyotes!!


I'll see your a-hole and raise you a douche bag... Why not go to a 243. I can run a 55gr past 4000fps and still load all the way to 105 gr big game bullets. No reamer required... buy most ammo off the shelf, (cheaply I might add)..... deer, antelope, varmints, hogs. Any gunmaker will have at least one model. So easy to load even a truss maker can do it !! Your Ackley will shoot a bit flatter(on the light bullets) but the 243 is by far more versatile.


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## Varmintnv

Don, I would then expound on the merits of the .243 Ackley lol. Yes I have one of those too!! But I'll save it for a different thread. Don't wanna hijack the new guy's thread.

If it were me, and I didn't reload, I would go with the .22-250 simply because of the availability of ammo. The .220 Swift is a damn fine round, but unfortunately it's popularity is falling off badly. Mostly due to a bad reputation for burning barrels prematurely. And in recent years few mfgrs even chamber rifles for the round. And hence ammo mfgrs have cut back on production of ammo for it. But since I do reload, I still bought a new Rem 700 varmint in .22-250 a few months ago, cuz I have 500 or so cases and all the other components needed to load shells. And Swift brass can be a pita to find even when there aren't ammo and component shortages. 
Bottom line is, both are, in my opinion, the best all around coyote rounds available. And either will serve you well in your pursuit of songdogs.

Life's too short not to hunt coyotes!!


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## youngdon

Somehow Todd, I knew you would go there !


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## SHampton

I like cookies.


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## 220swift

I'll still take a Swift.....................


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## youngdon

SHampton said:


> I like cookies.


 I like cookies is such a blanket statement ....... Chocolate chip, oatmeal, on your computer,,,?


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## jswift

22-250 works OK for us but the kids and I prefer the .243 as an all-around gun.


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## 220swift

double stuff oreos


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## SHampton

All of the above are excellent choices. They are all extremely superior to the .223


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## fr3db3ar

Not a chance. My .223 rocks the shiznit.


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## A10hunter

I love the accutrigger on my Ruger American 270 win, and I love the whole rifle, so I am going to get another in 22-250 next year. Or I might go with the 243 instead, so those 2 cals would be my choice.


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## SHampton

Wieners shoot .223!!!


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## A10hunter

hahahahaha, :beerchug: cheers to my fellow wieners.


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## SHampton

Wieners I say!!!!!


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## prairiewolf

Now I know thats a typo, Winners shoot 223. LMAO but that "e" is sure a long way from an "n"


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## A10hunter

I like that Ed, and that is what Scott really meant because we cant forget about oatmeal :thumbsup:


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## sneakygroundbuzzard

SHampton said:


> Wieners shoot .223!!!


well i guess im a weiner then

i like my .223,for me very versatile. here in mn i can use it for everything from varmits to deer,and even home protection if need be.

it shoots moa,what more does a person need

as a side note i like chocolate chip,oatmeal raison and snicker doodles


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## SHampton

I knew someone would mention Oatmeal!


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## straightshot

My vote goes for snicker doodle or double stuffed Oreos... But Back on the gun topic, I'm at the same cross roads as the OP. I already have 22-250 and a .223 and have been looking into the 220 swift( I reload). My 22-25o shoots nickel sized groups all day long and is a great gun, Remington 700 vls. Anyone have a velocity on a swift shooting a 62 or 68 grain hollow point.


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## 220swift

you can get between 3500 to 3600 fps, these are top end loads on a 60gr bullet. These numbers are out of my Hornady and Nosler books. Speer shows a 70gr bullet in the 3100 fps area. Sierra has a load for a 80gr bullet in the 3100 fps area. All these bullets will require a very fast twist rate, a 1 in 10 or faster or you'll never get any kind of a group.


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## straightshot

220swift said:


> you can get between 3500 to 3600 fps, these are top end loads on a 60gr bullet. These numbers are out of my Hornady and Nosler books. Speer shows a 70gr bullet in the 3100 fps area. Sierra has a load for a 80gr bullet in the 3100 fps area. All these bullets will require a very fast twist rate, a 1 in 10 or faster or you'll never get any kind of a group.


Thanks for the information. I'm planning on a 1-8 twist, and was hoping to run a 60ish grain hp at 3500fps


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## 220swift

keep us up-to-date, I'm really interested to see what you find for a rifle in a Swift.........


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