Like anything it is up to the skill of the shooter to place his shots so the animal is killed quickly and humanely, Thanks for your comment Norris. The .204 Ruger and .220 Swift data was obtained using 26″ barrels while the .223 Remington and .22-250 Remington used a 24″ barrel length. The .204 Ruger is especially great for small creatures like prairie dogs and foxes, though it will certainly do the job on coyotes as well. Sighted in to zero at 100, it shoots so flat that a dead on hold out to 250 metres will result in a headshot every time. As was the case with the .22-250, Remington knew a winner when they saw it and standardized the new cartridge (which is very similar, but not identical to the 5.56x45mm) with SAAMI as the .223 Remington in the early 1960s. I believe that for a competant marksman these smaller .22 calibres do the job admireably. See how the 6.5 CM compares to the Classic 308 Win in the 6.5 creedmoor vs 308 ballistics chart! Do a 22 BR or 22 BRA. Later, lighter-weight offerings took hold, like the current CCI Maxi-Mag 30-grain TNT and Hornady 30-grain V-Max. This usually precludes the use of bullets heavier than 60 grains, and in certain instances even they won’t attain stability. I decided to go to a faster twist 1:12 vs 1:14 which original factory was. Maximum pressure obtained from SAAMI (p171 and p172). Barnes, Hornady, and Nosler manufacture .224″ TTSX, GMX, E-Tip, and Partition bullets and there’s nothing stopping handloaders from making custom loads using them. The table below compares the recoil produced by those cartridges when fired from 8.5 pound varmint rifles: a Remington Model 700 SPS Varmint for the .204 Ruger, .223 Remington, and .22-250 Remington and a Model 700 Varmint SF for the .220 Swift. It also achieved a velocity and trajectory virtually on par with the .220 Swift (particularly when compared to the increasingly common reduced Swift loads) while utilizing a more efficient design that fit into a smaller package and burned less powder. I shot both of these species way back when for a living( export venison meat sales) I shot with four companions in Fiordland New Zealand, both on the bush and along the tops. Handloaders can wring a tiny bit more performance out of the .220 Swift, but there’s a much better selection of rifles and factory ammo with the .22-250. Glad you enjoyed the article Michael! The .22-250 Remington and .220 Swift are very close to each other in almost all performance categories. Excellent article John! The story I got with my Ruger M77V was that Ruger did not produce a 26″ barrel (came later) and to test the market the first 1000 produced came with a Douglas varmint weight barrel. It was an amazing tack driver, but the most surprising result was the devastation wrought by the bullet. The Creedmoor round uses heavy-for-caliber bullets. Though the external dimensions of the .223 and 5.56mm are identical, there are allowable pressure differences, but for us hunters let’s keep the discussion to the .223 sporting ammunition and the SAAMI-approved allowable pressures. The resulting cartridge, known as the .22 Varminter, was also extremely effective on varmints. That sounds like impressive performance you got out of your .220 Swift! Since they’re both descended from the .222 Remington cartridge, the .204 Ruger and .223 Remington both are rimless cartridges with a .378″ (9.6mm) rim diameter. Not surprisingly, the .22 Varminter was extremely well liked among varmint hunters and the Varminter ended up surpassing the Swift in popularity before it was officially standardized. With a 22 BRA (22 BR with 40deg shoulder) you’ll have plenty of velocity. (here, here, and here for the .204 Ruger, .223 Remington, and .22-250 Remington and p214 of the Hornady Reloading Manual for the .220 Swift). Regulations are designed to preclude experimentation with less than suitable calibers. John, Great article, great comparisons. Meat prices were reflected in where the animal was shot, so head shots were the most profotiable. Basically, it has only a little more recoil than rimfire cartridges like the .17 HMR, but is significantly more powerful. The .223 Remington is the only real choice here and there are countless good quality AR-15 style rifles chambered in .223 Remington or 5.56x45mm NATO. This helps support the blog and allows me to continue to create free content that’s useful to hunters like yourself. Now best known as the 220 Swift, the original load fired a 48 grain bullet at a screaming muzzle velocity of 4,140 feet per second (1,290 foot pounds of energy). Couple those attributes with the fact that you can find ammunition for a .223 Remington at just about every shop that sells any ammunition at all and I’ve got to give the edge to the .223. The 220 Swift I have no experience with yet. All four cartridges are well suited for handloaders and reloading components are widely available. All four loads used a 200 yard zero. 223 -vs- 5.56 Ammunition. 6.5 Creedmoor vs. .308 Winchester The 6.5 Creedmoor and the .308 Winchester are two of the very best big-game cartridges, and both are more than capable at long range. I doubt that you could even get it to fire, but if you could, you’d probably have the case rupture in the chamber, damage your rifle, and maybe even hurt yourself in the process. My use for these is the 204 Ruger is what my wife uses for high volume shooting. Winchester eventually ceased production of the cartridge in 1964 when the company began manufacturing their redesigned Model 70. I dearly love the .22-250, and have used one for nearly two decades, but my rifle is primarily used for shots on woodchucks, coyotes and foxes inside of 300 yards, and I use a heavier caliber for my deer hunting due to the possibility of black bears. I am a fan of the 220 Swift and have shot a Ruger 77 since 1981. Aero Precision hit a homerun for me with their .223 M4E1 so I had to get my hands on one of their complete .308 AR-10 style offerings. Delivers outstanding accuracy. Therefore, 40, 50, and 55 grain bullets are most popular for both the .22-250 and .220 Swift. 6.5 Grendel vs 223/556 for Hunting. For reasons that are unclear, Winchester chose the 6mm Lee Navy case as the parent for their new high velocity .22 caliber cartridge instead of the .250/3000 Savage. It’s quite interesting to to see facts on velocities and trajectories rather than the rifle owners biased opinion about “my gun shoots better and further than yours” story. To understand the primary differences between 6.5 Grendel vs. 6.5 Creedmoor, simply keep reading… 1 6.5 Creedmoor vs. 6.5 Grendel: Bullet Weight. Traditionally credited to J.E. This was easily the fastest commercial load in the world at the time. Do not try to shoot 5.56 in a 22-250. Not surprisingly, the resulting cartridge was capable of even higher velocities than its parent and Wotkyns submitted his brainchild to Winchester for commercial development. This is particularly true with the .204 Ruger, which requires just over 4″ of holdover at 300 yards with a 200 yard zero. The .204 Ruger and .22-250 Remington are both fairly reasonably priced, but the .220 Swift is the most expensive of the bunch. Using a .473” case head diameter—the same as the .30-06 Springfield and 7x57 Mauser—and a large rifle primer, the .22-250 wildcat offered velocities only slightly less than the larger, semi-rimmed .220 Swift. Speedburners! In this case, it is hunting and range rounds. Originally, .22 Magnum ammo featured 40-grain bullets. For a detailed discussion about another high velocity .22 caliber cartridge in the .224 Valkyrie, read the article below: The Lyman 50th Edition (p122-123, 139-143, 148-151, 154-156), Hornady 10th Edition (p136-138, 160-178, 200-209, 210-215), and Speer Number 10 (p120-123, 134-141) reloading manuals as well as The Rifle In America by Philip B. Sharpe (p712-713) were used as references for the history of the cartridges. Kel-Tec PMR-30 .22 WMR $489.95 Guns.com Kel-Tec PMR-30 .22 WMR $399.99 Sportsmans.com. In addition to the impressive external ballistics of the cartridge, the .220 Swift also exhibited devastating terminal performance on small game like woodchucks/groundhogs, prairie dogs, coyotes, foxes, etc. The .223 was also chambered in many bolt-action hunting rifles, showing fine accuracy. Finished up with a load of 52 grain Sierra HPBT, Vhitavouri large rifle magnum primers, 36.5 grains 3031 in Norma brass. It uses a shorter case than the .243 Winchester—1.920-inch vs. 2.045 inches—allowing for a longer bullet length outside the case in the same length magazine, and maintains the 6.5 Creedmoor’s 30-degree shoulder. It’s also available in the Ruger Mini-Fourteen. Therefore, the 6.5 Creedmoor has a slightly flatter trajectory, a little less wind drift, and less recoil. 5.56 in a 22-250? Techniques. The ballistics chart below compares the trajectory of .204 Ruger, .223 Remington, .22-250 Remington, and .220 Swift loads each firing the Hornady V-Max bullet. On the other hand, pretty much every ammunition manufacturer of note like Armscor, American Eagle, Barnes, Black Hills, Browning, Double Tap, Federal, Fiocchi, Hornady, HSM, Nosler, PPU, Remington, Sierra, Sellier & Bellot, and Winchester (just to name a few) produce a wide variety of ammo for both the .223 and .22-250 Remington. The data used to compare the trajectory and wind drift of the cartridges was obtained from Hornady. It will preclude the use of the lighter 40- and 45-grain bullets, but what a long-range cartridge it would make when coupled with the 80- and 90-grain bullets! Greetings, Very comprehensive article. While the .222 Remington was the undisputed accuracy king for quite some time, the two most popular are the .223 Remington and the former wildcat .22-250 Remington. The .223 and .22-250 are also available in a few loads designed for big game hunting like the Barnes VOR-TX and the Nosler Partition. The Grendel and Creedmoor are very different cartridges in a number of ways. As a full time professional kangaroo and wild game harvester I go through quite a lot of ammo – I field dress and sell anywhere between 100 and 140 kangaroo, deer and boar a week. The .22-250 Remington and .220 Swift have a significantly flatter trajectory are more resistance to wind drift than the .223 Remington, so they have a definite advantage as ranges increase as well as in windy conditions. Several, including H335, BL-C(2), Varget, Benchmark, IMR 8208 XBR, H4895, and CFE 223 have proven to be the most versatile choices with all bullet weights. At this time, the .204 Ruger is the only cartridge in mass production using .204″ bullets, so bullets of that aren’t nearly as widespread. Copyright © 2021 Big Game Hunting Adventures LLC | All Rights Reserved, 6mm CREEDMOOR: EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW, 450 Bushmaster vs 458 SOCOM vs 50 Beowulf: Battle Of The Big Bore AR Cartridges. They’re followed by the .204 Ruger and the .220 Swift. At this time, I’m only aware of one rifle currently manufactured in .220 Swift: the Remington Model 700 Varmint SF. The Big Game Hunting Blog is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.ca, Amazon.com.au, and other Amazon stores worldwide. Make sure you follow The Big Game Hunting Blog on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, andYouTube. Of these, 50 grain, 55 grain, 62 grain, and to a lesser extent, 75 and 77 grain bullet weights are most common. On the downside, the .204 Ruger is indeed more vulnerable to wind drift than the .22-250 and .220 Swift (but not the .223) and does not retain energy nearly as well as the others. This makes the .223 Remington a better choice than the others for hunting larger game. John. Of the group, the .223 Remington is by far the best for hunting big game because more rifles chambered in the cartridge have a fast rifling twist that’s capable of stabilizing longer and heavier bullets. It sounds like you and I are both in agreement that there are many other cartridges better suited for taking those shots on big game animals than the smaller .22 caliber cartridges as well. As you can see in the photo below, there are some pretty major differences between the .204 Ruger, .223 Remington, .22-250 Remington, and .220 Swift cartridges. The goal will be to explain how the two differ, go through the pros and cons of each and describe best use situations for both. Since the wildcat cartridge was already quite popular, the .22-250 was a major commercial success after Remington opened up a whole new market segment by manufacturing their Model 700 rifle in the cartridge and selling factory .22-250 ammo. Along those same lines, the .204 Ruger also uses lighter bullets in the 24-45 grain range with 24, 32, 40 grain bullets being most popular. Especially considering that each cartridge tends to appeal to particular segments of the hunting and shooting communities that value different characteristics in a cartridge, the 22-250 vs 223 vs 204 Ruger vs 220 Swift debate can get pretty intense and tough to navigate at times. I was going to buy thr 204. so thanks for helping make up my mine. I like shooting the heavier grain bullet for windy days in the Dakota’s. I like the 22/250 it has a tad more reach and downrange energy. The recoil is very low yet the delivered energy is nothing short of amazing. When used in a quality rifle by a skilled shooter, they’re all capable of tack driving accuracy. The swift being considerably heavier. Great article. The 6.5 Creedmoor is also touted as a long range big game caliber like the 300 Win Mag. At one time, Ruger produced both their No. THey would certainly fall down where reckless unaimed body shots were taked. .223 Remington vs. 5.56x45mm — Facts vs. Fiction Probably the most popular centerfire rifle round in the Western Hemisphere is the .223 Remington and its metric match, the 5.56x45mm. I’ve owned rifles chambered in .223 for years and have found it to be a very versatile cartridge and a pleasure to shoot. Before we wrap up this .308 vs .223 cartridge comparison, we like to take the ten rounds we have examined and pick some of our favorite rounds for each cartridge for certain shooting scenarios. In fact, the .220 Swift, .22-250 Remington, and .204 Ruger all have a very similar trajectory with the .220 and .22-250 requiring only a little more holdover than the little Ruger cartridge. So where do we stand with each cartridge? Are you very sensitive to recoil? All 3 are fun to shoot and challenging to find a specific load that works best in each one. That being said, the .22-250 Remington and, to a lesser extent, the .220 Swift can also work in this role. I have a Ruger 77 in .204 Ruger, a Savage 10 in 22/250, a heavy barrel DPMs in .223 with a 1in9 twist, and a Ruger 77 in 220 Swift. The .22-250 Remington is the older of the pair, being the offspring of the .250-3000 Savage, simply necked down to hold .224-inch diameter bullets. That depends. 6.5 Grendel vs 6.5 Creedmoor: Which 6.5 Cartridge Is Right For You? However, the tiny bullets used by the .204 Ruger do not retain energy very well and have a paltry 257 ft-lbs of energy remaining at 500 yards. Using a lighter calibre in these circumstances offered less noise and surrounding animal disturbance. The .223’s 1.76″ case is just .06 longer than the .222’s. Both cartridges have substantially less wind drift than the .204 Ruger and .223 Remington. 6.5 Creedmoor vs .308 Winchester. To get that tack driving accuracy I believe you must work up a handload for the Swift. Like the .223 Remington, the .204 Ruger is also descended from the .222 Remington. However, I generally discourage the average hunter from taking those shots (no offense whatsoever to you) and instead recommend aiming for the heart/lungs. Of the group, the .204 Ruger has by far the mildest recoil and is excellent for hunters and/or shooters who want to observe bullet impact through their rifle scope. Finally, they all have different SAAMI maximum average pressure levels: 55,000psi for the .223 Remington, 57,500psi for the .204 Ruger, 62,000psi for the .220 Swift, and 65,000psi for the .22-250 Remington. Though Winchester attempted to phase the .220 Swift out back in 1964 and replace it with the .225 Winchester (.225 Win), the Swift is still hanging around. In my experience, the 220 leaves the 17’s for dead in windy conditions. The .223 Remington wins hands down here since it’s arguably the easiest to find and least expensive centerfire cartridge in the United States. We intend to take a look at rimfire vs. centerfire ammo. Philip B. Sharpe said it best in his book The Complete Guide to Handloading (second revision of the third edition, p190 & 192): The .220 Swift was not as flexible as had been anticipated and performed best when loaded to approximately the full velocity…The Varminter case is amazing in that it permits the most flexible loading ever recorded with a single cartridge. On smaller game it doesn’t matter. Eventually wore the barrel out, had a stainless Sprinter barrel made, used same projectile, CCI BR2, and still using 3031. For those same reasons, the .223 Remington is clearly the better choice for practical shooting competitions. There are some differences you’ll notice right off the bat between .223 Remington and 5.56 NATO Ammunition: On the case rim, you’ll notice “223” stamped on 223 Remington brass, where 5.56 NATO brass may only have a … It’s a fine old rifle, but what I noticed immediately upon comparing the swift with a 223 CZ was the weight difference between the 2 rifles. Within a few short years, the 6.5x55mm Swedish, .260 Remington, and .264 Winchester Magnum had company. Each one prints a .5 MOA group or less with the right loads. It consistently will shoot .65 MOA 5 shot groups at 100 yds. The difference between them grows somewhat when comparing handloads, but the .220 Swift still only has a slight edge over the .22-250 Remington. Thanks for your support. Federal, Fiocchi, Hornady, Nosler, Remington, Sellier & Bellot, and Winchester all produce .204 Ruger ammo. The vast majority of predator and varmint hunters probably agree the .204 Ruger, .223 Remington, .22-250 Remington, and .220 Swift are all excellent cartridges for pest control. Aero’s Take on the .308 AR-10 Platform Hornady claims their Superformance Varmint load achieves 4,225fps with a 32gr V-Max bullet out of a 26″ barrel and a blazing 4,400fps with a 24gr NTX bullet out of a 24″ barrel. The .223 Remington falls more or less in the middle: it has less recoil and retains less kinetic energy than the .22-250 and .220 Swift, but more than the .204 Ruger. Well, that’s going to depend on a couple of parameters, and your outlook on life. It will handle all velocities from about 1500 up to 4500 and the performance of most of the other standard and wildcat cartridges can be equaled. While the .222 Remington was the undisputed accuracy king for quite some time, the two most popular are the .223 Remington and the former wildcat .22-250 Remington.We’re all familiar with the abundance of .223 ammunition available, and you should … Federal, Hornady, Jamison, HSM, Norma, Remington, and Winchester all currently manufacture .220 Swift ammo. Both the .22-250 and .220 Swift are very flat shooting, retain more kinetic energy, and have less wind drift than the .204 Ruger and .223 Remington. Get the American Hunter Insider newsletter for at-a-glance access to industry news, gear, gun reviews, videos and more—delivered directly to your Inbox. Can you shoot a Are you looking for an ideal cartridge to use in an AR-15 platform? A comprehensive report with meaningful findings. While some hunters prefer using the larger .22 caliber centerfires on coyotes, it’s really just a matter of personal preference. For this reason, many hunters ended up wounding and not retrieving big game shot with the Swift. Wednesday, February 14, 2018. Before we get started, I have an administrative note: Some of the links below are affiliate links. The US Military was searching for a replacement for the relatively new M-14 rifle and 7.62x51mm cartridge during that same general timeframe. Do you want a cartridge ideal for hunting big game like feral hogs and deer? The .220 Swift typically uses bullets in the 40-60 grain range while the .22-250 usually shoots 35-64 grain bullets. However, Winchester produced large numbers of Model 70 rifles in .220 Swift after replacing the Model 54 with the Model 70 in 1936. However, there are many rifles available in .223 Remington with faster twist rates; they can be anywhere from 1:10” to as fast as 1:7”, and this changes the entire game. 6mm vs 6.5 Creedmoor - A Ballistic Comparison ... a 223 rem will not have the case capacity to accelerate heavy 90gr+ bullets to stability where as a 22-250 Ackley improved may be able to get away with a slower twist rate by virtue of significantly higher velocities. This makes the cartridge ideal for a deer-sized big game. When combined with lighter, smaller diameter bullets, new cartridges using smokeless propellant like the 7mm Mauser, .30-40 Krag, and .30-06 Springfield led the way out of the black powder era and offered massive increases in velocity over common black powder cartridges of the day like the .38-55 Winchester, the .44-40 Winchester, and the .45-70 Government. As we’ve discussed in previous articles, the AR-15 can only accommodate cartridges up to 2.26″ long, so both the .204 Ruger and .223 Remington go right up to the limit that will fit in the rifle. While none are really good choices for extreme long range shooting, all of these cartridges are highly regarded for their accuracy. On the other hand, the .22-250 Remington is a larger rimless cartridge with a .473″ (12mm) rim diameter and the .220 Swift is a semi-rimmed cartridge that also has a .473″ (12mm) rim diameter. E-mail your comments/questions about this site to: EmediaHunter@nrahq.org, For questions/comments about American Hunter magazine, please e-mail:Publications@nrahq.org, You can contact the NRA via phone at: NRA Member Programs1-800-672-3888, To advertise on American Hunter, visit nramediakit.com for more information. I actually own and use three of those rounds and have just gotten a Swift. Later, For one thing, advances in barrel metallurgy since the 1930s have resulted in more durable rifle barrels. All of the other cartridges, including the .223 Remington, retain significantly more energy at longer range. On the other hand, the .223 has the most wind drift and most arching trajectory of the four cartridges when using 55gr bullets. The .223 Remington has a slight edge here because rifles chambered in that cartridge typically have a faster rifling twist that enables them to accurately shoot longer, higher BC bullets than the rest. The fact of the matter is that those lightweight bullets used by all four cartridges also have a relatively low ballistic coefficient, both of which make them more prone to wind drift than many other cartridges. We’re all familiar with the abundance of .223 ammunition available, and you should have read a story or two over the years about the accuracy potential of the .22-250, but from a hunter’s standpoint, which one comes out on top? Next, the .204 Ruger and .223 Remington both have a maximum overall length of 2.26″ which is shorter than the 2.35″ length of the .22-250 Remington and the 2.68″ long .220 Swift. In this article, I’m going to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the 22-250 vs 223 vs 204 Ruger vs 220 Swift in order to give you the information necessary to choose the right one for your needs. BUY A DEPENDABLE 223 REMINGTON RIFLE HERE. First, the .204 Ruger shoots the smallest bullet: .204″ (5.2mm) compared to the .224″ (5.7mm) bullets used by the other three. As I recall, the load pushed about 4,400 f/s – even though on inspection, there was no evidence whatever of flattened primer or high pressure signals. by Philip Massaro - It’s not nearly as common as it used to be, but it’s still possible to find factory ammo in the cartridge. The M77 swift is still the go to. Gebby, the little wildcat was light-years ahead of the .22 Hornet. They’re all also available in a wide variety of plain old soft point bullets from a variety of manufacturers. Depending on what exactly you want to do with the cartridge, any of them will work, though the .223 Remington and .204 Ruger have significantly less recoil than the .22-250 and .220 Swift. But the .223 has a shorter neck and holds 20 percent more powder. The .204 Ruger in particular has a reputation for being especially prone to wind drift. Had the factory mounts line bored to 26mm and fitted a Schmidt & Bender 12×42. The Varminter was also much more versatile than the Swift. The .22-250 Remington is the next most common. Using bullets suitable for the slower twist rates, say 40 to 55 grains, I’d definitely have to give the advantage to the .22-250 Remington. The quest for ever increasing velocity is not a new phenomenon and really picked up steam during the early 20th Century when the widespread adoption of smokeless powder opened up a whole new world for cartridge designers. I used the Hornady Ballistic calculator and ShootersCalculator.com to compare trajectory, wind drift, and recoil for the cartridges.

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