Question about Savage bolt face.

[Va varminter]

The past few weeks I have been working on getting a new varmint gun. First I thought 223, then 204. And thought about building something. Then I figured I might as well get something I know, a 220 swift. I had one in a #1 and a MKII varmint. I want to get one in a Savage. As that is what my 204 is. I know they don't make one in Swift. My question is what 22 cal. can I buy it in and have it rechamberd and still use the same boltface? Or can this even be done with what Savage offers?

[Hotshot]

You could buy a 22-250 to have the right bore and bolt face but the barrel would have to be shortened before rechambering because the 22-250 case doesn't taper as much as the 220 Swift. Cost wise you'd be better off to find a take off barrel in 220 and it will just screw right on instead of expensive gun smithing. Personally, I'd go with a Pac-nor or other brand of prechambered Savage barrel. Actually if I had a good 22-250 I might not even change to 220 Swift even though it was my all time favorite before the 204. I've had many of both and still have one of each and the 220 doesn't offer much over the 22-250. Another inexpensive posibility would be to go 22-250 Ackley improved as an existing 22-250 chamber would be easy to rechamber. The versatility of these Savages have won me over. I've got seven of them now with over a dozen barrels and various stocks and bolts so I can put together all types of combinations. If I want to try a new caliber it's a lot cheaper to get a barrel and screw it on myself insead of a whole new rifle or an expensive gunsmithing bill (not to mention the wait time for a custom to be built). By the way Savage has chambered Varmint rifles in 220 Swift and you may find one ready made.

[Va varminter]

The only reason I didn't go 22-250 is because I already have dies and brass for the swift. I also have dies and brass for 223 as well. But I don't see any advantage of the 223 over the 204. And if I were to turn a gun into an A.I. it would be the 223. But I don't think the 223A.I. bucks the wind as good as the 204. And that is the only real reason I was going with the swift. But maybe I am wrong about the 223 AI.

[Hotshot]

Balistic charts will show the 55 grain in a swift real similar to a 39 in a 204 as far as trajectory and wind, but the swift delivers a lot more energy. Certainly you can go to bigger bullets in the swift that will fight wind even better but you'll need a fast twist to go very much bigger. Even though a 223ai is more exciting than the typical 223, it will not come close to a swift or a 204 for long range shooting. That being said now we can sit back and wait for all stories from the 223ai guys out there.

[acloco]

Or.....let me toss this one in the equation.

Buy a bull barrel 223 Savage.....and rent a reamer for 223 AI. I receive 3640 fps with 27.5 gr of Benchmark behind a 55 gr bullet.

[YoteSmoker]

Or buy a long action in a magnum caliber (feed rails already opened from the factory) all the different sized bolt heads and shoot whatever caliber you want with the change and headspace of a barrel.