Where to buy 7.7 x 57 jap ammo

[Bob in St. Louis]

Hey all,
A buddy of mine has a rifle that had been handed down through his family and hadn't been shot in "forever". He just recently got it "restored" and is ready to fire some ammo through it.
Being an oddball size, he's looking for options on where to get ammo (he is not into reloading, and I don't do rifle).
He's not looking to take down elephants, so high power is not desired.
Any ideas?
Thank you very much!
Bob

[Geezer in NH]

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/192380/norma-usa-american-ph-ammunition-77mm-japanese-174-grain-soft-point-box-of-20

[Greg G.]

$31.00 for 20 at Cabelas.

[Bob in St. Louis]

Thanks fellas. I'm not a rifle guy. Seems high for plinking, are those reasonable?
Obviously the second one is cheaper. Does anyone here sell reloads that would be any cheaper?

[Ben]

7.7×58mm Arisaka , not 57 mm

[CHeatermk3]

Powder Valley has brass cases in stock, Privi-Partisan at $25/50 cases, if you load your own...

[Bob in St. Louis]

No, I've got a Lee Load-All for shotguns, but can't do rifles.

[Bob in St. Louis]

7.7×58mm Arisaka , not 57 mm
Are you saying that I was asking for the wrong round?

[Multigunner]

The Japanese used several types of 7.7 cartridges so its best to make certain you get the right type. Some Jap 7.7 was a rimmed cartridge interchangeable to the .303 British. It was intended for their copy of the Lewis Gun.

A mixup with a 7.92X57 cartridge in the 7.7X58 chamber has blown up an Arisaka belonging to a member of another board. Luckily he had remote test fired using a booth.
This is probably not that uncommon since many Chinese captured Arisakas were re-bored to 7.92 and some hook safety rifles made by the Chinese were originally made in 7.92X57.

[Ben]

Are you saying that I was asking for the wrong round?

Yes, As far as I know there is no 57 mm Japanese round.

[Bob in St. Louis]

Ohhh well then... We should start by some form of swage measurement, or a caliper to find out what the actual bore is then, correct?
I also need to make sure I didn't incorrectly write down the numbers he gave me. I could have sworn it was 57, but I could be wrong.

[bouncer50]

My best advice is to make your own ammo if your only going to shoot it once in a while. Just buy some reloading dies. You can use 30-06 or 270 brass. I use 270 brass because i do not own a 270 and not to get a mix up with my 30.06 rifles. Just resize in a 7,7 dies and trim down to 7.7 x 58. The early Jap 7.7 from 1939 to about 1941 are the best ones to find. The bore size is better on the early models. But they can range from 310 to 318 bore size. The Jap rifle is on the crude side compare to other nation rifle. But they used good steel and have a strong action. Also to note during the Korea war they rechamber a lot of 7.7 Jap rifle to 30-06. Also after WW11 GI bringing back 7.7 some had them rechamber to 30,06 to hunt deer. Same as the 6.5 rifle rechamber to 6.5 257 Roberts.

[CHeatermk3]

For not much more than the cost of a few boxes of factory ammo you could set up to load rifle ammo:

http://www.titanreloading.com/image/cache/catalog/D2g/90928-2017-600x600.jpg

Titan also has the 7.7 Jap pacesetter die set in stock...$29.95...
Just tryin' to be helpful here....

[Bob in St. Louis]

I didn't know a fellow could reload rifle ammo for that cheap. Thanks CHeatermk3

Not sure my buddy is going to want to get into reloading but I'll run it by him.
Thanks again fellas, it is MUCH appreciated!

[mac1911]

7.7 jap comes in waves from PPU Norma
Hornady makes it also but again limited runs from what I know.
It was right around 1$ round up until Bout 4 years ago.
Reloading is the way to go. I shoot cast bullets from mine and it does well enough to be fun.
If the rifle was restored I would hope the person's restoring it would do a chamber cast and headspace check if it was intended to be functional.

[Texas by God]

Try Graf&Sons for Privi-Partizan 7.7x58 Japanese.

[Bob in St. Louis]

I'll check into that, thank you!

[Eddie2002]

You were probably thinking of 8 x 57 Mauser which can be resized to 7.7 x 57 which works in a model 99 even though the brass is a little short.
The Privi-Partizan brass is good quality, I've used it for both my 7.7 Japs and Molsin 91/30.

[Bob in St. Louis]

Of the 7 "hits" of Privi-Partizan on that site, all were either out of stock or temporarily unavailable.
haha. oh well.
Not looking good for my buddy to fire cheap stuff. Thanks for the time and wisdom fellas!

[Eddie2002]

Most 7.7 Jap shooters resize other cartridges and reload them for their rifles. 30-06 is the most popular along with 270 Winchester brass but they both need to be trimmed to size. I've used 8 x 57 Mauser brass which is a bit short by running it through a Full Length resizing die. The brass works fine and is readily available. It'a an option instead of buying the expensive Norma brass.

[Bob in St. Louis]

Roger that. But like I said, he's not a reloader, and the only equipment I've got is for shotshells.

[Multigunner]

Try here
http://ammoseek.com/ammo/7.7x58mm

Also be wary of Hornady manufacture 7.7 ammunition, there has been a product safety recall on some lots.

[Bob in St. Louis]

Thank you!
I forgot all about ammoseek.
Much appreciated!

[Shiloh]

Factory is going to b spendy

Shiloh

[CHeatermk3]

From Titan Reloading: Lee Breech Lock reloader press=$35.59
" " " Lee Limited production "Pacesetter" die set 7,7 Japanese(includes factory crimp die)=$29.89
S&H for above, about $10;
From Powder Valley:
Brass, 7,7 Jap/50 cases; @25.98; Bullets, PPU 311 dia 150grain SP+ $23,22;plus S&H, $10;
Powder, 1 pound, find it local get from Lee powder chart included in die set; Figure $27; Primers, $5/100; totla = about $164.68, for the first 50 and subtract the brass price for the next 50 rounds or $1.65 per, and the cost goes down from there as the most expensive component is the cases which are re-usable for at least 4 and possibly way more loadings.

Compare to 3 boxes of factory ammo , online at minimum $2.10 each, plus S&H.

Just sayin'...

[Bob in St. Louis]

Well then, that's much better than I wold have thought to reload rifle rounds.
I'd have never guessed that. Thank you very much, I'll be passing this along.
VERY much appreciated.
It was mentioned earlier that it was pretty cheap, but I was thinking there's be more to it than that, so my apologies for that.