I’d like to pick up a light & short 7x57 for New England & Kentucky woods hunting and know that there are throat & mag length issues to consider for Remington, Ruger & Winchester. I’d enjoy advice on which to consider or maybe another option that I’m not looking at. The Remington Classic is too bulky for my needs but maybe a 700 Mtn rifle would be ok. But I sure like Ruger RL & Win Featherweight and own several of each. The rifle needs to be nimble cuz these woods are thick and I’m a tracker mostly who covers lots of ground in the woods.

I fully understand that the 7mm-08 is modern, better & similar at the same time but owning both a 6mm & 257 Roberts I’d like to complete the trio.

Throw it all in & thanks for reading my rambling thoughts!

Ive had them all and really wish I had my 700 Mtn. rifle back. That said the current Ruger African in .275 Rigby is simply the nicest and perhaps most accurate factory rifle Ive had...

The nice thing about building is, you get exactly what you want.

Sorry for the non-gunwriter opinion.

The Devil is in the Details! Assume nothing, especially reamer design!

I grew up with the Mod. 70 and the Springfield 03A3 and almost every beautiful rifle picture I remember gracing the cover of popular gun magazines was a Mod. 70 or Mauser bolt action rifle. I personally think the Mod. 700 and Ruger "took over" because they were cheaper to make, had good advertising, and that appealed to a new generation of hunting riflemen. Not because they were better or more durable hunting rifles. That and the demise of "old" Winchester bolt guns sealed the deal, so to speak. I have never been a fan of Remington centerfire rifles, but many of my friends are.

Ruger rifles are built to last and I used a Mod. 77 .338 for about ten years. That rifle would put a handful of 250 grain Nosler Partitions into a tidy little group at 100 yards and was a moose, caribou and bear slayer. I traded it off for the Holy Grail, a Pre-64 Mod. 70 Alaskan .338 Winny. A few years later I sold it for a profit and built a .338 based on a Mod. 70 "Classic Stainless" action. A grandson will receive it some day, with the condition he passes it on to his son.

So I think any of the three will work fine and I like a light weight rifle as long as it balances good for off hand shooting, which for me feels best when a rifle is a little muzzle heavy.

Ruger M77 tang safety in 7X57MM will be easier to find than the other two you mention

You can't go wrong with the 7X57 and any of the three offerings you presented will work fine. I have three rifles in this caliber two customs and a pre64 M70 carbine. If i was to be still hunting the big woods country this is the rifle I'd take but finding one is the problem and there pricey.
You said your a tracker so when you get a shot it's probably going to be one quick one. Consider a Ruger #1 in either the 1A or international configuration. Most of my hunting was done with single shot rifles last year and I never felt handicapped.

The mountain rifle or the M70 featherweight (if you can find one) would be my first choices. But, if Ruger showed up first, I'd grab it. If you find one of the others later, you can pick one up and sell the Ruger, although you just might not want to.

THIS.......

According to my records I've owned 14 7x57s, and hunted with most of them. Never had a Model 70 Featherweight, though that would seem to be a good choice, based on my experience with various other 70 FWTs from pre-64s to push-feeds to Classics. But have owned and hunted with one Remington Mountain Rifle and several Rugers.

The 700 shot okay but not great. Eventually turned it into a custom rifle, whereupon the gunsmith (unknown to me) installed a "match grade" barrel with a 1-12 twist, He asked what bullet weight I'd be using most, and I told him probably around 140, assuming his question involved throat length. Did not find out what he'd done until various longer bullets would not shoot worth a schidt--whereupon I measured the twist. It turned out he'd also installed slow-twist barrels on rifles ordered by friends of mine, including a 1-12 twist on a 6mm Remington. He's still in business, but apparently finally abandoned the slow-twist accuracy theory.

Mine also included a couple of Ruger No. 1As, one a red-pad with great wood, and the other a black-pad with plain wood. The red-pad had the typical ultra-long Ruger throat of the day, and would not shoot any bullet less than 160 grains seated close to the lands. The black-pad rifle had a much shorter throat, and shot well, but the plain wood never grabbed me.

The first Ruger 77 was a tanger, which the worst barrel I've ever encountered on a Ruger rifle. Had a bore-scope, and the barrel was very rough--but also slugged it and the "tight" spots measured .287". The 77 Mark II shot well, due to Ruger starting to make their own barrels and shortening the throats, but again had very plain wood and just didn't grab me.

The bolt-action "7x57" I own now is one of the special-run .275 Rigbys. I traded into it a year ago, and it shoots as well as any 7x57 I've ever owned, including a custom rifle built by Serengeti Rifles on a Montana 1999 "short" action. (Also have a Sauer drilling, a 16x16x57R that shoots very well--for a drilling--with both handloads and factory ammo.)

The one 7x57 I really regret selling was one I stocked myself on a Brno VZ-24 action around a quarter-century ago, with A nice piece of European walnut grown in New Zealand. I made by hand from the blank with a blind magazine and 21" Shilen barrel. The rifle weighed only 7 pounds with a 4x33 Leupold--and would consistently put 5 (not 3) 140-grain Nosler Partitions into around half an inch at 100 yards. But a supposed friend talked me out of it, and I sometimes still wake up in the middle of the night wondering where that rifle is.

Hard to beat a little Brno Carbine.

Good to hear the 275 is working for you:-)

Thanks. Graeme!

The only ammo I've shot through it so far is handloads worked up for other rifles. They shot very well!

I’ve use a model 70 classic, I purchased of here secondhand. It is incredibly smooth and accurate. It is paired with a Vx-3 3.5-10 with custom reticle. It is by far my favorite woods rifle.

I’d sell a couple three rifles to finance a .275 Rigby Ruger African...

Ruger African or maybe a Brno 21 or 22.

I would have loved one of the Ruger African .275 Rigbys but none were sent to Australia,

I still have my Ruger 1A in 7x57 though. I like that rifle heaps and always come back to it after playing with something new.

I built a 7x57 on a short action M-70 EW. The build itself had numerous issues, but none of them were because of the cartridge or the action I put it in.

My first big game rifle was a first year production Ruger Model 77 Tang Safety in 308 Win; and I still have it . I also have a Ruger 77 MII in 7x57 caliber. Both are great rifles. I also have a nice Brno made sportified Mexican Mauser 98 in 7x57 that is a great handling rifle. My best friend and hunting buddy had a Pre 64 Winchester Model 70 FW 30-06 that he used for everything. He had it when I met him in 1959 and it was passed on to his son when he died last year, at age 83.

The Winchester 70 FW is legendary, and as Mule Deer mentioned, the "Ruger rifles are built to last". Most importantly the 7x57 caliber is a sweet low recoiling round that has a great reputation for performance on game world wide. It is my favorite! It can take almost all the big game in North America with the exception of the great bears. And at a safe distance with 175 grain Nosler PTs or Accubonds, it could probably easily kill a Grizzly, but I personally would step up to a 30-06 or greater for a Grizzly.

But for 7x57, I would look for a good used or new rifle, I would pick the one you like best and go forth in confidence. That said, I wouldn't rule out Rem 7mm-08 the modern version of the 7x57 performance. Especially based on available factory ammo (under normal conditions), or if you do not reload.

CJ

Just bought Wife an unfired tang safety Ruger in 7x57, for a few reasons,

If she ever wants to hunt africa with me, even if she doesn't, i'll take it and get her a bag of plains game with it.
Have had a bag of ammo i loaded 25 years ago with 175gr hornady round nose bullets, they run 2385 from the little Ruger.

I even fires my hellbender 7x57 load just fine with 175gr old style grand slams, thou at 2660 instead of 2700 fps, the rifle wears a gloss 2-7 leupold, perfect light handy package imho, also put a Ernie the Gunsmith spring in it to lighten trigger pull, that rifle is zeroed and waiting on hair.

I don't have to make that choice.. I just have one of each...

you gotta love Southern Oregon for things like that... I got both of them cheap cheap...

The Featherweight was used, and bedded, trigger job, came with Leupold bases and rings...

The Ruger was brand new and had been sitting on the shelf collecting dust for a long time...

Got the Featherweight because the owner couldn't find ammo for it, and it didn't sell because people couldn't find ammo for it, if they even knew what it was..

Same with the Ruger.... If a rifle is in a caliber that no one can buy ammo at Walmart or Bi Mart in Southern Oregon.... they won't touch it...

When I bought the featherweight up in Roseburg, the old guy who owned the gun shop told me ' before I go get the ladder to climb up there and get that rifle, I want you to know it is chambered in a 7 x 57, Do you have a clue what that caliber is.... because I'm damn tired of climbing up there and getting it and then people handing it back to me
say WTF is a 7 x 57?'.. If you know what the caliber is, and you know where to get ammo for it then fine... because I ain't taking it back if you can't find ammo for it!"

Yeah, I know what it is and finding ammo is no problem because I handload all of my ammo, and yeah, I have brass for it already....

" Fine then.. I want $300 for it, as that is what I have into it...I want it out of here... you get out your credit card then I'll climb up and get it"

will $300 cash work instead?

" Hell yeah it would.... I'll even toss in the $10 back ground check... if we do that first I don't want to climb back up there if you can't pass the back ground check"

No problem....

Back ground check came back in seconds, I had the $300 cash on the counter, he climbed up and got the rifle down, and I was out the door....

I think he was happier about my purchase than I was.... he'd had that rifle for 6 months.. everyone wanted to look at it, but then handed it back, because of the caliber..

He had sold the rifle new to a friend who special ordered it 7 years before, who hunted with it like three times.. because he could never find ammo for it..

Got it home and took it to the range... darn Featherweight thought it was a varmint or sniper rifle... with about anything you fed it...

$300.00 well spent....

I bought two of the Ruger tang safety 77's in 7x57 in the early 70's. Neither one shot very well, and one had a very enlarged chamber. Sold them both and in the mid 80's bought one of the new model 70 featherweights in 7x57 for my son. I put a m8 3x Leupold on it back then and am getting ready to change that out to a new mx3 2.5-8 Leupold and start my grandson shooting it. It will be his first hunting rifle.

Now that story saddens me. So much so that I may have to start drinking early today, just to deaden the sorrow.

I enjoy stories like Seafire's .I bought a 6.5x57 barrel then went looking for brass. It's can be made from 8x57, not 7x57 if memory serves me right. I had it rechambered to 6.5x55.and fitted to a Zastava action.

I've had a tang safety Ruger M77 that wouldn't shoot anything but 175 grainers. Also had a 1951 FN Mauser that shot great, but weighed a ton. My all time favorite rifle is my push feed Model 70 Featherweight in 7X57. It shoots 140 and 160 grain Partitions into little, bitty groups and drops stuff right there. With H4350 in R-P brass, I get 2840 fps with the 140 grainers and 1725 with the 160s. I love the looks of the Featherweight and while I know they're hard to find, I'd hold out for one.

I three rifles in 7x57. If I had to chose between them, Ild keep the M70 FET, hands down.The others are a Ruger #1A and a custom on an FM Mauser.
Paul B.

I have always been a sucker for Winchester Featherweights, in fact my first one in 1981 was so chambered.
My current 7x57 is a Cabela's BACO Super Grade and it is the most perfect rifle I have ever owned, used or shot.

I took it out of the box, fitted and lapped a set of Leupold dual dovetails and a Zeiss Conquest 3-9.
Handloading was easy as I had everything already, but when I loaded up 145gn Barnes LRX over 51gn of H 4350, it shot +1" and a cloverleaf measuring .252" for 2864fps without scope adjustment.
150gn Ballistic Tip over 50gn H 4350 went into .194" and 2755fps
150gn Partition over 50gn H 4350 went into .427" and 2798fps
175gn Partition over 46gn of Rel 17 went into .295" and 2640fps

for me, it is, the perfect rifle and was marked down to $899 brand new, being the last one.

That's a very clean and classy looking rifle.