What happened to the 7mm Mauser?

[CHeatermk3]

Powder Valley has Privi 7x57 Mauser brass in stock as of this post--$25.36 plus shipping for 50 pcs.

powdervalley.com-brass-rifle-PriviPartisan-about 6 up from the bottom.

[opos]

The biggest problem with the 7x57 is that it is a great cartridge but OLD. Kind of like the .257 Roberts,,,OLD but very very effective. The gun writers have to have something new to talk about so they focus on all the new cartridges coming out.
I have 3 rifles in 7x57 and if I every see another on the used gun shelf I would buy it. I think it is a great cartridge.

the brass is out there
I have converted both 270 and -06 cases to the 7x57

I bought a large quantity of PRVI 139 grain ammo from SG in Oklahoma for a very reasonable price...it shoots well and the brass is terrific...I figured it was worthwhile to have some really good factory loads "waiting" and when I shot them I knew the exact history on my brass for reloading...they also have a 150+ ppu loaded ammo called "thunder" that is just as good both in factory loads and in the brass....Guess I'm too lazy to convert 06 and just like to do it this way.

[Uncle Grinch]

The real "fault" of the 7x57 is that it doesn't fit.
It is too long for a short action and almost too short in a long action .
When you build 1 in a long action if the bullet will stay in the case from the mag well to the chamber shoulder that can be your OAL . The standard twist at 8.5 doesn't help either . The 7mm 08 will do everything it does in a 308 case and short action . A 280 Rem will match numbers with an 06' and use all of the action..........l.

You are technically correct and even then it had been for many years, one of the more popular custom rifles made. A well balanced cartridge needs a proper action to take advantage of its virtues. That's exactly why when I had master gunsmith Mike McCabe build one for me, I used a 1922 FN made intermediate action.

The 7x57 has efficiency, history, and for many, a personality.

[Texas by God]

The real "fault" of the 7x57 is that it doesn't fit.
It is too long for a short action and almost too short in a long action .
When you build 1 in a long action if the bullet will stay in the case from the mag well to the chamber shoulder that can be your OAL . The standard twist at 8.5 doesn't help either . The 7mm 08 will do everything it does in a 308 case and short action . A 280 Rem will match numbers with an 06' and use all of the action .

Virtues ? The 7x57 aka 276 Rigby has killed pack rats and elephants so it ought to be good enough for most of North America. It shoots all the current standard commercial 30 cal weights with a higher BC . While it can be loaded hotter than the OM 48 kpsi ,why . At 300 yd the 154 7mm and 150 gr 30 cal launched at 2500 and 2800 are all but neck and neck . The low pressure reduces muzzle bark and there's less powder to burn in the same bbl length . It has a nice long neck for cast . In the older rifles you have 29" of GI bbl to push a slow powder .

My first rifle was a Chilean M95 cock on closing .
I have a special place for the old 7x57 . As a matter of fact I have a 1913 DWM Gew 98 that really needs that Jeager trigger to trip a nice 24" bbl marked 276 Rigby or was it 278 ...... Either way the 7x57 is a classic and will continue to hang on for a while even with out new rifles being made . Most of the bbl makers and all of the reamer makers offer a bbl, reamers and an AI as of last yr .

Just as the 6mm Remington will outperform the .243 the 7x57 will outdo the 7-08 when loaded to like pressures. You are correct about "fit"- but it fits a Mauser action perfectly. So it's perfect in its home actions. P.O. Ackley was asked by a reader of Shooting Times his opinion of the perfect deer cartridge and the old 7X57 was his pick. Many believe it was the inspiration for the 30-03 Govt. Best, Thomas.

[tdoyka]

i took a '98 mauser action and i gave it to my gunsmith to make a 7x57 out of it. he bent the bolt, drilled and tapped it for a scope mount and he put on it a timmey trigger. then he got a 20" douglas premium barrel(he said a 22" would be better and i thought an 18 1/2" would be great; we had such a good time arguing we both settled on a 20"). then he got a fajen wood synthetic stock for it. it was then topped of by a swift 3-9x. its been 20+ years since i've gotten it. my oldest son(who i got it for when he was 1 y.o.) just luvs the 7 mauser.

he started to hunt with it but he was kinda small at 12 y.o. he didn't take it until he was 17y.o. i, on the other hand, shot a great deal of deer with the 7x57. i don't think it has ever needed a follow up shot. since the 7 mauser is right at home in thick woods were you always get a shot at under 50 yards, i used to use a 139gr hornady flat nose (discountued,i have about 200 left) and a charge of imr 3031. when the bullets are gone(i load up my dad's, two of my sons and me), i'll try a 140gr hornady sst.

the best buck that i have got with the 7 mauser is a 23pt. really!!! it is a 23pt!!! no lying!!! i shot him at around 25 yards and he was drt. i went up to him thinking i got a decent 6pt when i noticed it was more than a 6 pt. if you look at PA game laws it states that the bucks points must be long enough for a wedding ring to hang on or 1 inch. anyway, i consider it a 6 pt that tries to be a 23 pt.

i have 3 more 7mm-08(mine, my dads and my youngest son). my youngest is a rem m7 with a timmey trigger and 20" douglas premium barrel. the others are stock rem m7(18 1/2" barrel).

[Ballistics in Scotland]

There is no doubt about its accuracy and killing power, and it is identical in head size and case length to the 8x57, which the standard Mauser 98 was designed around. I can imagine the conversation in the boardrooms of the sort of firearms companies that have boardrooms:

"The way bolt-actions last, the way most people use them, how can we ever get them to buy replacements?"

"Make the action only just long enough for the .308, maybe?"

"It's only about an ounce and less than half an inch of difference. They'll never go for that!"

"They'll go for anything."

[OnHoPr]

Did the .308 Win and 7mm-08 kill it off ?

No, the 40K actions did and side mounts on some of the scandinavian bolts did. Ammo companies had to load it down for those actions and US never really produced or advertised the 275 Rigby. Now, if they (US) would have done something to the 7x57 like they 244 Rem to 6mm Rem or 7mm Rem Express to the 280 Rem, but it was the Brits that did the name change. The 7x57 does have about the longest successful name for its self and while a few companies made rifles in that cal the ammo companies couldn't produce the ammo for the rifles because of the 40 K actions. Very unfortunate for an excellent cartridge, maybe, depending on reading ballistic opinions better than the 308 NATO/Winchester, henceforth, the Winchester name (US). I would take the 7x57 over the 308 any day, or what do they say "all day long", in a newer age action. I am pretty sure that Remington made the 760 in that cartridge and it would have been darn near about as good as a killer as the 06 with just a little bit less on the recoil spectrum. Back in the 70s the 7x57 and 6.5x57 really caught my eye and I still have wishful thoughts about the two cartridges. The 6.5x57 loaded with a high BC flat base jword with high SC loaded into the 50K range in a fast accurate repeater would have given deep penetration on bigger animals with woods raking shots with the ability to shoot across a clearcut and still be able to keep the recoil down below the the 06 case versions, even those are excellent choices as well, but still out perform the 308.

[tdoyka]

i used to own a 308 in rem m760. i took some deer and my only black bear with it. i used to think it was and is a good cartridge. but after i shot my black bear, the 308 went down hill. i would take the 308 out hunting for 2 or 3 days and i wouldn't even see a deer. i'd then take out either the 7-08 or 7x57 , go to the same area and i'd kill a deer. that gun became unluckly, so i sold it. i like the 7-08 and the 7 mauser but if i had only one, it would be 7x57.

[Petrol & Powder]

98 Mauser rifles chambered in 8mm are incredibly common. If you wanted to re-barrel an 8mm 98 Mauser to 7 x 57, what would be the best rifle to start with?

[W.R.Buchanan]

The biggest problem the 7x57 has/had in popularity was the .30-06.

The 7mm came first and we copied the case head and the gun and made it .30 cal. We made more of them than the Germans did.

Nothing wrong with the cartridge and it is a world cartridge so you should be able to buy ammo anywhere.

As far as new ammo, try SGA Ammo in OK. They have excellent Prvi-partisan ammo made in Serbia for < $14 per box. The brass itself is excellent and will reload many times if taken care of.

http://www.sgammo.com/

Randy

[dh2]

I have a 95 Mauser that I made a youth sporter for my son. it does the function very well and does very well with 160gr cast boolits, Fed. does make factory ammo there brass does reload very well. I do use PPU brass from graf for every thing Mauser, 8 x 57. 7 x 57 and 9.3x63mm. I did get my last 7 Mauser brass from Rocky Mountain reloading it was Fed. new primed brass

[Texas by God]

Older readers may remember the saying about the 7mm/175RN: if you can see it, and you can hit it, you can kill it with a 7mm.

[northmn]

We have seen a lot of good cartridges go. The 7mm had a couple of off shoots, the 257 Roberts and the 6mm Remington. Both very good cartridges. 257 had a reputation of "not fitting" as mentioned. The 7mm Mauser basically can do about anything I would want to have done with the 270 when I had one with less powder. At this time rifles in this class need to be based on the 308 case to be popular. 7-08 has no real reason for existence except for that reason. I like the 243 but the 6mm is a better cartridge (some claim the 243 has an edge in accuracy but none practical).
Remington came out with a line of cartridges for the old semi auto. The 25, 30, 32 and 35. The 30 is the same thing as the 30-30 and would have been a better cartridge for repeaters, which is why Remington introduced it. Make a great ladies and kids cartridge for bolt rifles. 35 Has been adapted in light weight bolt rifles and can be improved on over the lever uses. My daughter uses a 300 Savage. Been a good cartridge for her with less recoil than a 308. Its still a very good option.
The 6.5 Swede is a great cartridge and the 6.5 has been struggling for acceptance for some time. 264 Winchester Mag and 6.5 Remington Mag. Now we have the 260, the 6.5 Grendel and the 6.5 Creedmoor. Great whiz bangs, using high pressure to improve on the old Swede. Finn Agaard called the 6.5 Swede one of the best deer cartridges ever developed. My Brother in Law would agree as he has shot a pile of deer with one. I have an old 8mm Mauser. Great old cartridge and better with handloads and heavy bullets than the 308. Many old 98's were converted to 8mm 06's even though it is fairly easy to make 8mm's out of 30-06 cases. I have done so. See no need to do any conversions.

DP

[bruce drake]

98 Mauser rifles chambered in 8mm are incredibly common. If you wanted to re-barrel an 8mm 98 Mauser to 7 x 57, what would be the best rifle to start with?

Find yourself either a M48 Yugo Mauser. Pretty much a brand new rifle. It has an intermediate-length receiver that is specific to the Yugos so commercial stocks are slim but several quality companies build stocks for the Yugos now so you should be able to put it up in a custom stock. Its also a Large Ring receiver so the barrel is easier to resource and since its a modern 98 action, you can load the 7x57 cartridge to modern European standards and 55k PSI limits which will make your cartridge a hotter number than most US Commercial loadings. The M48s were pretty much built and then placed into storage by the Yugoslavian communists and then pulled out for the civil wars in the 90s. So basically a brand new receiver without any major wear from being shot in multiple wars and decades of range time in an army unit somewhere in South America.

[Petrol & Powder]

Find yourself either a M48 Yugo Mauser. Pretty much a brand new rifle. It has an intermediate-length receiver that is specific to the Yugos so commercial stocks are slim but several quality companies build stocks for the Yugos now so you should be able to put it up in a custom stock. Its also a Large Ring receiver so the barrel is easier to resource and since its a modern 98 action, you can load the 7x57 cartridge to modern European standards and 55k PSI limits which will make your cartridge a hotter number than most US Commercial loadings. The M48s were pretty much built and then placed into storage by the Yugoslavian communists and then pulled out for the civil wars in the 90s. So basically a brand new receiver without any major wear from being shot in multiple wars and decades of range time in an army unit somewhere in South America.

Thanks !!
I had forgotten about the Yugo's and was thinking closer towards the beginning of the 20th century instead of the middle.

[bruce drake]

remember I warned you about the after-market stocks. I rebuilt a M48 Yugo into a 6.5 Creedmoor rifle a few years back before stock companies had decent stocks for them. I ended up cutting the stock foreend off and placing a contrasting maple tip on the end of the walnut stock and shot it that way for several years. It now resides in an Archangel Poly stock (cost almost as much as what I bought the M48 for a decade ago) and it shoot sweetly. There may be milling marks on the metal in the receiver and you may have a stamped floorplate but it still is a Model 98 Mauser.

[bruce drake]

If you got more money than what you want, Remington imported a bunch of brand new Serbian-made commercial Mauser 98s (Model 798) a few years back (they were chambered in .243 Winchester, .308 Winchester, .30-06 Springfield, .270 Winchester, 7mm Remington.Magnum, .300 Winchester.Magnum, .375 H&H Magnum and .458 Winchester.Magnum) and you might find one of them for sale on local or internet gunbroker sites.

[Petrol & Powder]

"If you got more money than what you want..........."

/\ Never had that problem /\

Want to have that problem, but don't have that problem.

[trebor44]

I have several 7x57s: Ruger, Winchester, Mauser etc. Brass was difficult to find at first. But I did stumble onto a source for the Privi loaded ammo, it shoots and reloads great. Now I probably have accumulated more brass than I need. I find the 7x57 a bit more 'fun' to shoot than the '06. Bullets for it are pretty common and there is a lot of reloading data available. It may be an old cartridge but it is certainly not obsolete.

[texasnative46]

To All,

At least in South Texas, there are LOTS & LOTS of 7x57 bolt actions (including any number of high-quality European rifles) at the local gun-shows & for very reasonable prices.
(Don't ignore the Mauser military surplus rifles, that were "Bubba-dized", as some are actually well-done & others are a CHEAP source of a QUALITY barreled-action & sometimes a decent scope/mount/rings. = I recently saw a 7x57 that was REALLY UGLY & looked as if it was "sporterized" by a silver-back gorilla with a wood-rasp, Crescent wrenches & a sledge-hammer BUT which had a GREAT barrel & a nice KAHLES 4X scope & rings. = The price was 100.oo OBO. - I started to buy it to get the scope/rings/mount, alone.)

yours, tex