Early flatbolt ruger 77 v

[Scot43]

I have an affection for 220 Swift rifles. My varmint/predator hunting rifle battery would be missing something without one. Presently I have a Winchester Pre-64 Model 70 in 220 Swift that is undergoing a rebarreling with a stainless steel XX premium Douglas barrel.
But today, I ran across a 220 Swift that I have been looking for since I let one like it go and immediately had seller's remorse. Its an early Ruger 77 V Flatbolt 220 swift made in 1973. This was the first year that Ruger introduced the venerable 220 Swift to its line of rifles. These were a limited production by Ruger and a sell-out. Since that time Ruger has been the leader in production of 220 Swift rifles and a lot of other gun companies have produced swifts. There has been a growing resurgence of interest in the 220 Swift as varmint and predator hunters realize what a great performing caliber the swift is.
These early Ruger flatboat swifts all had Douglas barrels and particular attention was paid in manufacturing these rifles as Ruger wanted to make a good first impression with these rifles. Later Ruger Swift rifles had Wilson barrels. Some were good, others were not. It was a toss up until Ruger started making their own hammer forged barrels in 1994, I believe.
At any rate, I'm excited to own one of these early treasures in 95% condition or better with a barrel that is still in outstanding condition. Can't wait to start shooting those 1/2" or better groups these rifles are famous for and doing some long range coyote sniping

 

[dvdcrr]

They made some nice Mark II 220 swift sporter weight rifles as well. You have to work around the trigger though. The earlier ones had better triggers.

 

[dvdcrr]

A good old Ruger m77 in 243, 270, or 30-06 will always be a good hunting partner.

 

[GooseGestapo]

Be sure to bore-scope the barrel. It only takes one trip to a well populated prarie-dog town and too many rounds too quickly to make "toast" of the barrel. A former co-worker did just that with a Savage M111 H/B varminter in .22-250. 500rds one morning in ~2 hours did the trick. Savage replaced the barrel under warranty as the rifle was less than 6mo. old. But returned letter said "not again"!

OTOH; My older brother was "loaned" a Winchester Mod70 in .225Win back in the mid-90's as the owner, who had inherited the rifle from a grand-father thought the rifle was "shot out". My brother spent an evening with some Shooters-Choice bore solvent and some JB-bore paste. Two days later, we took the rifle out and shot sub-1" 5-shot groups with some hand-loaded ammo that had come with the rifle. It had a heavy build up of copper fouling....

Most of the older Rugers I run across look like they were used as fence posts for several years.... Weathered and rusty!!

 

[bscott29]

I had the same rifle for several years. My favorite of all time.

 

[bscott29]

Factory Hornady custom 60 grain hp's are great coyote loads.