Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles 7 x 57 mm loads

Two days ago I picked up a tang safety Ruger in 7 x 57. I'm new to this cartridge. What are your favorite cup and core deer loads?

Welcome to the wonderful world of 7x57 ownership. Choosing conventional cup and core bullets is a wise choice in this conventional cartridge.

My accuracy load is a mild 43 grains of 2209 (H4350) under both 175 and 160 grain projectiles.

Many load faster but with 175 projjies you will have ample penetration with expansion.

Mine 7x57 Featherweight Loves 4350 with the Nosler Parttition 140 gr

My Walther Mauser Sporter, long throated as many are, really likes the 160 gr Accubond over enough H4350 to get 2650 fps. My youngest son, then 13, knocked the African critters silly with the combo last June.

One of the most outstanding loads I've fired is the 139gr Hornady BTSP w/52.0gr of RL19. Deer, hogs and elk have no chance.powdr

If a 175 gr Speer grand slam could be considered a c&c bullet, my 7x57 uses that bullet with enough imr-4350 to run a very accurate 2700 fps.

The 175 gr Speer GS does a very admirable job on deer, complete penetration at any angle with little meat loss.

Gunner

In our Ruger 77 50gr H4350 and a 140 Accubond. Fairly mild and kills well.

160 Accubond or Deep Curl and H4831. Deep Curl opens wide and fast, Accubond ruins less meat; both kill our little OK deer or WY antelope and disappear into the Unknown.

A suitable charge of H-414 seems to do the trick under just about any weight projectile I've tried.

Killed most whitetails with 154 gr Hornady Interlocks and 170 gr Sierra RN's. Killed a couple with 120 gr Nosler BT's. All with H-414.

The favorite was 46.5 gr of H-414 under a flat based 154 gr Interlock. The newest Hornady manual will show that to be over max. I believe the max load was changed due to the SST (with it's higher BC and bearing surface) coming out. 46.5 grs seems a little hot in my rifle behind a 154 gr SST.


Dan

H 4350 and 140, and 150,..154gr at a relatively stiff but safe load. Shoots fairly flat and is more than adequate for any white tail. I now use the 140 and 150 Nosler partition just because. My son likes R-19 w/ moderate loads with good success. All are accurate.

My 4 different 7x57's all like H4350 and 160s. Drive them at 2600 - 2650 fps and you will be a happy deer hunter.

I was a little surprised by the many posters favoring 160gr. and heavier bullets. I was thinking about the Hornady 139 or 154 with H414, but their manual didn't list this combination.

Many years ago I was shooting Hornady factory ammo with the 154 gr Interlock. They stopped offering this loading and I started reloading. It was a very accurate and effective round in my rifle.

I actually called Hornady and asked if they could tell me what the load was being they weren't loading it anymore. The fella at Hornady asked me to read him the lot number of the ammo and told me 46.5 grains of H-414.

Still works...just not when substituting an SST. I have to bring that one down a couple of grains if I want to use that bullet.

The new Lee manual lists 44.5 gr of H-414 behind a 150 gr bullet.
The latest Hornady manual I have lists 44.5 grains of W760 as max with any of their 154 gr bullets. W760 is the same as H-414 and of course they will be different lots.

Dan

The 7X57 earned it's name with 175 gr bullets in Africa killing Elephants and on many, many battlefields with same.

Gunner

I'll have to try some Reloader 19 in my 7x57. It's very accurate in my 7-08 with 140gr Nosler Ballistic Tips. It's also super accurate in my .264 Win Mag loaded with 100 Speer bullets I use for long range Coyote hunting ammo.

But, Hornady does list W760 in the manual. H414 and W760 data is interchangeable. I have one rifle that has good accuracy and velocity with a load of 52 grains W760 and another rifle with 50 grains - good accuracy and velocity.

I use H-4831 in both of my 7mm Mauser's with 175 gr NP and 175 gr Rem bullets.

I use 139 Hornadys or 140 Sierras with either H414 or H4350. I can't remember which manual I used to find the starting load. Hot loads are not needed.

When you find something that works in the 7x57 Ruger tang safety, let me know so I can try it in mine. Mine seems to get more accurate as you go down in bullet weight, shooting the 120's best (but still not well). IMR 3031 or one of the 4895's seems best with the 120's.

from a ballistics standpoint, I like the hornday 139 and 48 g of H4350. alas, my rifle won't group them. I have an FN M70 FW to try em in, though ...

Very wise of you....

I use H-414 with bullets up to 154.

RL-19 for any thing heavier.

Thank you Poobah,you taught me well. The a** chewin' you gave me is now healed over.

My go to load in my 7x57 is the Sierra 160 gr BTHP with H4831SC. I don't like any bullets under 160 gr in the 7mm's . The 7mm is at it best with 160 gr or heavier regardless of the case you use to push it . .

The only powder my Rugers responded to was a charge of 40 grains of 3031, regardless of bullet weight... my favorite two bullets with those rifles were 154 grain and 175 grain Hornady RNs...

I also have a Model 70 Featherweight in 7mm Mauser...

it will shoot anything I feed it and shoot groups like it thinks it is a varmint rifle...

Got an old DWM Mauser that thinks the same way. LOL

Gunner

I 'borrowed' INGWE's load using H4831SC and Barnes 160 TSX to use in my SC M70 7x57 Fwt. It's a tad 'warm' when shot in 90*/90% humidity, but it's accurate! Waiting to see how it shoots when the temps and humidity drop.

now why would ya'll want to put up with the extra recoil and loopy trajectories with those heavy boolets?

(stirring the pot a little)

All I've ever done with mine is hunt whitetails, and for that the 140 at about 2700 fps seems about right.

A 140 gr bullet,dude your gonna "smoke a turd in hell" for shooting a 140 gr bullet.

No loops in a 175 going 2700, just four hooves pointing North.

Gunner

The fastest I can get with my 7mm Mauser's is 2600+ fps with 175's.

Just helpin' you stir the pot.

I'm (partially ) serious, to me the 7x57 is all about a 139 g Hornady SP movin at 2600-2700 fps. I've had good results with the regular ol' anemic remington green box load too

I'm new to the 7mm Mauser,all I have done is punch paper and shot 1 Jackrabbit.

The 2-7x57's I own:

Got this one in June 2013. Winchester M 70 Featherweight with a Leupold 6x.


Bought this one in January 2013, CZ 550 American with a Zeiss 4x on it.

n8dawg6 I have to sort of agree with you. I have had 3 7x57's in the past and yours sounds about like the speeds and for that weight I experienced . With the heavier bullets I was a couple of hundered FPS less than that. I have always been a little leery of some of the claims I see made about the 7x57 and 7mm08 especially when you compare them to 280 remington loads with it's larger case. I'm not knocking the round as I see a 140 gr bullet at 2700fps as very deadly on game as well as a 175 gr at 2500. Obviously some have done well loading faster than this for some time but I guess I'm just too big of a chicken with pressure to try it. I'd just as soon go to a bigger case.

40 grains of 3031 out of an older Hornady manual, gives me 2640 fps out of a 22 inch Ruger factory barrel...

52 grains of H-4831 and a 175 gr Rem is getting 2625 fps average out of my Featherweight which has a 22" barrel. Funny thing is out of my CZ,it's 2590 fps with the same load and the CZ has a 24" barrel.

Guess I have a fast 24" barrel, it will reach 2700+ fps with IMR or H-4350 and either the 175 gr Speer GS's or NPT's.

I love that old Mauser, would be a bit to heavy for most folk at around 9.25lbs all up.

Gunner

Schit,that CZ I have is 9 lbs as is in the pic. The Featherweight is 7 lbs 14 oz as is in the pic.

Well Gunner500 those 2 rifles are going to Arizona in November for a bear hunt.

That'll work Main, good luck on the hunt.

Handed that old Mauser to a Bud one day, he exclaimed, damn, I wouldn't have that heavy sombitch, I said, you have put 100 lbs on yer ass and another hundred on yer gut since school and you bitch about my 10 lb rifle?

He didn't find any humor in my reply.

Gunner

Thanks for the "good luck" on the bear hunt. My wife and daughter wanted a bear skin and some how I was "arm twisted" into doing it.

Bet they nearly broke it. LOL

Gunner

How did you know?

Wifey said she wanted a Buffler robe for this Winter.

Saw one of the Sharps rifles open the safe door and stare at me. <G>

Gunner

Yikes,you BETTER take that one then.

10-4 Neighbor.

Gunner

Good luck Amigo.

You too Main.

Gunner