Thread: Any 7x57 Experts?

Forget the gunsmith, unless its obviously rusted and pitted anywhere, its going to be fine. I had the exact same rifle in 8x57.

The 7x57 is underloaded both in factory ammo and the reloading data, because of the old Remington rolling blocks which can only handle low pressure. But with a modern Mauser like yours it can be loaded to the same pressures as the other modern cartridges your rifle was chambered in.

With factory ammo you are stuck with what you get, which is low power but will still kill deer fine - the best of the lot from the shop is the Sellier Bellot 139 grain, which is faster than the American brands and has a good round nose, its quite an impressive killer on deer.

For reloading the 7x57 I use 7mm08 data (and you are safe here also, because the 7x57 case is 8% bigger volume so pressures are very slightly lower.)

In my rifle I load 50 grains of AR2209/H4350 with a 139 grain HOrnady soft point and it shoots one ragged hole. This is a max 7mm08 load.

Three deer with it so far this year, and I have observed that for some reason I cant explain the 7mm kills better than my .308 even though the bullets are going about the same speed and are the same interlock construction. I dont know why, but I notice it whenever I use the 7mm.