Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles 7x57 brass - best?

I have had good luck with Prvi in 7x57, other cartridges hit or miss.

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I have used quite a bit of Prvi 7x57, both the 140-gr PSP and the 158-gr Grom. Two of my rifles dearly love the Grom load, but none of my rifles are particularly stellar with the PSP, although I have put a lot of pork in the pot with them. The brass, though is a different story altogether. I find it to be both weight and neck thickness consistent, and it lasts a long time. I have a batch that I haven't bothered to keep a round count on, but I know they've been loaded nine or ten times, and the primer pockets are just beginning to get loose: not enough that primers fall out, they just seat easier. I do, though, anneal the necks after every second or third firing. I have yet to split one.

YMMV, but I'm happy with it. Oh, and both the ammo and brass are generally more available when folks are stocking up.

Agree...I`ve not shot their loaded stuff, but have used PPU brass for years. Good brass, and usually easy to get.

Seems like I read here fairly often about necking down 8x57 brass to 7x57. Looking at dimensions they are not based on the same "parent" case. The 8x57 is smaller in diameter at the .200" datum line. For those that have done this reforming have the primer pockets loosened up quickly?

Looking at the SAAMI drawings the difference is .4711 - .4698 = 0.0013" which is inside the difference I've seen between brands/batches of 308 Winchester.

Hence the question on primer pockets. Not saying it won't work, more interested in longevity. As I recall there is a difference in rim dimensions as well?

.284 win brass and is offspring 6.5-.284 is another example of two different standards. The original Win brass is a different head diameter than some of the offspring. They all fire just fine, but the case life can suffer.

My 1980's vintage Lyman X2 (their std .473" case head) shell holder fits my RWS 7x57 brass just fine but a RCBS #3 won't.

Thanks 451whitworth, I'll look into that. Thanks!

I use PPU.

I been getting it from grafs,the ppu is doing me good

Have tried all sorts of 7x57 brass over the past 40+ years, probably around 10 different rifles, several of them custom. Would probably go PPU these days, but would be more likely to stick with the .308 Winchester, which is sort of the 21st-century 7x57--with far more options on brass.

Hornady ran some brass with the 275 Rigby head stamp, I found it to be very good.

True but I just can't seem to wear out my 7x57 and brass life is excellent generally. I still have some S&B brass I bought back when I put the rifle together back in 1994. Had some losses due to splits so I annealed the whole batch and still going strong. PPU has been my newest brass added to the collection and it works just fine. As for the 308 I used them alternately trying to see if one was better than the other. Never a fair test as I used 140 and 150 grain bullets in the 7x57 and 150's in the 308. The difference being I ran the 7 at speeds around 2550 fps and the 308 at top 2800 fps speeds. The 308 made wider wound channels and gave plenty good enough penetration. That said I still haven't picked just one, still use both rifles.