You can get a little hotter loads in the 65, for sure, but I prefer to keep the pressures down in the break open guns. The 57 is just a very balanced (case to bore capacity) and well designed cartridge that's very efficient & inherently accurate. I load the 120 TTSX bullets in mine for several combis & drillings that are very flat shooting, but keeping the pressures down below 45K. That said, I sold a 7x65 drilling to a guy in AK that he hunts moose & caribou with, as well as geese, and he loves it. Says it outshoots the bolt action guys at the range :o). His wife kept borrowing it, while he was at work, so he bought her a luxus Sauer in 16/6.5X57, so she'd leave his alone...
Greg
Karamojo Bell reportedly killed a thousand or so elephants with the old 7 mauser. Many of them standing on the shoulders of his gun bearer in tall grass. He must have had cajones the size of grapefruit
Thanks
It's a better caliber than the 7X57, which I also like, for our western hunting. It actually doesn't gain a lot of velocity over a 7X57, but it has an edge.
