The Swift is a large-cased .224 caliber cartridge and bullet that was created for small game such as prairie dogs, groundhogs, marmots and other vermin (or "varmints" in the US).

[6] Due to its very high velocity its bullet drop allows precise sighting to ranges out to 375 yd (343 m), and it is still considered an excellent cartridge for taking varmints by experienced Swift shooters.

[7] In recent times 75-grain (4.9 g) .224" bullets have been developed for use in high velocity .22 caliber rifles for taking larger game and long-distance shooting.

[13] In the cartridge's early days during the 1930s, expert red deer stalkers such as W. D. M. Bell used the .220 Swift on large stags with great success, and extolled the caliber's seemingly magical killing powers, which they attributed to massive hydrostatic shock waves set up in the animal's body by the impact of the very high-velocity bullet.

[citation needed] Most factory Swift rifles come with a fairly slow twist-rate such as 1–12 or 1–14 inch, designed to stabilize the lighter bullets popular in varmint hunting.

Custom Swifts can have faster twist-rates such as 1–9 inch allowing them to stabilize heavy bullets, including those with a construction suitable for larger game.

Glaser used the Swift on all sorts of big game animals, including wolves, moose, caribou, and Dall sheep, and found that with carefully placed lung shots it would kill more instantaneously than any other caliber.