Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Mule Deer-7 x 57 advice needed

Ain’t easy here either Parson. A five-round box of TSS is probably a lifetime supply for me.

Mike,

Back when I was really into turkey hunting, I went to Florida, called in an Osceola and shot it at about 20 yards. They are indeed tougher to call in than western turkeys, partly because they don't talk as much. But it's not impossible, even for a hick from Montana.

No offense intended, John. Turkeys can be a challenge anywhere, mainly because they have excellent eyesight and can pick up the slightest movement. And calling one in to close range can be about as exciting as anything. There's a reason folks get addicted to it.

I ain't gonna stop ya.

Something tells me they taste the same!!😎😎

Fuggers taste pretty darn good too!

Big platter covered in fried turkey tits, fresh caught fried crappie and fried morels in the spring with some suds to help rinse it down is a very hard combination to beat!

Yep!

Amen on that brother.

My #1 7x57 wouldn't shoot worth crap so I had my gunsmith check it out. It took a chamber cast showing a 2" throat so I sent it back to Ruger with a copy of my gunsmith's report. It took a 7 month wait go get it back but it's tack driver now.
I also like my M70 XTR 7x57 which was a good shooter from the get go. A custom Mauser I had built up though shows high pressures when trying to get past factory ammo specs.

I've been getting some interesting results with 150 gr. Partitions and Re17 in the M70 and #1 but the Mauser balks and anything much over factory levels It even has the long throat for 175 gr. bullets. It's quite accurate with Winchester 145 gr. ammo when I can find some.
Paul B.

I have a 7x57 700 classic it’s easy to get to shoot well. My wife has a left hand Tikka 7mm-08 and it is easy to get to shoot well.

I like classic cartridges and the 7x57 pretty much is classic!

If I were to build a 7x57 it would likely be on a 700 action, but many other actions would be suitable. I wouldn’t go with a short action though.

I used my 7x57 700 Classic for my antelope rifle and it worked very well with 139 grain Interlocks. It also is an excellent deer rifle.

The only 7x57’s I’ve owned that were difficult to shoot well (not impossible) were military 98 Mausers. They liked long blunt bullets, I believe heavy Speer bullets worked well in the ones I worked with. A friend borrowed one of those and dropped an elk cow with a single shot.

I have a 1956 Steyr Mannlicher MC 7x57 and it shoots good with 140gr Remington Corelokts. When I first got it I had no brass so I bought a box of 140gr Remington ammo. It puts 3 into 1" at 100 yards with a 4x scope IF I do my part. I loaded some 140gr Corelokts seated out and the rifles didn't like that. I seat the bullets to the cannelure and all is well. I looked at the bore with my Lyman bore scope and it's a bit rough with shallow pits. I cleaned it down to bare metal and I won't make that mistake again! It took several shots for it to settle in.

Back at the beginning of the month I declared 2021 the year of the Rigby look alike G33-40 7x57. Then I amended that resolution to include my Ruger 1 RSI 7x57.
My Ruger 1 257 Roberts wants to have me impeached!
So now what?

I had this 7x57 built by a local gunsmith on a pre war oberndorf action when I was in my mid 20's and still young and foolish.



I don't know how he cut the chamber but it shoots the full range of bullet weights accurately. 120 Ballistic Tips, 145 Power points, 154 Hornady's and the old 170 Sierra RNs.

Not a target rifle but I get 1" to 1 1/2" if I do my part.

Dan

Nice rifle but looks a little out of sorts without irons I think and the scope is out of proportion to the rest of the gun. Certainly a hunter's rifle, though.

Thanks, I totally agree with you. My gunsmith didn't want to put sights on the thinner barrel thinking it would mess with accuracy.

The rifle originally had a Leupold vari x ii 2-7 in low rings. This photo has a Bushnell 4200 3-9 in medium rings. It now wears a Bushnell Elite 2-7 which is really more fitting for this rifle.

Dan

Dan,

If you look at other full stocked rifles many of which had thinner barrels I do not think accuracy would necessarily be affected too much. I hunt 20mm tubes so I suppose all scopes look a little big.

My Merkel K1 in 7x57R is a fantastic rifle. I’d highly recommend the cartridge, only problem is finding a rifle that suits your loony specs!

She caught the Katy and left me a mule to ride...

Nice piece of kit that is.

Drillings can be scary accurate.

JP Sauer 16/16/7x57R drilling at 100 yards.

I've probably owned three dozen 7x57s over the years, mostly bolt actions with a couple of combination guns and a semi-auto FN49 thrown into the mix. My favorite factory built 7x57s have been the Remington 700 Mountain Rifles, the Ruger 77 RSI, and the Winchester/USRA 70 Featherweights. Since I'm not a double barrel shotgun guy, drillings have never interested me.