Swift

Swift
           We were at my uncle Carl’s hunting camp near the Hiawatha National Forest just west of Seney. I was in heaven because the hunting camp was a wilderness experience that usually only happened for deer hunters during the fall during deer season. This was summer but it still was a dream come true for me. We were a family of many, at least on my Dad’s side of the family since he had seventeen brothers and sisters! Not all of those aunts and uncles were alive but enough were around to make this summer get together a memorable experience for me.
            I had quite a few cousins and there were friends along as well so it was a grand, long holiday weekend vacation for most of us. I romped in the woods and played with my cousins until we were all exhausted. Everything about the wilderness camp was new to me since I had never been to a camp before. I had been in the woods around my house for years but I had never been to the vast wilderness that was the Hiawatha.
            One thing about those hunting camps was the abundance of guns. Most of my uncles were hunters and they brought some of their rifles and handguns along for this get together. I had never seen so many different rifles at one time. There were Savage 99’s, Winchester M70’s, Remingtons, along with some Colt and S&W  handguns as well. I loved guns and this was just too much to stand, I had to shoot some of them!
            We were allowed to shoot some of the .22’s and a few of the older cousins got to shoot a 30-30 or a 32 Special. The majority of the rifles were 30-30 or 32 but there were a few in calibers like 300 Savage or 35 Remington as well a smattering of 30-06’s. Then my Uncle Carl brought out a new rifle and proceeded to tell everyone how this was a super fast caliber that was better than anything ever seen at a camp before. It was the 220 Swift! The fastest cartridge available at the time and able to explode animals as well as apples or beer cans with its supersonic bullet. P.O. Ackley had talked about using small calibers at high velocity to kill deer size animals and ultimately got down to a .17 caliber to prove his point. The Swift was a predecessor to that era dating to the 1930’s as a wildcat and then in 1935 when it debuted as a Winchester factory chambering in the M54 and then in the M70.
            I could not contain myself and almost did a triple somersault trying to get to my uncle Carl begging to let me shoot that rifle! I was only a kid but that didn’t stop me from trying my damnedest to get a chance at that rifle and its magic bullet. My Dad and my other uncles were so amused by this that they talked Carl, and my mother, into letting me shoot the Swift. I was getting my wish and I was determined not to be a failure in front of everyone. A gallon can was set up at about 100 yards and I was seated at a picnic table with that beautiful Swift rifle in my hands. We had no rest but I propped my elbows on the table and tried to hold the rifle steady; it was a bit heavier than the Daisy I was used to!
           After much coaching and instruction on what to do and what to expect a cartridge was chambered and I was ready to shoot. The rifle had a scope of some sort and while I don’t remember what kind I do remember how much the crosshair moved around as I tried to steady it for my shot. I remember squeezing the trigger which simply moved a slight amount when the rifle roared and I felt the slap against my shoulder. To my amazement the can exploded in a geyser of water and twisted metal. I was shaking so bad I couldn’t control my happiness and my pride at not missing the can. My uncle was so impressed he let me shoot a second can and I was addicted to rifles from that moment on.
           I have never had a Swift or even shot one since that time long ago but I love that cartridge like no other. It was my first ever rifle shot and I have never forgotten that weekend at Camp.
 Chris