It didn't take me long to miss my 220 Swift. The black gun is nice but no cigar. So I have been looking for a Swift....and found one! It's a Ruger 77v born in 1973 in 99% condition and little shot. It has a beautiful Mauser action with a streamlined shroud and the tang safety. The barrel is a Douglas 26" one in 14 twist(factory) contoured in Varmint heavy. The bolt is numbered to the gun and has that huge claw extractor and sculptured handle. The bolt stop/ejector is Mauser and the hinged floorplate is actually functional and closes with a "click". In all honesty, I never knew that Ruger made such a beautiful classic in that after 3 years, the "modernization" process started. This is the most functional gun I have ever handled but it wouldn't be right to change my handle to RugerRick as they just didn't live that long. I loaded up some 45 grain Sierra Varminters today and you guessed it.....close to perfection in the first 5 shot group.:D Now, what is there not to like?

    Rick years back I almost had myself convinced that I needed a Ruger Express rifle. The local shop had a couple in and i drooled over the 404 jeffires and 416 Rigby chambered ones. However the price of £1300 even back then was beyond my pockets reach without a loan of some sort.

    So I bought the used P-H 1100M in .458 Win Mag instead. Would have preferred a .375 H&H or 404 Jeffries but was only finding 458's on offer at the time.

   Those Rugers were very well made and had beautiful walnut on them. Good score Rick

Ruger has come out with a new "improved" express rifle called the Hawkeye. It looks like junk next to the old M77 express rifle. The old ones I see with xx Walnut are all >2K. Here is one in 458 Lott I've been drooling over. Just what would I do with a 458 Lott in Missouri:Banghead::

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=429228551

Rick,

I have a left hand Ruger Hawkeye in .300 Win Mag.  It is the most accurate rifle I own.  It will shoot <.5" groups at 100 yards with Hornady factory Superformance ammo loaded with 165 grain GMX all copper bullets.  I have tried various combinations of powder/bullets, etc. in hand loads and can get 1" groups, but not as good as with the factory ammo.  This is my only rifle that does this.

Brother Dave was a Ruger fanatic. I like the new Hawkeye rifles in "regular" calibers, however, they have completely removed the express ramp on the new danger calibers. The African express rifles in 375, 416 and 458 should look like something special not just another 30-'06. What happened to the fancy European Walnut? In chase of the almighty dollar, the manufacturers are missing the boat. I believe Sako has dropped their dangerous game rifles too....how sad.

Added. Sako makes the 85 Safari in 4 calibers. 375H&H, 416 Rigby ,450 Rigby  and 500 Jeffery. MSRP, 9,600 to 10,000 dollars....US!!!!!!!Why, I think everyone should have a least one of each at these cheap prices!:cens:

Rick,

You need a .458 Lott like I need... A M1 carbine!  Go for it!  I want to watch the fillings in your teeth swap holes every time you pull the trigger.  Don't fire it in that lead sled of yours; it will most likely break the stock at the pistol grip due to the rifle's inability to more rearward with the massive recoil.  Those Dangerous Game rifles are made to be shot offhand, where your shoulder/torso can absorb the kick.  Also, you won't need a powder measure, just a small shovel and a funnel to load the cartridges.

But they have a reduced load:

Powder: Accurate 5744 - 38 grains (no fillers)
Primers: Remington 9 1/2M Magnum rifle
Bullets: Hornady 500 grain DGS - .458 dia.

Kicks no worse than a garbage truck:grin:

friend of mine just got a 458 win mag!!! some interesting loads using the smaller 45/70 bullets!!!! I say get it Rick!!!! God bless.

The testing is done for now and here is the report. I started with 4 boxes of Hornady 55gr V-max factory bullets. The 55gr Hornady Vmax's would not stabilize. Keep in mind the barrel is a one in 14 twist. The 50 gr Nosler BT's were fine at 100 yds but spastic at 250. The 45 grain Sierra Varminteers were sensational at 100 and 250. I also mis-chronied the 45's at 39 something during work-up when in fact with 39 gr IMR4064, they are at 4040'/sec. I pulled the 55 grain V max bullets and will use them in my AR which loves them. The Hornady brass seems fairly consistent and this is my first experience with them.

So, the bottom line is very good. The 45 gr Sierras are easily sub MOA out to 250 yards.This is a Coyote's worst nightmare. The 250 yard bullseye is the first circle down on the Nikon, so 350 yards would be the 2d circle down with the 100 yard crosshair 1.2 inches high. The bullet still has about 2400'/sec velocity at 350 yards with nearly 600'pounds of energy.....too bad for the Coyote. Here is the 250 yard group.

I like Rugers.

That's a NICE one!

I have a Hawkeye RSI (Mannlicher) in - you guessed it - .308 Win. My daughter will be using it for moose this Fall.

Paul

Quote from: gitano;133208I like Rugers.

That's a NICE one!

I have a Hawkeye RSI (Mannlicher) in - you guessed it - .308 Win. My daughter will be using it for moose this Fall.

Paul

Pictures?

A fellow rodent shooter has a Swift just like that one. It's a shooter all right!! I thought he was going to  bend the barrel over a fence post when I beat him with my 788.

Yeah I like Rugers. Don't have any rifles though.
RJ

Nice, make a good Dog gun, I have one Ruger, a little 77/44, bought it for tight scrub work, didn't expect a great deal out of it as far as accuracy is concerned, but it has surprised me with consistent clover leaf groups out to around 60m.

I have always thought an original M77 varmint barrel in .220 swift would be a nice rifle to have.

A couple of years ago there was a beauty advertised in a shop just over the border for around $900AUS that had stunning wood on it - I let logic get in the way (I have a .22-250, why do I need a swift?) and didn't move on it. Kinda rue that decision now.

Marcus

Have you tried the 40 grain Vamx's? They really like slow twists and should run over 4100 fps. I'm not sure if they'll stay together over that though. For all their shortness and very low BC, they are quite accurate out to 400 yards, maybe five, if there is no wind.

RJ