Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Can I re chamber a 7x57AI to 280 Rem.?

That....time to grow a couple new brain cells I reckon. 7x57 AI gains as much or more than the rest of the AI clan...good cartridge, use it.

Friend of mine did it to a Ruger #1 and it worked superbly. Don't recall it gave up anything to the .280 of significance.

Curious...does the 7x57AI get rid of the ridiculous amount of case neck to chamber slop normally found in 7x57s, or do you just have a shorter length to deal with.

You have the same neck dimensions. In fact, the improved neck should be about .004" longer since the juncture of the neck and shoulder is maved back that far. The neck diameter will remain the same if you are dealing with a re-chambered rifle. A new chamber will have a neck diameter equal to whatever the gunsmith's reamer has. I'm usually a fan of staying with SAAMI specs but I have to confess, the 7x57 is one of those where I considered the neck to be far too large so my 7x57 reamer is made with a smaller neck. Still not so small as to create any clearance problems but enough to reduce working of the brass. GD

So the money you saved on the price should cover an entry-level chrony.

Seriously, I would never be without a chrony. It doesn't have to be the best and most accurate. It just needs to be accurate enough to assure me I'm not making a big mistake.

I have been shooting my FN Mauser 7MM AI for almost 20 years now. Never once thought it needed to turned into a .280.
It handles regular factory ammo just fine. Shoots the hand loaded AI stuff even better.