My first centerfire rifle was a Ruger M77 in 7x57.Up until about a month ago it was my only centerfire and it's never once failed to get the job done in over 30 years.While I agree with the others about this round being underloaded most of the time It's never came up short.These days both the Hornady LIght Mag and Federal offerings are loaded pretty close to the rounds full potential.There are a few things above I strongly disagree with.First there's no such thing as "the one to which all others are compared".There's plenty others who would agree with me on this.Lot's of folks overlook the fact that the 06 was a US military round which contributed greatly to it's popularity.Same thing applies to the .223.That's not to say it's not one of the best but the fact is the 7x57 is every bit it's equal in the field as observed on game as opposed to paper ballistic theories.Jack O'Conner loved it as did his wife Elizabeth.In fact he said he'd probably seen more game killed with fewer shots from the 7x57 than any other cartridge attributing this to it's mild recoil.Even the hotter factory loads I mentioned kick much less than the 06.If and when the day should come my trusty old M77 needs to be rebarreled it will surely be in 7x57 again.Good luck!