7x57 question

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  • Last Post 05 March 2015
MR3855 posted this 28 October 2011

I have 2 molds I am considering using for deer hunting. The first is a 137 grain Lee Soup Can. Nice flat nose on this one. The other is a RCBS bullet that is supposed to go 168 grains. It drops out of the mold in my alloy at 185. Big, long bullet, but small meplat. It should penetrate till next Tuesday. I like the wide flat of the Lee, but the weight of the RCBS will ensure it gets to where it needs to. Max range will be 225 yds. These being shot out of 1908 Brazilian mauser with scope. (6x at the moment)

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99 Strajght posted this 28 October 2011

This may or may not help. I have 2 Lyman bullet molds 285346 a 135gr round nose and the lyman 285377 a 148gr spitzer. I have shot deer with both. Both went in one side and out the other. Both killed a deer. I use WW and tin 20 to 1.

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raytear posted this 29 October 2011

I have not shot any game with cb's in 7 x 57, but have shot a fair number of Texas whitetails with jacketed slugs in a 7 x 57 custom-built Mauser-98 carbine. I ALWAYS had MUCH better results with the 160 grain slugs than the 130's. The 160's gave complete penetration on broadside or quartering shots.

The only 160 grain bullet I ever recovered was from an animal in North Carolina shot head-on. The bullet was found in the back of the left ham after penetrating the length of the animal, hitting and breaking ribs, and shattering the left thigh bone. The bullet was just under the hide on the back of the left leg.

For hunting bigger game I have had the best, most consistent success with the heavier bullets in a given caliber whether cast or jacketed.

FWIW

Good shooting! RT

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tturner53 posted this 29 October 2011

Way back when I thought the sun rose and set on the 7x57 I had a Ruger 77 so chambered. This was before I took up making my own bullets. New to handloading, I picked Speer Mag Tips ( 162s I think). Bad move. Shot a buck up in the Hoover Wilderness behind Yosemite on a solo back pack hunt. He took off. I know I got the lungs. Blood trail was very thin then gone. Lost him, after searching for hours he came down the mountain on some guys donkey. I was bummed but glad he was harvested anyway. My point is the little 7 needs to expand on thin skin game, right now. The Mag Tip was never meant for deer, maybe bear. My mistake. Make sure the bullet you choose will do the job, not pencil on thru. They can run a long ways. I switched to Hornady 154 RN with a big soft lead nose. A cast bullet for deer needs to start out big or get big real quick when it hits deer hide.

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Wayne S posted this 29 October 2011

MR3855, You list 220{+-} yds as the Max. distance. You should ask yourself what is my max distance with this weapon & cast bullet . IE, what is the limit that I & my rifle in a hunting situation can put 10 out of 10 shots into a 6” circle . If you are set on hunting with cast, I'm in the heavy and gets big fast group.  You might consider casting out of a soft alloy and either HPing , or using the tinfoil nose trick, but check  to see how they group .

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billwnr posted this 29 October 2011

Even though the one bullet doesn't have much weight I'd still go with it because of the wide nose. Bigger wound channel

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6pt-sika posted this 29 October 2011

I've owned a pair of 7x57's !

Both in Ruger rifles !

The first was a 77R with the tang safety and it did nicely with factory , because at that time I didn't reload . If my memory serves it was one of the rifles with “Made in our 200th year of Independence” roll stamped on the barrel . I sold that one when I cleaned house of all my Ruger 77R's to get money for my first steam traction engine .

In later years I purchased a Ruger 77MKII in the same configuration and also 7x57 . This one shot well also although it was a bit more to get shooting and the trigger was a bastard but we got that straightened out . Later I traded that one for a Pre 64 Winchester Model 70 Varmint in 220 Swift with the factory stainless steel barrel .

Now I've kinda got my eye open for a decent used Ruger #1A in 7x57 . And At the moment I have a rather nice German Pre War drilling in 16-16 and 7x57R . Also am going to try anf buy an Antonio Zoli combo gun in 12 and 7x57R week after next at an auction .

 

Never tried cast in any of these but they worked nicely with jacketed !

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Brodie posted this 30 October 2011

I have had excellent results with 150 jacketed and R19 powder, or IMR 4350. Performance on feral hogs, deer and elk has been superb.  The only bullet recovered was from a 245=-lb boar who turned just as I shot and the bullet entered about an inch to the left of the anus and was found in the bottom lobe of the right lung. If you are having trouble with expansion I SUGGEST using Norma partitions.  The front end always expands and the back absolutely won't. Brodie

B.E.Brickey

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6pt-sika posted this 30 October 2011

All I ever used in a 7x57 , 7mm08 or a 280 REM was the Nosler 140 Ballistic Tip , the older Nosler 140 Solid Base or the newer Hornady 139 SST .

All three of those bullets worked wonders in all three of the cartridges mentioned !

 

I wouldn't be adverse to giving a Barnes TSX bullet of about 140 grains a try either !

Same can be said for the Swift Scirocco .

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shastaboat posted this 30 October 2011

MR3855 wrote: I have 2 molds I am considering using for deer hunting. The first is a 137 grain Lee Soup Can. Nice flat nose on this one. The other is a RCBS bullet that is supposed to go 168 grains. It drops out of the mold in my alloy at 185. Big, long bullet, but small meplat. It should penetrate till next Tuesday. I like the wide flat of the Lee, but the weight of the RCBS will ensure it gets to where it needs to. Max range will be 225 yds. These being shot out of 1908 Brazilian mauser with scope. (6x at the moment)

I would suggest the Lee mold which casts to 133 gr avg for me in Wheelweight. Three loads that I have used in my 22” barreled modernized Chilien Mauser to good accuracy are:

  1. 30 gr H335 chronoed at 2115 fps.
  2. 18 gr 2400 chronoed at 1855 fps.
  3. 22 gr 2400 chronoed at 2121 fps.
  4. 16 gr Unique chronoed at 1985 fps.

Make sure you seat the bullets long into the lands if possible as the military chambered rifles have free-bore chambers. On profile shots you should get complete penetration with all loads. Practice all cast bullet cleaning, loading and shooting techniques. Good luck.

Because I said so!

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Grant posted this 21 February 2012

I used the RCBS 7mm/168SP in a Brazilian Mauser. If you can get the accuracy you want at 1800+ fps with wheelweight metal, go for it. H4895 might work best. Great bullet.

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Dirtybore posted this 05 March 2015

16.5 gr of IMR S4759 works quite well with the RCBS 168 gr bullet.  I've had very good luck with that load but I'd never dream of using it on big game (deer or larger).  I much prefer a larger flat meplate so I wouldn't try anything smaller than 30 caliber.  Since I have larger, I'd go larger, say .348 or 45-70.   :)

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