Thread: .275 Rigby is a fantasy cartridge

What I mean by this, is that it doesn't exist.

There is no such thing as a .275 ""Rigby"" cartridge.

Its a name made up by modern American gun writers from a misunderstanding. The cartridge was just called a .275. The rifle was called a Rigby-Mauser. Rigby sold Mauser rifles under that brand name.

The 7mm Mauser cartridge was never a Rigby proprietary cartridge (it was military for several countries). Rigby did not sell it as the .275 Rigby on their own brand of ammo , they called it the .275 bore, and they stamped their rifles the same. There is no mention of .275 Rigby in any of their catalogs - or by anyone else. The earliest reference is from an American gun writer in 1970.

The two most famous users of the .275 / 7mm Mauser would have to be WDM Bell, who famously shot 800 bull elephant with one and Jim Corbett of India who shot at least one man eating tiger with one. Both of them referred to the cartridge variously as the .275, the .276, the 7mm, the 7mm Mauser or to the cartridge and rifle together: the .275 in a Rigby-Mauser.

British website and auction houses are often more correct and dont fall for this (apart from Rigby themselves, who must be delighted).

It started with Jack O'Conner with an article in 1970, where he mistook the Rigby name as referring to the cartridge and not the rifle, and people have been running with it ever since. It's now all over the internet as if it's a valid thing, and no article on the 7x57 is ever innocent of mentioning it. Even responsible people like Craig Boddington and John Barsness, have all fallen for this. Hornady have brought out 7mm brass headstamped .275 Rigby. Even Rigby themselves (the new company) - who should know better - now sell ammunition headstamped .275 Rigby (which they may not, they all seem very young.) Original .275 Hi-velocity cartridges of the early 20th century are stamped GECO, which was the German made ammunition that Rigby repackaged and sold as their own.

Meanwhile sundry people are building 7x57 custom rifles and having them marked "".275 Rigby"" because they like the traditional British old-world sound of it.

It's essentially become a true thing. And it sounds like it should be right. People believe it when they hear it. The power of the internet has made it so. But its just a .275. Or a 7mm Mauser.

Spot on , I would still happily pop one in my gun safe though

* Correction - Rigby HV cartridges were headstamped with the Roth logo. (And later Kynoch) Rigby didn't manufacture ammunition.

Good yarn. Only one of hundreds of things to blame on American gun writers (bless them) - the small ring mauser thing and J versus S bore 8x57 are others

Farquharson is the best single shot ever built !
Yeh right

I’ve got a recent Cooper in 275 Rigby. It’s stamped on the barrel so it must be true��. It was always a fantasy of mine to own one��

Originally Posted by akaroa1

Farquharson is the best single shot ever built !
Yeh right

Farq no!!

The Farqui's do look good though ......don't you think ?

Originally Posted by Lucky

The Farqui's do look good though ......don't you think ?

Looks good
But skin deep only

hahaha

Originally Posted by JohnDuxbury

What I mean by this, is that it doesn't exist.

There is no such thing as a .275 ""Rigby"" cartridge.

Its a name made up by modern American gun writers from a misunderstanding. The cartridge was just called a .275. The rifle was called a Rigby-Mauser. Rigby sold Mauser rifles under that brand name.

The 7mm Mauser cartridge was never a Rigby proprietary cartridge (it was military for several countries). Rigby did not sell it as the .275 Rigby on their own brand of ammo , they called it the .275 bore, and they stamped their rifles the same. There is no mention of .275 Rigby in any of their catalogs - or by anyone else. The earliest reference is from an American gun writer in 1970.

The two most famous users of the .275 / 7mm Mauser would have to be WDM Bell, who famously shot 800 bull elephant with one and Jim Corbett of India who shot at least one man eating tiger with one. Both of them referred to the cartridge variously as the .275, the .276, the 7mm, the 7mm Mauser or to the cartridge and rifle together: the .275 in a Rigby-Mauser.

British website and auction houses are often more correct and dont fall for this (apart from Rigby themselves, who must be delighted).

It started with Jack O'Conner with an article in 1970, where he mistook the Rigby name as referring to the cartridge and not the rifle, and people have been running with it ever since. It's now all over the internet as if it's a valid thing, and no article on the 7x57 is ever innocent of mentioning it. Even responsible people like Craig Boddington and John Barsness, have all fallen for this. Hornady have brought out 7mm brass headstamped .275 Rigby. Even Rigby themselves (the new company) - who should know better - now sell ammunition headstamped .275 Rigby (which they may not, they all seem very young.) Original .275 Hi-velocity cartridges of the early 20th century are stamped GECO, which was the German made ammunition that Rigby repackaged and sold as their own.

Meanwhile sundry people are building 7x57 custom rifles and having them marked "".275 Rigby"" because they like the traditional British old-world sound of it.

It's essentially become a true thing. And it sounds like it should be right. People believe it when they hear it. The power of the internet has made it so. But its just a .275. Or a 7mm Mauser.

Greetings @JohnDuxbury,
All interesting stuff. All advertising is based on points of difference and no doubt Rigby wanted to show that there rifle had advantages over others in the pack due to the high velocity their rifle developed. This it did with its 140 grain projectile at around 2,800 fps. Still works pretty well today.
Regards Grandpamac.

Originally Posted by Dusty Fog

ah very interesting. was looking up on the history of the chatham islands and the modern version differs from the original journals and court records as to what actually happened when the wellington ship full of Maoris descended upon the peace loving moriori

Regardless of which version it would not have been pretty. My great grandfather was the Resident Magistrate on the Chathams from the late 1870's to the early 1890's and compiled a Maori Moriiori English dictionary while he was there. He would have known the remnants of the Moriori. The RM position was more of a Government rep than anything else.
Regards Grandpamac.

my fellas were in them waka...taranaki tribes who had arse kicked in the musket wars....half starved and dying they arrived and the locals took them in.....they repaid moriori,the favour by enslaving them and eating them systematically....none were allowed to breed with thier own....AND there have been documentaries about it shown on maori TV in last 12mths..the good the bad and the ugly are there to be seen.

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

my fellas were in them waka...taranaki tribes who had arse kicked in the musket wars....half starved and dying they arrived and the locals took them in.....they repaid moriori,the favour by enslaving them and eating them systematically....none were allowed to breed with thier own....AND there have been documentaries about it shown on maori TV in last 12mths..the good the bad and the ugly are there to be seen.

How the heck did a good story about a legendary calibre descend into a fraught discussion of the history of the Chathams...which probably never saw a 7x57mm Mauser???

blame Dusty....
7x57mm is a great cartridge....must be,the mighty .270w is often compared to it LOL....