Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles 7x57 brass

Jan 4th 2019 I fell on the ice and tore my shoulder all to hell. Exactly one year later I’m starting things MUCH better with a 1976 M77 7x57.

Now I need brass. Prvi Partizan seems like the easiest to locate and most affordable. Does anyone have experience with this brand? Consistency of weight and neck thickness, out of the box straightness, longevity, capacity vs. other brands?

Hornady 275 Rigby brass is tempting for the headstamp and better known quality. Nosler is even more expensive and out is stock a lot. Prvi looks easy, but I’ll pass if quality is sketchy or inconsistent.

Thanks in advance.

Just turned second batch of Remington (7x57) brass into .257 Roberts. Got mine at Cabela's. Good stuff!

I have used prvi brass with very good results for some years now. Good stuff.

I have been pleased with the 4 or 5 bags of PPU brass I have used so far. It is similar to military brass and was equal or better in uniformity and lack of blemishes than recent bags of Winchester brass I bought in the last two years. It is thicker tougher and heavier so capacity is less than other brass. One batch of 25-06 the primer pockets were minimal or less than the standard US size. I had to ream them with a Lyman tool that also bevels the pocket edge and then still had to use the champfer tool to seat primers easily. None of the other bags had this problem. If you don't go for premium brass the PPU is a good value.

If you want really good cases treat yourself to some RWS brass. Odd Lapua doesn't make 7x57 as they have both types of 8x57. Norma are good too.

Thanks for the feedback. Prvi sounds like an ok place to start then. Now I’m kicking around the idea of buying Prvi ammo to fireform with. My concern is a possible really long throat that won’t let me seat into the lands. This M77 is of the right vintage for that to be an issue. My hairbrain idea is to pull the factory 140gr enough to make them kiss (or pull and reseat). Completely dumb plan? If not, what should I use to neck up for a light false shoulder?

Well I ordered 100pcs of Prvi brass. I’ll inspect, sort and proceed as required.

Hopefully not 175s aren’t needed for a good fire-form, but we’ll see. After that probably 150’s for everything, though I have 110gr TNTs that could be very fun on coyotes.

I haven’t been this worked up about a firearm in a long time.

I do not, but can say R-P brass for the 7x57 is hell for stout and has good uniformity, I'm on the fourth loading running the old style 175gr Speer Grand Slams and Nosler Partitions to 2700 fps, the brass isn't stretching and primer pockets remain as tight as they were on day one.

Ive never used PRVI brass but Ive tried all the others and havent found fault with any of them

Thanks guys. I’ll grab a couple bags of R-P brass at Cabela’s if theyre available. I’m already learning that joining this cult is all about locating the rare and limited, and paying extra when located. I’m on board!

I lucked out a few years ago at a gun show and got a good supply of Remington and Winchester 7x57 brass. Looks like both batches are from production at least 20 or more years ago and there wasn't a bad case in the bunch.
I really can't say anything about the Privi partisan brass (PPU) but I've heard mostly good and about the only negative has been they may not work with the shell holder normally used for 06 based cartridges. hat's a sometimes thing BTW. I got four packs of some Austrailian 7x57 with 120 gr. monometal bullets and I tried them in two shell holders for fit and they were OK. At least those were OK.
Paul B.

The WW brass I have has slightly more internal volume than RP, Fed, S&B or PRVI which comes in handy for large charges of H4831. It's only one lot though, next one might not be the same. Other than that I haven't stressed about brands much.

Consider 160's.

I can tell you Hornady brass is quite good at least up to 4 loadings. That's as far as we've gotten in a Ruger a few years older than yours. Traded for it at a gun show when my son was IIRC 13. Every time the safe got opened it ended in his hands. Thought it was beautiful. So Christmas it was his with a USA Burris 3-9. Bought 4 boxes of factory Hornady 139 gr btsp Interlock ammo and he shot several deer with it. Going over 15 years ago now. That ammo is loaded lighter than 7-08 but is quick death on deer. Were I you I'd be tempted to do similar. Run the factory ammo till it's gone then start loading. Love those old blue bolt red pad Rugers.

I've been using Prvi brass for a long time. I generally keep track of the number of times each batch is loaded, but I have a coffee can full of those that I've lost track. I just pull a batch, anneal them using JB's candle method every three or four loadings, then go about my business. Some have to have been loaded nine or ten times. The pockets still hold primers, and I have yet to have a neck split. Granted, since these are practice loads I'm not pushing them to the upper velocity limit, but I'm not dogging them either. The nice things about Prvi cartridges and brass are 1) they're available, 2) they seem to work really well, 3) they're very inexpensive. Priced any Norma or Nosler lately? I honestly wish some of the reloading manuals would start using Prvi brass in their data for the older/"exotic" cartridges since that seems to be about the only brass available. Again, when was the last time anyone saw any Winchester 7x57 brass offered as a component? I don't like spending $30+ for a box of loaded Winchester cartridges just so I can get the brass to match the data in the Nosler manual.

Just my $.02.

RM

I have guns that will make any brand of brass tired after 4 firings.
I also have/had guns that will go 15 firings on any brass used before brass needs to be trashed.

Some brass reports (in my opinion) are jaded by the chamber/gun used in.
And some brass is better than others, but that can vary from lot to lot with same mfr.

I have not found a batch of brass yet that was so consistent in weight that I did not weigh sort.
Usually end up with 3 groups. Largest in middle and a few heavy or light.

If you found something you like stick with it, if not keep trying.

Just my thoughts/experiences.

I know exactly how happy your son was at 13. I bought my very first rifle at 12yrs, and it was a tang safety .257Roberts. I was given a 4x Leupold that Christmas, and was pretty sure all my worldly problems had just been solved forever. If those old tang safety models were control fed rather than push, I’d somehow manage to love them even a little bit more. They were a classy gun 50yrs ago, and really stand out today in the sea of stainless and plastic.

Yes Mike, I have priced Norma and Nosler, and they can cost more than Lapua in the more common cartridges. Crazy! I’m also surprised that Lapua doesn’t offer 7x57 brass. Prvi is definitely the standout for price and availability, and I have 100 pcs and a Redding 3 die set heading my direction. I too keep track of reload data, and anneal with the JB method. I’ll start with the lower book loads to account for the case difference, and don’t intend to squeeze the last few fps from the cartridge. I have larger rifles if there was a real need. JB posted and/ published the typical velocities he attains from the different weight bullets, and I will use that as an additional guideline for stopping. I’m currently thinking 160grs as the “one load,” except also having a coyote load with 110gr TNTs. I n my part of the world the coyotes are abundant and huntable almost year-round. Big game mammals are also relatively abundant but heavily regulated. I want to maximize my hunting hours with this new sweetie.

I weigh and sort my brass too...........after also sorting for runout. I can kill all sorts of time before ever sending rounds down the barrel, but it’s part of the fun, and often shrinks the groups just enough to feed my compulsion.

"Again, when was the last time anyone saw any Winchester 7x57 brass offered as a component? I don't like spending $30+ for a box of loaded Winchester cartridges just so I can get the brass to match the data in the Nosler manual."

What I have come to do is use whatever brass I have and start about midway between the min and max loads and work up running the loads through the chronograph. Makes it easy to tell when you're getting close to what you want. BTW, if you haven't done so, check out some of the data in the new Speer manual. The new Nosler has some interesting loads as well. Like 2700 FPS with the 175 gr. bullet. Looks like my 2900 FPS 150 gr. Nosler Partition load wasn't so out of line after all.
Paul B.

Nosler always has impressive velocities, but I always end up using something close to Speer’s charge weights to get them.

No issues with PPU brass as that is what I mainly use. Case life has been impressive as well.

You could always grab the hornady .275 rigby brass to class things up a bit.....I’ve got a few boxes squared away.