Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 7x57 - Remington, Winchester or Ruger?

I don't have to make that choice.. I just have one of each...

you gotta love Southern Oregon for things like that... I got both of them cheap cheap...

The Featherweight was used, and bedded, trigger job, came with Leupold bases and rings...

The Ruger was brand new and had been sitting on the shelf collecting dust for a long time...

Got the Featherweight because the owner couldn't find ammo for it, and it didn't sell because people couldn't find ammo for it, if they even knew what it was..

Same with the Ruger.... If a rifle is in a caliber that no one can buy ammo at Walmart or Bi Mart in Southern Oregon.... they won't touch it...

When I bought the featherweight up in Roseburg, the old guy who owned the gun shop told me ' before I go get the ladder to climb up there and get that rifle, I want you to know it is chambered in a 7 x 57, Do you have a clue what that caliber is.... because I'm damn tired of climbing up there and getting it and then people handing it back to me
say WTF is a 7 x 57?'.. If you know what the caliber is, and you know where to get ammo for it then fine... because I ain't taking it back if you can't find ammo for it!"

Yeah, I know what it is and finding ammo is no problem because I handload all of my ammo, and yeah, I have brass for it already....

" Fine then.. I want $300 for it, as that is what I have into it...I want it out of here... you get out your credit card then I'll climb up and get it"

will $300 cash work instead?

" Hell yeah it would.... I'll even toss in the $10 back ground check... if we do that first I don't want to climb back up there if you can't pass the back ground check"

No problem....

Back ground check came back in seconds, I had the $300 cash on the counter, he climbed up and got the rifle down, and I was out the door....

I think he was happier about my purchase than I was.... he'd had that rifle for 6 months.. everyone wanted to look at it, but then handed it back, because of the caliber..

He had sold the rifle new to a friend who special ordered it 7 years before, who hunted with it like three times.. because he could never find ammo for it..

Got it home and took it to the range... darn Featherweight thought it was a varmint or sniper rifle... with about anything you fed it...

$300.00 well spent....

I bought two of the Ruger tang safety 77's in 7x57 in the early 70's. Neither one shot very well, and one had a very enlarged chamber. Sold them both and in the mid 80's bought one of the new model 70 featherweights in 7x57 for my son. I put a m8 3x Leupold on it back then and am getting ready to change that out to a new mx3 2.5-8 Leupold and start my grandson shooting it. It will be his first hunting rifle.

Now that story saddens me. So much so that I may have to start drinking early today, just to deaden the sorrow.

I enjoy stories like Seafire's .I bought a 6.5x57 barrel then went looking for brass. It's can be made from 8x57, not 7x57 if memory serves me right. I had it rechambered to 6.5x55.and fitted to a Zastava action.

I've had a tang safety Ruger M77 that wouldn't shoot anything but 175 grainers. Also had a 1951 FN Mauser that shot great, but weighed a ton. My all time favorite rifle is my push feed Model 70 Featherweight in 7X57. It shoots 140 and 160 grain Partitions into little, bitty groups and drops stuff right there. With H4350 in R-P brass, I get 2840 fps with the 140 grainers and 1725 with the 160s. I love the looks of the Featherweight and while I know they're hard to find, I'd hold out for one.

I three rifles in 7x57. If I had to chose between them, Ild keep the M70 FET, hands down.The others are a Ruger #1A and a custom on an FM Mauser.
Paul B.

I have always been a sucker for Winchester Featherweights, in fact my first one in 1981 was so chambered.
My current 7x57 is a Cabela's BACO Super Grade and it is the most perfect rifle I have ever owned, used or shot.

I took it out of the box, fitted and lapped a set of Leupold dual dovetails and a Zeiss Conquest 3-9.
Handloading was easy as I had everything already, but when I loaded up 145gn Barnes LRX over 51gn of H 4350, it shot +1" and a cloverleaf measuring .252" for 2864fps without scope adjustment.
150gn Ballistic Tip over 50gn H 4350 went into .194" and 2755fps
150gn Partition over 50gn H 4350 went into .427" and 2798fps
175gn Partition over 46gn of Rel 17 went into .295" and 2640fps

for me, it is, the perfect rifle and was marked down to $899 brand new, being the last one.

That's a very clean and classy looking rifle.