Does anyone still use the old 7mm Mauser these days?

AKA "the Spanish hornet" to those who recall the Spanish American war....As I posted briefly in another thread, I recently purchased an old DWM Spanish Mauser that was later converted to 1916 standard. How old? I have no idea, it might well have seen action in the Spanish American War for all I know.

I have had Krags before and have always been rather fond of them. But now I understand why the 7mm Mauser helped beget the 30-06 and 1903 rifle. Even in its short rifle form, it seems a very low recoil and pleasant cartride and one that seems to deliver good accuracy even from a century or so old rifle.

In ye old olden days, back when the 30-40 Krag had been hot stuff, the 7mm Mauser seems to have traveled the world and saw itself used to tale animals as large as elephants as well as seeing use in the Boer War and Spanish Civil War.

I see Prvi now offers a heavier loaded option with the melodramatic appellation of "Thunder" presumably for medium game.

Does anyone else here still use this old classic caliber, or used it in the past with good results? I have read that CIP specs see the round loaded hotter than here in the United States. So far I have only fired some old PMC JSPs, but ordered some of the Prvi Thunder ammo.

The gun cost me little, and its German origin leaves me unworried about long held stories of poor quality Spanish steel and or heat treatment.

Used to have a 93 Mauser. As the 93 cocked on closing it was annoying to use left handed vs. a 98 Mauser or other bolt action which cocked on opening. Used military surplus ammo mostly, I believe 175 gr. roundnose fmj. Worked for rats in the town dump!
Others I knew had good luck on deer with a commercial load.

Have had a few. Last one was a Ruger 77 but it was AI'd- Only thing wrong is the throats are so long because they are almost all set up to use the 175 gr RN bullets.. PITA go get 'em to shoot. Have a bbl made with the correct throat and they will shoot well.

I have two - one Brazilian, one Spanish. The 7x57mm is one of the finest calibers available for North American medium game hunting at reasonable distances. It's far from dead and has a substantial following. The famous African hunter W. D. M. (Karamojo) Bell used the British version of the 7x57mm (the .275 Rigby) on elephants. It will work for a brain shot, as Bell proved over 1000 times.

I can still hear the 7MMs zipping overhead at San Juan Hill. And I still looking for one of those left handed M1893 Mausers the Spanish troops used in "Rough Riders" .

One of the Browning 1895 potato-digger MGs used by the Rough Riders was chambered in 7mm. One of TRs sergeants was a New York Tiffany, and he bought it for them in that caliber so they could use captured Spanish ammo in it. No idea if it was ever fired in anger, but there are pictures of it.

GatorFarmer said:

AKA "the Spanish hornet" to those who recall the Spanish American war....As I posted briefly in another thread, I recently purchased an old DWM Spanish Mauser that was later converted to 1916 standard. How old? I have no idea, it might well have seen action in the Spanish American War for all I know.

I have had Krags before and have always been rather fond of them. But now I understand why the 7mm Mauser helped beget the 30-06 and 1903 rifle. Even in its short rifle form, it seems a very low recoil and pleasant cartride and one that seems to deliver good accuracy even from a century or so old rifle.

In ye old olden days, back when the 30-40 Krag had been hot stuff, the 7mm Mauser seems to have traveled the world and saw itself used to tale animals as large as elephants as well as seeing use in the Boer War and Spanish Civil War.

I see Prvi now offers a heavier loaded option with the melodramatic appellation of "Thunder" presumably for medium game.

Does anyone else here still use this old classic caliber, or used it in the past with good results? I have read that CIP specs see the round loaded hotter than here in the United States. So far I have only fired some old PMC JSPs, but ordered some of the Prvi Thunder ammo.

The gun cost me little, and its German origin leaves me unworried about long held stories of poor quality Spanish steel and or heat treatment.

Click to expand...

I have a Remington rolling block and a SAFN 49 that I shoot in vintage matches & postal matches. I also have a heavy barrel custom M1909 that is scary accurate.

Yep, some of us still use the 7 x 57.

I was looking for a lighter, handier rifle for deer than my Rem 700 .30-06 back in college (mid 1970's). This was before the "mountain rifle" concept became popular. I bought a Ruger 77 in 7X57 with a 22 inch barrel. I had the barrel cut to 18 inches, which made it look funny. A local fellow chopped 2 or 3 inches off of the stock's forend, slimmed the rest of the stock down and then recheckered it with the same pattern. I put a good Redfield 4X scope on it. At the range, Ruger fans were puzzled. Looks factory but almost 2 pounds lighter.

It's a modern rifle, so I handloaded it with 139 grain bullets and enough H-380 to approximate 50,000 psi. It chrono'ed at about 2,800 fps, if I remember.

Father-in-law hunts with a pump Remington .270 with an older 3X9 scope and when taking turns dragging the deer and carrying both rifles, said the Ruger was almost toy-like.

Great round if you handload. Can do the same things as .270, .308 and .30-06, but variety is the spice of life.

Looking back, I should have just done the same thing with a .308, but what the heck.

I have a Model 70 Winchester in 7X57. It has become a favorite of mine. It does real well on deer and antelope. My rifle is one of the newer CRF versions and it feeds those rounds slick as Vaseline on a minnow. I have mostly used 120 grain Nosler Ballistic Tips. It is more than adequately accurate rifle and if I do my part I get groups around an inch or a little less. Not much recoil and flat shooting.

Ruger No. one carbine in 7x57 hand loaded with 150gr. Swift Sirocco. Great gun and bullet combo

1912 Austrian Steyr, All matching numbers. I use the Privi ammo all the time and it is very accurate in this old beast. I can hit a 5 inch clay at 100 plus yards with it and that's standing. Put her on a rest and it gets lots better.
A good friend gave it to me about ten years ago.





DW

Here's mine:

I haven't gotten around to shooting it yet, but it has a decent barrel, so it should be fine....

I had a M-95 by Ludwig Lowe & Co., made for Chile. Same rifle used in the Boer War. It caused incredible carnage among the British at such battles as that at Spion Kop. (Spy Hill.)

The difference between the Spaniards and the Boers is that Boers were usually excellent marksmen.

I used both Remington 175 grain commercial and CIL/Dominon 139 grain. As I recall, the CIL stuff didn't shoot to the sights very well, as would be expected. The rifle was also sighed "high."

My closest to the 7X57mm now is a Howa 1500 in 7mm-08. But it's ballistically about like the hotter 7X57mm handloads or Euro hunting ammo. My DIL dropped a whitetail buck with it at about 80 yards. DRT. (Dead Right There.) Remington 140 grain Core-Lokt ammo. I may look for some factory loads with Nosler Partition bullets. Not needed on deer, but maybe stouter animals. Big wild pigs might need the Nosler or other premium bullets in the forward gristle shield. Or, bears.

Jack O'Connor liked the 7mm, but said it burned barrel throats too soon, due to the long chambers for 175 grain bullets. He usually loaded 139 grainers, for plains and mountain game. His wife used 160 grain handloads, maybe even on tigers. Also on elk, sambar, etc. Good results. Eleanor O'Connor did use a .30-06 on one tiger.

The .275 Rigby is the 7mm loaded with John Rigby's patented bullets. Been loaded with both 139 and 175 grain bullets.

I knew a Czech college girl on the Net. Her dad worked in a sporting goods store and I asked her to see which rifle ammo he sold most. THe .308 Winchester and the 7X57mm were about tied. The 7mm remains very popular in Germany and probably throughout western Europe. Game is mostly red and fallow deer, rehbok, mouflon sheep, moose in Finland and Sweden.

For longer range, I'd rather have a .270, which avoids the barrel throat issue. That's why O'Connor switched to the .270. But my .270 gets Federal's 150 grain Nosler bullets, for general use. If I was after pronghorns, I'd load 130 grainers. O'Connor used 130 grain Noslers loaded hot for most animals. He owned .338, .375 H&H, and .416 rifles for the really big stuff. Many of his readers (and critics) forgot that, or his love, too, for the .30-06. But I think I still have a letter from him, telling how much he liked the little 7mm.

I guess we all know not to use modern pressure ammo in Rolling Blocks or old military Mausers.

I had a pair of Spanish Mausers over the years, first one I had was very accurate. I am looking for another one someday for whitetail. I always preferred the name the British gave the cartridge, the .275 Rigby.

I have a 6.5x55 Swedish Mauser. If I ever get out into the deer woods I will take it instead of my Winchester 94 30-30.

Shoots flat with less kick.

I have a Model 70 Featherweight 2013 Shot Show edition chambered in 7X57.

It's not my first 7X57, but it's by far my favorite.

I have a post 64 model 70 featherweight that is fun to shoot, accurate and pretty. You just can't get any better.

deadin said:

Here's mine:

I haven't gotten around to shooting it yet, but it has a decent barrel, so it should be fine....

Click to expand...

Handsome rifle. Remington Rolling Block.???

DW

DWalt said:

I have two - one Brazilian, one Spanish. The 7x57mm is one of the finest calibers available for North American medium game hunting at reasonable distances. It's far from dead and has a substantial following. The famous African hunter W. D. M. (Karamojo) Bell used the British version of the 7x57mm (the .275 Rigby) on elephants. It will work for a brain shot, as Bell proved over 1000 times.

Click to expand...

I once bought 4 CZ commercial mauser actions. A fella wanted them and the LGS ordered them. The fella got on some other "want" and didn't take them. They sat and sat. Eventually the owner asked me to buy them, he cut me a real deal.

One action was for a 375, I had it barreled to 416 REM Mag.

The other 3 actions were consecutively numbered. But alas sometimes I'm not as smart as I look. I should have built a set.

I wanted to build a 7mm and have the bbl stamped .275 Rigby. It would have looked old school english.

I also wanted a 6.5 swede.

I went with the swede and it was a wonderful deer gun, lite recoil and left a string of dead deer over the years. Sort of like a 270 Win lite, but just as deadly.

After that project was rolling the BBL maker tole me he would give me a nice special price on some 270 Win and 30-06 BBLs he had. Total for both was less than the 6.5. Installed, chambered, head spaced and ready to go. Without any forethought I said yes and shipped them off, put them in some nice Fajen wood and sold them. They paid for 416 and 6.5.

Right after that I remembered my other plan. Jeepers.

Some years ago I bought a Kimber 84 in 7mm 08. It is like a pumped up 7mm Mauser. I now would not go back. But if I could find a nice, super cheap FN mauser off a commercial rifle, like an H&R for example or one of the early commercial Husqvarna ones I would get it bbl'ed in .275 Rigby. Yes I would old chap.

7x57Mauser is a fine cartridge. It doesn't have 'magnum' in the name, or a belt at it's base so it may seem obsolete to some. But like so many other 'old' cartridges, they do just fine for what they are intended for.

My first centerfire rifle was a Lowe/Berlin Mauser 93.Like new condition with it's matching bayonet all still in packing grease. Price was $15.99 or $16.99 something like that. Remington FMJ ammo in 20rd paste board boxes with a red label on them were $1 each if I remember right.
Couldn't afford the pricey M98s or an 03 Springfield. They were up in the mid $20 range.
It passed as a woodchuck rifle for quite a while once I figured out those sights. Then I moved on to a M1917.

Anyway, the only 7x57 I have now is a JP Sauer 98 Sporter. Built in the 20's IIRC. 1/2oct ribbed bbl, dst, floor plate lever release, ect.

Those Remington 1902 Rolling Block rifles in 7mm Mauser are strong but the chambers are long (excessive headspace) for the now standard 7mm Mauser cartridge dimensions.

When the Remingtons were made, the cartridge dimensions were not standardized as yet. Remington cut the depth of the 1902 R/B chambers deeper than what the standard SAAMI ended up being for the 7mmMauser.
Standard SAAMI specs is what factory production ammo is produced to today in the US.
IIRC the Rem RB 7mm chambers aree anywhere from .006 to .013" deeper than the current SAAMI spec.
That's another way of saying there's excess headspace in the rifles w/ factory ammo.
The rotating extractor does little to hold the case back against the breech during fireforming as in a 98 or some other actions.

Some say the current production ammo is too 'hot' for the Rem R/B. I don't know that about. I don't know what the turn of the last century pressure spec was for the ammo and what the rifle was proofed for.
I'd personally take it easy on them being 100 y/o rifles, most having seen a tough life.
The number of crystalized and broken off RB breech spurs that I've seen would make me hesitant to push the actions too hard anyway.