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

I noticed the comment on the 175 gr. Winchester round. It does gripe me that Big W dropped that loading. I always thought their bullet with that "big blue nose" would be a better killer than Federal's 175 bullet. Both in round nose of course. Never did get a chance to find out as I never could find any to buy when I was looking.
PJ

On the first few hunts with the 7x57, those old Win loads with the 175 gr RN were all I could get - and were deadly on deer/elk. But, once started reloading and testing loads, I found that weight/shape bullet to be quite less than optimal for overall performance. Eventually figured out that, in my 7x57s, the bullets designed for hunting and weighing it at or near 140 gr, were optimal. YMMV.

Interesting that you say this. When I got my FN 24/30, the "common knowledge" around the Upper Connecticut River Valley was that the "big blue nose" Winchester 175 grains openned up more quickly than either the Federals or Remingtons with the smaller amount of exposed lead. The 139 grain CIL ammo that I occasionally got to shoot openned up very quickly and would disintegrate inside of a whitetail, no through and through penetration and just bits and pieces of bullet at the bottom of the pool of blood from the disintegrated lungs.

Just to be clear, you purchased Ingwe and Mule Deer's 7x57?

Guilty.

FC, great tradition going on there, I will be all ears.

While you are at, bump the mouth of a case and invert a bullet, chamber, measure the exposed bullet and advise. I collect those measurements. Thanks in advance.

You all are wonderfully terrible influences as were the gun writers mentioned along the way.

Just bought my first 7x57 tonight - from a fellow ‘Fire member. Lots of rifles are neatly organized in my rifle closet - this one is perhaps the most anticipated in a very long while.

The next time I'm using comparator to measure base to ogive I'll check throat length as well on both of those rifles. I know that my newer M70s, as well as my Montana ASR, have throats just shy of .25 inches.

I know that three-shot groups mean nothing, but this is pretty standard from my M1909 Argentine, 24 inch barrel of unknown make, bedded in an old B&C Carbelite stock. The bullets were pulled bullets from Rocky Mountain Reloading, 175-grain Interlocks. The load is:

Case: Prvi
Primer: WLR
Powder: 43.5 gr. IMR4350
CBTO: 2.635"
Vel: about 2500 (never chronographed it)

It blows through pigs and leaves an exit wound about the size of a silver dollar (if you remember what they look like). Unfortunately I'm running low on that bullet and only the Good Lord knows when RMR will ever get caught up to the point of having any more for sale. So what I will probably do is work up a load using something in the 160-grain class. I have a bunch of Partitions, Grand Slams, Hot Cors, and four or five boxes of the old Speer Deep Curls (which, by the way, in the 175-grain version shoot really well in my Zastava). JB seems to like 160-grain bullets, and JOC said it was all his wife ever used in her 7x57, and in my mind those are pretty good endorsements.

Gun loonies like the 7x57. It offers nothing over the 270, except a bit more cool and a few minor ammo hassles.

Correction: a lot more cool!

I have been wondering why the 8x57 came about?

Why the 7x57 wasn’t used in WW2? Or was it?

In 1969 I was 14 and traded a wore out Remington pump 22 and $11 for a 1893 (M93) Ovideo mauser in 7x57 sporterized by Century Arms. Then bought a 50 rd box fmj spitzers that had berdan priming. By the time that surplus ammo was gone I bought 2 boxes of Remington 175 gr rn loads.At that point a RCBS JR. Press and dies which were followed in by everything else to cover the very basics of reloading cf ammo. I had the rifle drilled and tapped for weaver bases, bolt handle modified, Dayton Traister low swing safety installed and all polished with it reblued. That winter of 70 found me fitting the barreled action to an ECBishop 80% sporter blank ,glass bedding it and finishing with G66 linspeed oil.
I worked up my 1st loads with imr 4350 and 139 gr Hornady spire points then backed off a little and subbed in 140 npt's. They shot good 5 in 1 1/4" to 1 1/2" pretty regular. It took 2-3years to draw a tag for deer back then. Finally drawing a Clay Co. Any deer tag in 1972. 50 years ago this fall. I have a whitetail any deer tag for the west half of Sully Co for this fall I am betting I can shoot another whitetail buck with it again.50 years later. You know I still have some of the red box federal brass I bought from Gibson's in Yankton ,SD back then I am sure it will still work...mb
JOC influenced my early years also.

7.92x57 came first, by about 4 years. Nations using the 7mm were largely neutral in the World Wars.

So the 8x57 is pre 7x57?

And when did the 8 x 57 become a larger diameter?

Thanks

Yes, 8x57 came first. The original version of the cartridge, the Patrone 88/8x57I (the I stood for Infantry), appeared in 1888. The final version with .323" diameter bullets, the "S" diameter, appeared in 1905, when the bullet was also changed from a 225-grain roundnose to a 154-grain spitzer. The chamber throat was also shortened to better accommodate the lighter, sleeker bullet. (The next year the U.S. military changed the standard 1903 Springfield's load from a roundnose 220-grain to a 150-grain spitzer. The chamber throat was also similarly shortened.)

However, some commercial 8x57s retained the .318 bullet/groove diameter after 1905, notably break-action guns chambered for the 8x57 rimmed.

Ballistic wise how does the modern 8x57 compare to a modern 7x57 ?

I hear you. The only animal I shot with the federal 175 gr. round nose was lost; found the next day after what the coyotes left. Wasn't much. Years later later I chronographed that load and it gave velocity well under what was advertised. I figure that bullet just zipped thought the deer and never opened up. I shot the deer right about 8 in the morning and the wife and I looked for that deer until the sun went down.

One 160 gr. bullets, I believe JOC also was quite fond of them. I do have a load using the 150 gr, Nosler Partition that shoots very nicely at 2800+ FPS from my M70 FWT and Ruger #1. The custom Mauser I had built has problems with hot loads. It hates them. I think that I have figured out what went wrong. I got the rifle, a commercial FN Mauser chambered to the .270. For some reason I quit shooting it very early on and just set it aside until it came time for the custom build. With factory level loads it shot OK but when they were getting into the warmish side that when thing went to hell. Got to thinking about it the other day and I'm thinking there is set back in the slots for the locking lugs and when the loads reach a certain level, the gun locks up tighter than a tick on a hound dpg. It take quite a bit of force to get the bolt open. What happened was as I was thinking on this, it came to me why I'd put the rifle aside. I was hunting deer close to home and got a shot at a deer. Missed and when I went to chamber a round I could not open the bolt. It had locked up with a factory load. Guess I'll take it to my gunsmith and see what he says but methinks a new receiver is what it will take to fix the problem. I hate to sacrifice one of my rifles to get another receiver for the gun. I have FN rifles in .270 and 30-06 so it can be done. I got that bad .270 as part of a trade. Too bad that brother in law is long time dead. I'd love to have a little discussion with him about the the rifle.
PJ

Comparison about what one would expect with the same case volume/powder charge driving a .311 diameter slug instead of a .284. Not much difference if bullet weight is the same.