speed, power and accuracy

[L. Cooper]

The .220 Swift and the .22-250 Remington can shoot the same bullets. IF you shoot the same bullet from a particular manufacturer in both guns with powder charges maxed out for each cartridge, then the faster muzzle velocity of the Swift will be carried for the full range of the bullet's travel.

For the physicists out there, the velocity difference between them will decrease as distance increases because the faster bullet will slow more quickly than the slower one due to more friction with air as a result of its initially higher speed. But the faster one will always be faster at any given distance from the muzzle.

Now, shoot two different bullets of the same weight in both guns, or two bullets of different weight, and you will find differences in down range performance.

But the .220 Swift and the .22-250 are made to shoot the same bullets, as are the .308 and the .30-06 and all the various .300 Magnums for that matter. Case volume (and subsequent powder volume with subsequent larger volumes of gasses to drive the bullets) is what creates different performance levels within the same caliber.

And as bulletpusher says, you can't make a case of one volume push a bullet as fast as a case with a larger volume. Hence the 7mm-08, 7x57, 280 Rem., 7mm Rem Mag, 7mm Weatherby, 7mm Ultra-Mag and so on, all have their zealous followers. But they all shoot the same bullets.