The .220 Swift was developed by Winchester and introduced in 1935. It was the first factory loaded rifle cartridge with a muzzle velocity (MV) of over 4000 ft/s (1200 m/s) and is still the fastest factory loaded small arms cartridge, though the .17 Remington and .204 Ruger comes quite close with .20 caliber bullets of lighter weight. The .220 Swift uses .224 in diameter bullets, as do most .22 caliber centerfire cartridges. It is one of the best long-range varmint cartridges, but this performance comes at a price; the .220 is known as a barrel burner, meaning the high velocities accelerate chamber and bore wear. Modern metallurgy has improved barrel life with the .220 swift and other 4,000+ ft/s (1200 m/s) cartridges, but they still tend to require rechambering or rebarreling much sooner than more sedate cartridges like the .223 Remington. The Winchester Repeating Arms Company was a prominent American maker of repeating weapons during the late 19th Century and the early 20th Century. ... (Redirected from . ... The . ... The . ...