"I've never grasped why shooters who want magnum velocities from a standard cartridge. Any thoughts to share on this?"
For me it's bringing a 100+ year old cartridge into the 20th/21st century. I've own several rifles in 7x57 over the years, the first being an 1893 Mauser sporter that was built in England by some small gunmaking shop back in 1973.. I lost the first deer shot with it using the only ammo I could find in the small rural cowtown I was living at the time. (175 gr. Federal round nose) Soured me on the gun and I traded it off. Still kicking myself on that one. Then came a Ruger M77 tang safety they just didn't impress me so it went down the road. Fell into a deal on a Ruger #1 but had to send it back to Ruger for a barrel replacement. Shoots good now. Picked up a Winchester M70 Featherweight and had a semi-custom build based on a commercial FN Mauser so playing with the cartridge is a given.
The 7x57 in factory guise is a nice accurate mildly kicking round that serves well for most deer hunting so no gripes there but it's like buying a new Corvette and disconnecting two spark plugs. Why shoot a 140 gr. bullet at 2600 FPS when 2800 FPS is easily arrived at? If all I ever hunted deer, that 145 gr. Winchester factory load would most likely do it all but where I hunt ranges can stretch out a bit. I'm just more comfortable with that 140 gr./2800 FPS than the 145 gr./2600FPS, that is if the factory load even gets that fast. I ought to Chrony some if I can ever find any.
I would do the same with any cartridge not loaded to it's full but safe potential. Think .280 Rem., .257 Bob, even the 30-06 does not reach advertised velocity. It's not about hot rodding a cartridge, it's just realizing it's full safe potential and the 7x57 definitely responds in that category.
Would I try to" get more" from say a .243, 308 or .300 mag.? Absolutely not. There is a point of diminishing returns and those cartridges are load pretty much to where they need to be. JMHO
Paul B.
