Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles 7x57 vs 7mm-08 Craig Boddington

American Rifleman October 2017, A TALE OF TWO SEVENS, Craig Boddington

7x57 aficionados you need to add this to your reading material.

Thank you for the heads up. Here's a link for anybody looking- http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nra/ar_201710/index.php#/84

P.S., give me the 7x57

Link doesn't work.

But this one does.
http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nra/ar_201710/

Works for me.

Sorry to me a pretty weak effort. Re type the old Rough Rider and kilijarmo Bell legends and collect a check level of work. Read it a couple of hundred times already.

That was about insightful as reading a post by Gus. Seriously, what was in that article that people didn't already know?

I didn't read it but I figured thats about what was in it...

I like Boddington. I try to cut gun writers some slack. There's only so much you can write about. It's gotta be tough to try to come up with something that hasn't had extensive coverage. What could he possibly put in the article that people didn't already know? What gun owning/shooting/loving demographic was his target for that article?

If I hear about his daughter's Kimber 7mm-08 again I will puke.

I very much like the idea of a classic wood/rust blue rifle in 7x57. But I much prefer the idea of a 7-08 Montana as a working rifle. Easy to source brass, advantages of composite/ss etc.

2 years ago I bought myself just such a Montana and using Lapua brass - it doesn't leave me wanting at all.

I'll skip it. I did my research and made my decision several years ago and went and bought my 7-08.

I've never had a 7x57 either. I have a 7mm 08, 7 mags, 7 ultra mag. I would like to have a 7x57, but I have enough I'm loading for. What caliber did she shout the tracker with?

I have one of each. 7-08 M700 MR, 275Rigby Ruger #1A and a 280 M700 Franken rifle.

The #1A is unfired and the other two are set up different enough to justify owning them. Truth is that the 257R will get used more than all three together.

I thought it was a good article. My take away was that 7-08s tend to be more accurate on average but with less case capacity. The 7x57 has more nostalgia but requires a little more dedication to find brass, get to shoot, etc. having played with each, I'm with the Boddington daughters, give me the 7-08 between the two.

I did not know Boddington preferred the 7x57.

Boddington does have a beautiful left hand custom mauser in 7x57 built by Todd Ramirez.

Ramirez's shop is not far from my house. He lives in a tiny place called Alba on US 80 about 80 east of Dallas.

Wish I could afford a rifle built by him.

Any difference that doesn't make any difference , isn't a dfference.

I thought it was an interesting article. I've got both a 7mm-08 in a Browning X-Bolt which is extremely accurate and lightweight, but I'd give that one up long before I would my 1895 Chilean Mauser in 7X57. It's no problem keeping groups within 1.5" at 100 yards with 140 gr ammo, but this summer I found that it really likes the PPU 158 GROM, which is even more accurate. I changed out the front sight to a higher one and filed it to shoot 2" high at 100.

What a piece of wood on that Chilean. Great old rifle there.

Does anyone else find , no matter the info. available in the article, that Boddington comes across a bit Smug. Even for for a Marine...........