7mm Mauser (7x57)

[Soilarch]

I see that remington's factory load is 200 fps slower than a 7mm-08. Is this because of chamber pressure worries in older guns or does the 308 offer more powder space?

[Reddbow]

I think you're looking at chamber pressure worries because of some older rifles that aren't able to handle todays higher pressure loads.
The 7X57 is a great cartridge and very accurate when loaded properly. I'd love to own one myself.

Reddbow

[Soilarch]

Exactly what I was hopeing to hear. I knew alot of the old "war cartridges" weren't loaded to their potential by manufacturers (American at lest, Sellier & Abbiott seems to be an exception on the 6.5swede) due to fear of the old guns not being able to handle the same pressures that todays guns can.

[Briman]

The old guns don't have to handle as much pressure to get the same performance as more moderncartridgesbecause they have more case capacity. I'm not sure if its complete arrogance on the part of american manufacturers that they think that american shooters are too dumb to figure out a gun/cartridge combo that's been around for over 100 years or if they want to simply want to push sales of rifles in the latest whizzbang chamberings.

The Europeans don't seem to have such problems and I don't like to believe that the people in Europe are any smarter than people who live in America.

[rjhans53]

One of my reloading books has the 7mm08(speer) out performing the 7 x 57 and the other (hornady) has it the other way around. the case capacities aren't really that much different the 7 x 57 has maybe 1/2 gr more capacity (ok I'm not 100% sure but I did do a water test a year or so ago and came to that conclusion), it has to do with the taper on the and longer neck on the 7 x 57 verses the straighter walls and the shorter neck on the 708

[Briman]

There's about a 2 gr difference between the 7-08 and 7x57
about the same as the difference between:
.260 and 6.5x55
.243 and 6mm remington

In all cases, the latter cartridge can be loaded to a higher velocity at least in a modern rifle.

[Reddbow]

Regardless of velocity and accuracy potential, all cartridges mentioned are good in their own right. It's all a matter of personal preference.
Personally, I'd love to have both the 7X57 and the 6.5 Swede. The animal isn't going to be any deader with the difference of a few hundred feet per second, one way or the other.

Reddbow

[eldeguello]

ORIGINAL: Soilarch

I see that remington's factory load is 200 fps slower than a 7mm-08. Is this because of chamber pressure worries in older guns or does the 308 offer more powder space?

It is because of worries about old, weak 7X57mm rifles, especially the ancient Remington Rolling Blocks. In a modern rifle like a Ruger M77 or No. 1, the 7X57mm can be safely loaded to exceed the 7mm/'08 (but not by much), and tread right on the heels of the .280 Remington. For example, a 22" barreled Ruger No. 1A 7X57 with the long throat can be SAFELY loaded to approach 3000 FPS with 140-grain bullets, and 2700 FPS with 175-grain bullets. The same relationship exists between ALL cartridges of the same calibers that are respectively based on the 51mm ".308" case vs the 57mm "Mauser-type" case, eg., .243 Win vs 6mm Rem., etc.

[Gundigest]

If you want a high power factory 7x57 load Hornady has a light mag loat with a 139gr SST at 29?? fps. I loaded up some 150gr BSTs in my 7x57 Ruger #1 at about 28?? fps and it shoots under 1MOA.