Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Finn Aagaard on the 7x57

American Rifleman November 1986.

Great article Roundoak!

Thank you for sharing!

Thanks for sharing! I enjoy reading Finn a lot. Interestingly he draws the line for an all around cartridge at 7mm while only previously noting that the 6.5 might barely make it…wonder what he thought of the .270

If I remember correctly he grouped the 270 with 7mm.

"It is almost as good as O'Connor said it was, but I still have no need for one". (Hunting Rifles and Cartridges, page 121)

270 is superior at least for logistics in N. America. That means a lot to some.

It's pretty easy to find out, since Finn also wrote an article on the .270 that was republished in the same collection of NRA-magazine articles as the 7x57 article. I have a copy of that collection, and might copy and post the .270 article here too....

Probably the same as all of us…

After all, he was full of common sense

Thanks for posting it!

I bought two of his books from Brad and have really enjoyed them.

That would be another fun read!

I'll save John the trouble - I scanned it a few years back. Click on the images to make them larger:

Thanks for posting the 7x57 piece, always enjoy reading about the old round. Guess that’s why I have three of them.

"The true general purpose big-game cartridges used in this country come in but two calibers, 30 and 7mm (the .270 Win., is merely a slightly aberrant 7mm whose bullets are .007" under size}. (American Rifleman, December 1986).

"actually, the .270 is so close to being a 7mm that its .277" diameter bullets will not drop through the bore of some 7mm's" (Hunting Rifles & Cartridges)

Finn may not of heard the old saying " close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades".

Well cited!

My initial comment singularly focused on the omission of a bore diameter that was well established and very popular at the time - I thought that was interesting but certainly wasn’t implying ulterior motives.

My first centerfire rifle was a 7X57 purchased at "Ye Old Hunter" on Prince Street along the the Potomac River in Alexandria, Va.
As I recall the Mauser model 95 carbine was made for Chile as a saddle gun with it's 19 inch barrel and nose cap. The price was $19.95 and full metal jacket ammo was $7.00 a hundred. I loved that rifle as a 12 year old and in later years I added two Ruger tangers in 7X57 to the herd.


Many members here will remember "Ye Old Hunter" ads on the back of the American Rifleman magazine until the 1968 gun control act was passed.

Yeah, Doc, a visit to "Ye Old Hunter" was almost a requirement for loonies in our neck of the woods wasn't it?

I always stopped and paid attention when a Finn Aagaard article popped up. He struck me as a guy with both feet firmly on the ground.

Since his persona has been popping up here of late, perhaps now is the time to ask if anyone knows the correct pronunciation of his name. I've always said "Ay-guard", but I've heard it pronounced a bunch of ways. I think it shows respect for a man to correctly use his name in conversation.

It's pronounced AH-gard, with a somewhat guttural G.

You sure it's not A-A-gard?