Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Phil Sharpe

Phil Sharpe also was responsible for the the .357 magnum if I recall.

The 7x61 S&H was purpose designed to get the optimum velocity with 4350 powder, the slowest powder available to the public until after WWII.

Post War the 4831 powders became available and were suitable for a slightly larger cartridge. Then later even more slow burning powders suitable for magnum cartridges were produced.

A +P version was produced by Norma in an effort to revive the cartridge but it couldn't compete with the mass appeal of the 7mm RM and the lead the 7mm Weatherby had. Europe was flooded with Magnum 7s, H&H, Halger, Dubiel, Ross, Vom Hofe, Shuler etc.

A good cartridge exactly in between the 280AI, 7mm WSM and 7mm RM and still useful now.

Good info Tejano but the improvements Norma made to the 7x61 S&H went beyond merely loading it to a higher pressure.
Norma completely redesigned the case construction by thinning the case walls .005" and reducing the thickness of the web a full .020" while still maintaining the same outside dimensions.
This resulted in an increase of capacity of ~5 grains or roughly half of it's 10 gr deficit to the 7mmRM.

Personally I prefer the 7x61 Sharpe and Hart if only because it has a way cooler name than the 7mm RM.

He was a stange duck. When I got my driver's license in 1957, I drove to Emitsburg to buy one of his rifes in 7x61 S&H (this was before the 1968 laws and I had saved lawn cutting and paper route money for the purchase).

I walked into his office/shop and said that I'd like to buy one of his rifles and was soundly booted out. It seems that it was just too much trouble to write up a sale of a single rifle - "I only sell multible guns or I'd be spending my whole day doing one at a time" - or someting to this effect. Not exactlly a warm and fuzzy man.

IIRC there was a Rifle or Handloader article a couple of years ago which gave him some credit for the 7.62x51mm also.

Sorry to hear that djs. A young guy does not need to hear rude stuff like that!

Good to see that your still with the rifles and enthusiastic.

I read Sharpe's book way back and felt that he oversold his 7mm. He was indeed 'sharp' however not that easy to read.

"I only sell multible guns or I'd be spending my whole day doing one at a time" -

One of the prime reasons the shooting sports dont gather more enthusiasts and the general public isn't particularly fond of gun owners or supportive of their rights.

Wasn't Elmer Keith involved in the 357 design also?

As was D. B. Wesson. Apparently Sharpe did a lot of the lab work. Keith a lot of field work. It seems to me that what Keith intuitively knew Sharpe proved or attempted to prove.

Re: The improved 7x61 S&H,
Quoting information from memory is hazardous.

The improved greater capacity case was called the S&H Super 7x61. The original was conceived during WWII but didn't come out till 1958 when several factors were already working against it. The super version was sometime after the 7RM's introduction.

It is unfortunate that so many with extensive firearms knowledge were so poor at communication or even basic civility.

It seems typical of people who are driven in a specific field. They are obsessed and any intrusion is nearly intolerable. You see this with some artists, writers, scientists... Not an excuse, an explanation.

Hobie,

Thanks. Good info.
Mucho appreciated,

Don