I been shooting deer on my property here in CT for a very long time, and a 7 x 57 works as well as any. My only 7 x 57 is a rifle that I bought almost 40 years ago. Never had a problem finding loaded ammo or components to load ammo for the most part. The only thing that is missing is that Remington stopped making the 175 gr RN load. It was one of the best shooting and deer collecting loads you could get. It didn't get the "Big Punch in a Small Case" moniker for nothing. These days it don't matter much, I would not mess with your fathers rifle, keep it as it is and how he shot it. In about 30 years you will be glad you did.
