Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Good 7x57 Mauser loads

Steve692:

A lot of guys shoot 150-grains down, I generally shoot 150-grains up in several different 7x57s. There are a couple of reasons for that, not the least of which is good penetration with a slower moving bullet. I don't hot-rod any of my loads, and inside 200 yards (self-imposed limit) I get good results with bullet weights from 150- to 160-grains at about 2500 fps. When I go up to 175-grains, I drop the velocity to about 2300 fps, matching the old "classic" load upon which the 7x57's reputation was built. One benefit of the 150- to 160-grain loads is that they all shoot to more or less the same point of aim at 100 yards, so I don't have to worry about sighting in for the different loads from any of the guns in which I use them. I use the 175-grain loads only in a Zastava M98 with a 1:866 inch twist. It's not the prettiest rifle that I own, but it is certainly one of, if not the, most accurate.

As for terminal performance, I too would classify myself as a meat hunter. I'm generally on our lease at lease once per week, and when the mood strikes I usually come home with a little porker for the pot. Because of the terrain, the shots are generally short - well under 100 yards - and I almost always try for a CNS shot, since I pig that runs even 50 yards is a lost animal in the dense scrub. Just about any bullet that hits the hard skull of a pig is going to do massive damage, but with a stout bullet, if I shoot for the spine instead, the lower velocity keeps any meat damage to a minimum, especially with the "bonded" (really, plated) Deep Curl bullets that I like to use. They expand well, but don't seem to come apart.

I don't know if any of this helps, but the bottom line of my own experience is that a good, heavy, slow-moving bullet will do everything I ask it to with minimal meat damage...just as it always has.

Just my $.02.

RM