I’m sure this has been discussed here before and I’m not looking to stir the pot, but would a 220 swift be adequate for shooting 150 pound deer or so at 175 yards and closer if loaded with 55 grain or 60 grain nosler partitions? I would like to stay away from head/neck shots.

I would consider myself to be a fairly seasoned deer hunter who is able to put a bullet right in the sweet spot behind the shoulder.

Thanks y’all

I'm no gun expert, by a long dam sight, but if you're not gonna try a head or neck shot (which I don't with any caliber) ...no.

And I like the round.

I have a 220, and have shot a few deer with it over the decades. I have lost more deer with that caliber than any other, but the 60 gr Nosler Partition wasn’t available then. I’d feel relatively comfortable deer or pig hunting with it, but your rifle may or may not stabilize that bullet. Mine will not, but I have a short barrel. A longer barrel and push the bullet fast enough and I think it’ll stabilize.

And there may be perfectly adequate bullets other than what I have tried. The 63 gr Sierra SMP will stabilize. The 65 gr Sierra GK won’t. The 60 gr Partition might. The 64 gr Nosler BSB won’t - probably.

And good luck finding any of the above if you have none on hand.

I've shot a Swift for 20+ years. Remington 700 Sendero S/S with fluted barrel. My ammo was handloads 60 gr HP & for me was most accurate.
I mostly shot does & cull bucks Head/neck on large ranches under MLD so I was having to shoot a LOT of deer. Every now and again i
would do some long range bombing on body shots in open fields because they are definitely going to run and they are not going to bleed
enough to track. My most successful body shots on large bucks is the high shoulder. That little Swift would drop them in their tracks on that
shot. Breaks their spine and down they go. That's the shot I recommend over the heart / lung shot with that small of a bullet.

Shot a ton of deer type animals with a 55 vmax in a 22250. If you can shoot it’s not an issue

It will work until it doesent.

I like .22 caliber centerfires and have killed a lot of deer with it ( .22-250 ) but eventually you will lose an animal.


My question is, if you have to ask if it will work, why use it?

My Uncle has hunted with the .220 Swift almost exclusively for over 40 years. The high shoulder shot is his favorite. For him, and he is an excellent shot, it works on big deer or little deer.

He has three whitetail bucks on his wall...a 183, a 185, and a 188. All three of them were taken with the .220 Swift. If I had to guess how many deer he has taken with the .220 Swift, I would say several hundred.

He has 6 Pre-64 Winchester Model 70s in .220 Swift, and a Remington 700 VSSF in .220 Swift. He shoots handloaded 55 Grain Sierra SPs (flat base) at around 3800 fps. Accuracy is one hole at 100 yards.

If I were shooting the Swift, it would be loaded with 60 Grain Partitions at 3500-3600 fps. If you want your Swift barrels to last, let the barrel cool completely down between three shot groups.

As mentioned if you can shoot, the Swift and the other .22 centerfires will work fine on deer with good bullets.

Just my .02,
LeonCarr

I really wanted my 220 to shoot the Partition. Under some weather conditions the bullet would stabilize in my 20” barrel, but that’s not quite good enough. A 26” barrel would allow the bullet to be pushed faster, and I’m thinking that might be enough. I’d hunt pigs and deer with that load. Of course, if you head or neck shoot them and do it well, I suppose pretty much any bullet would do. And I did shoot a number of them in the high shoulder/spine, and that worked great, but the target area is small.

So yes, the caliber will work, but so many other calibers will work much better.

When I was shooting 22250 as primary gun I went on a “ trophy” deer hunt and bought some trophy bonded bear claws from federal as the were tits at the time. That deer bucked and ran further than any other. Back to vmax

I’m gonna suggest the 6.5 cm as a better all around deer gun option than the .220 swift

I’m asking because I have the opportunity to trade into a ruger tang safety 77 with a 26” barrel. I’ve wanted one for a long time and seeing how most of the hunting I do is deer hunting I’m hoping I can find an adequate load for the conditions I shoot most deer under. I shot a few deer when I was a small kid with a 223 rem before moving up to a 243 with good results. I figured with the extra speed of the swift with the right bullet it could be made into a pretty decent rifle for smaller deer at reasonable distances.

For context I shot a mature deer this year at the house with a big swollen neck saggy belly. The deer weighed no more than 150 pounds, he was mature but we just have small bodied deer. The shot was made at about 60 yards on an oat patch and the feeder is roughly 140 yards away and the farthest you you can see from the blind is maybe 160 yards. Most of the deer shot off the place have been on the oats we plant and within 100 yards. So to me from what I’ve read about the swift it seemed like it could be made a practical option for this scenario.

I bought my tang safety 220 because I wanted one, so if you want one, buy it. Yours might stabilize the Partition. Some do. Another bullet option would be the Sierra 55 gr Gameking, which I have some of loaded up. I’m told, though I haven’t tried it, that it would be acceptable for deer hunting. A 220 will push that bullet to 3850 FPS or a bit more. If you are careful with bullet placement, it should work.

My rifle was intended for coyote hunting, and it did a darn fine job for decades. Then we bought this place, and we had hogs, so I’d see hogs as often as I saw coyotes. You know how tough hogs are, and I tried to lung shoot them. Not very successful, so I went with a 260 Remington. Folks will tell you that all you have to do is shoot the hog in the ear, which is correct, but sometimes the hog doesn’t present that opportunity. A while back, all I saw of 4 or 5 hogs was their backside. So, pick your shots or get a better bullet, and the better bullets usually won’t stabilize in the 14 twist.

While some hunt with a swift or 22250 and varmint bullets, I wouldn't and wouldn't recommend it.

I have killed a pile of deer and hogs with a 223 and 60 grain nosler partition. I would use it without reservation in the swift or 22-250 or 223 for deer. I would check what the twist rate is in the rifle your interested in, many of the swifts I do not believe have a sufficient twist to stabilize the longer/heavier bullets.

Another options for the swift bullet would be the nosler 64 grain bonded solid base I think they call it. I have never used it but heard rave reviews from people I would trust... although it may now be discontinued.

I probably shot 20 plus deer with a 220 swift in the 70's. I mainly hunted coyotes so it was the only rifle I had. I never lost a deer, most never took a step. I think a lot of it is how you hunt. My rifle was extremely accurate and I never took a shot that was not from a solid shooting position. In other words I knew exactly where that bullet was going. Today I use bigger caliber guns because I can.

That was my go to deer round for many years when I only hunted central Texas and I've killed a ton of does with it and a couple of decent bucks. I'm running a 70 gr Speer in my handloads. The bullet is a little long for the twist, but it stays stable out to 400 yards and I'm not shooting at a deer anywhere close to that distance. I've never lost a deer with it.

This sums it up perfectly. For Varmints, the 220 would be great. I don't have a super fast 22, but I would love one. Still would not use it for deer though.

I can agree and disagree. In my mind IF you use the right projectile for the job, keep yourself within your and the guns limitations and put the bullet where it needs to go, then dead is dead and you aren't getting any deader.

I’ve shot some deer with a bonded bullet from my .22-250 and the results from the V-max were more impressive on heart/lung shots.

Those little pills penetrate very well but don’t do much damage

Ive only shot 2 deer with v-max. One was a head shot on a does at 30 yards... the bullet did not exit, her eyes didnt even pop out, it just looked like her hair was ruffled on the top of her head and a buck i shot a high shoulder shot on.

I like the penetration because then you get an exit and something to follow.

It’ll work if you’re good enough

Speaking of, a Ruger Red Pad in 220 Swift has been my unicorn

Almost had one, thought I did have it but didn’t

Well thanks for all the info y’all. Unfortunately, for the time being, other deal has fallen through