back in 1893, Peter-Paul Mauser came out with the 1893 Spanish Mauser in 7x57. altho it lost the Spanish American War, it beat the snot out of 45-70 and the 30-40 Krag. the Brits had a hard time during the Second Boer War. the 7x57 has killed game, including elephants (WDM Bell killed about 800 elephants with the 7 Mauser).
i have killed many deer using the custom FN '98 Mauser in a 20" Douglas barrel in 7x57. my Winchester m94 in 30-30 (which JES Reboring made 35/30-30) is #1. my son has the 7x57 now. i have 3 7x57, 1908 Brazilian, 24/30 Venezuelan and the '16 Spanish Mauser.
The reason the 7x57 "beat the snot" out of the .45-70 and .30-40 in those wars was NOT the cartridge, but the clip-fed magazine of the 1893, far quicker to keep shooting than the trapdoor .45-70 single-shot, and the side-loaded magazine of the Krag.
I have taken close to 20 species of big game around the world with the 7x57, but the cartridge itself ain't magic, as my wife Eileen and I have done the same thing with the .308 Winchester--which might be the modern equivalent of the 7x57, but with far more widely available ammo. In fact in my several hunting trips to Europe have encountered far more .308s than either the 7x57, or the 8x57--which many Americans still claim is the ".30-06 of Europe." In fact have only seen one 7x57 and one 8x57 in the hands of the dozens of European hunters and guides I've hunted with.
“Montana seems to me to be what a small boy would think Texas is like from hearing Texans.” John Steinbeck
