220 swift for deer

[booger presley]

Thoughts and opinions on 220 swift for deer. I know shot placement is everything and I'm not to worried about that. I usually hunt hill country a couple times a year but mostly deep east texas. Anybody had good experience with it

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[220swift]

Tons of good experience.

Stay away from varmit loads. I have some 60 grain Nosler Partitions that are awesome. Anything with a soft lead tip works.

[rjtkdplus]

Yep, it’ll work fine. As you said, shot placement is the key.

[Aggiehunter08]

Call the dog!

[Capt.Brown]

I’ve killed tons of deer with one. Mostly neck shots but have killed a few behind the shoulder.

[Old Bald Guy]

Tons of good experience.

Stay away from varmit loads. I have some 60 grain Nosler Partitions that are awesome. Anything with a soft lead tip works.

If you have a swift that will shoot 60 gr partitions that's awesome cause most times that 14 twist won't stabilize that bullet.

[220swift]

Mine shoots them just ok, but performance is fantastic

[Chance Love]

It's a great deer caliber.

[booger presley]

Call the dog!

What makes you say that

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[RUNNING BEAR]

There have been a couple of threads about lower caliber rifles lately with mixed opinions. Fair enough. What I don’t understand is that surely these low caliber rifles are more lethal than a bow and arrow, at least I assume. So for those who say they have had bad experience, is it because even though it’s low caliber, you are still treating it like a 30-06 and shoulder shooting at 200 yards, or are you really working within the rifles capability and keeping shots in the 50-80 yard range and still getting bad results?

Genuine question.

[El General]

I’ve killed a pile of hill country deer with a 22 Hornet. 220 Swift will get her done.

[txtrophy85]

There have been a couple of threads about lower caliber rifles lately with mixed opinions. Fair enough. What I don’t understand is that surely these low caliber rifles are more lethal than a bow and arrow, at least I assume.

They kill differently. Its not an apples to apples comparison. An arrow thru the heart or lungs is very deadly.....just as deadly as any rifle


I've killed alot of deer with a .22-250. Somewhere around 50-60 i would guess. It works until it doesent. Bullet selection is key and so is shot placement.


For a varmint style bullet I always shot V-Max 55 grain Hornady and stuck with neck shots for the most part.

I bought some 55 Grain Fusion and they are alot tougher but you have to hit bone...if you poke one behind the shoulder they run a long ways....its just such a small diameter there isn't alot of terminal damage.


My advice for .22 centerfires for deer is: yes, it will work, but if you have another option I would explore that.

[diamond10x]

55gr Sierra Game King SBT is the king of the .22 caliber hunting bullets. They’ll kill deer just as well as anything else and shoot really well out of most rifles, specifically .22’s with higher powder charges ie 220 swift, 22-250

[CWP]

I guess I'm just curious as to why? Why not just use something a little bigger that provides better reliability with not much more recoil?

[Lone_Wolf]

I think if you're a good shot, know where to shoot the deer, use the correct bullet, and keep your shot's to a limited distance the 22-250, .223, 220 swift etc work just fine. If you're a kid, or beginner or maybe just not the best marksman, a bigger caliber is probably more suited for you in case you make a less then perfect shot or aren't quite brushed up on deer anatomy and know just right where you need to put the shot.