I've owned the above in .223 for about 5 years now. I like the rifle but hate the .223. Recently I started thinking about converting it to another cartridge. The question is which cartridge. However, today it hit me, how about .220 Swift? Is that a feasible conversion? Or do I need a long action for that cartridge?
I BELIEVE the swift is a long action.
22-250 maybe. Wildcat 22-243? Real wild 22-284?
Want to stay with the factory offerings, how about a 243?
Your gun, the conversion's not difficult. New bolt head, ejector and extractor does it all. All you need are tools and patience.
Really want the Swift? Sale and/or trade for a 110.
Larry
Tinkerer
Why do you hate 223 ??
Originally Posted by joed
I'm just not fond of the .223. In my opinion it's a lack-luster cartridge that doesn't have a lot of merits other then being used by the military. The .220 Swift and .22-250 outperform the .223 for varminting and I bought the gun to use for varminting. I'm also not wild about the fast twist used on the .223, I'd prefer to shoot 40 gr bullets as opposed to something that is heavy and used in military rifle matches.
No, I'm definately not a fan of the .223, never have been.
I'd love to be able to rechamber this to .220 Swift but I have the feeling that isn't feasible.
You could rechamber the rifle to 220. You would need to change the bolt head. Also, keep in mind that your rifle will probably be a single shot.
They who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.
22x47 lapua is a real hot rod and a short action wildcat cartridge.
Other than that I would say a 22-250.
I looked up the .220 Swift and it is made for the short action so it is feasible. I don't mind going to a single shot as the gun never fed the .223's reliably from day one.
The big question is can I do the conversion? Or do I need a gunsmith.
You can do it.
All you need is a 308 sized .473 bolt head, regular baffle, magazine and follower, go and nogo gages, barrel nut wrench and a barrel or action vise.
Oh and a 220 swift barrel.
The factory barrel nuts are put on by a gorilla, so you may really have to whack it hard to get it off.
Does not have to be that tight going back on. Maybe 30-40 ft/lb or a good whack on the wrench with a hammer
Sounds easy enough to change. Never did anything like this but it doesn't sound difficult. I take it that Savage doesn't offer the barrel in .220 Swift though as I've never seen one.
Jim of Northland Shooters Supply, a sponser on this sight has
220 swift barrels in stock.
Joe,
I have 4 Savage 223, with factory barrels. I use them for shooting Prairie Dogs and I really like them. I have a couple 22-250s that I don't even take any more. I load the 223's with 40 grain VMax bullets and I load all of them the same. I drive them hard because I want as much speed as I can get out of them. (I push mine at 3750 fps)
Just a few reasons I like the 223?
1) Soft recoil - I can see my own hits. I don't need someone else telling me where to aim for the long shots. Plus I get to see the drama on the pdog.
2) Cheap brass and plenty of it.
3) Cheap to reload and it isn't picky about powder.
4) Doesn't heat up anywhere near as fast as a 22-250.
5) Barrels last forever. As least it seems that way.
Just a couple ideas.... how about a 223AI or a 22BR? Both are fantastic rounds. The 22BR does have quite a bit more recoil than the 223 and I am not able to see my own shots well enough to take it with me into the PDog fields. I hope a muzzle brake will solve this. Anyway, I can get 10 shots out of the 22BR before I need to put it back to cool down. I can get 20 to 25 rounds out of the 223AI before it needs a cool down period.
Adrian
AVanGorder, I was wondering if I could get the 40 gr bullet to shoot out of the 10fp. I really don't like the 1-9 twist as I figured the lighter bullets won't be accurate. The 50 gr suffers from accuracy problems but maybe it's the design of the bullet if the 40 works for you.
I share Adrain's view on the 223 being a nice all purpose round. You can do a lot of things with it. If you want speed, think about a 20 Practical. Sorry if I missed it, but are you reloading? If are not, the the wide range of commercially available 223 ammo is a big plus (and it is cheap). I used to think speed was the answer to all problems in shooting. Then I started playing with the BR case. First, a 6BR... then another. Then a 30BR, and another and another... A 22BR will be the next 22 barrel I get. I have a 223s, 22-250s, 22-250AI. I perfer to play with the 223s as much as anything. That's the great thing about a Savage, for $300 you can get a new premium pre-fit barrel and start having fun with a new caliber. Luck in your choice, Tim
I also have a couple ARs with 1:9 barrels. I shoot the same 40 grain VMax from them but I do load them shorter and with less powder. I have dispatched a number of prairie dogs with them in the 600 yard range.
Adrian
I had a 1:7 twist 223 and it shot 52 gr amaxes over varget tighter than any other load.
The 3 FP10s in .223, 1/9" I have owned all have the same rounds put through them being the 50 gr vmax at about 3400 fps. They will go from .333" to .630" at the range most of the time. I have no problem popping p-dogs to 769 yards when I have a need to.
Adrian pretty much summed it up on the round.
I think for starters I'm going to mess with the .223 just a little more. Maybe the ticket is to zero it 2.5" high at 100 yards which would give quite a bit more useful range from the gun. I'll try it again this weekend.
I'm having a hard time believing shots over 400 yards with this cartridge but I think the idea above will work at least to 400 yards.
I think for starters I'm going to mess with the .223 just a little more. Maybe the ticket is to zero it 2.5" high at 100 yards which would give quite a bit more useful range from the gun. I'll try it again this weekend.
I'm having a hard time believing shots over 400 yards with this cartridge but I think the idea above will work at least to 400 yards.
400 yds is nothing for the .223 on small game like p-dogs. Thousands of us .223 shooters do it pretty regularly with 250-350 yards being an average shot.
Here is a picture from June of this year, taken outside Lamar, Colorado. 615 yards measured with a Leica rangefinder. The rifle is a stock DPMS AR in 223 with a Mueller scope on top. Load was a 40 grain VMax with H322 powder and Wolf Magnum primers. I shot several of them in the same area. As you can see in the pic, that tiny bullet still has enough to get-r-done at 615 yards.
To keep things honest, I never do the measuring. I walk out to the dog (best to do this with 2-way radios), hold it up and have someone else range it several times from my bench.
Adrian
[img width=494 height=450]http://photos.imageevent.com/avangorder/guns/variouspics/websize/615%20Yard%20PD.jpg[/img]
5Spd and AVanGorder, you guys are obviously better shots then I am with a .223.
After crunching some numbers through Point Blank I figured with a zero at 250 yards the 50 gr bullet is 2.13" hight at 100 yards, 1.90" high at 200 yards, -3.30" at 300 yards, -15.05" at 400 yards, -35.63" at 500 yards and -68.21 at 600 yards. I don't even want to consider wind deflection as at 600 yards it's 49.34". I hope it's nowhere as windy as OH is where you're shooting.
The above trajectory doesn't look to bad and I will give it a try this weekend. Sure hope the wind is down this weekend
Tried again this weekend. It was pretty windy this weekend and again I had a lot of long shots. The rifle shot better after I rechecked the zero this weekend but I'm just not sold on the .223 as a round for groundhogs.
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