7 mm x 57 mm

PEZHEAD265

Considered a 8 mm rd??

PA Shootist

No, 7 mm is smaller diameter than 8 mm. They are of course very closely related cartridges, essentially the 8x57 is a necked-up 7x57, or vice-versa 7x57 necked-down 8x57. From the Mauser family of cartridges developed for military usage, 8x57 introduced with the Gewehr 88 (1888 German infantry rifle), in frenzied response to the French development of their small-bore smokeless powder round.

nononsense

PEZHEAD265,

No, it's considered to be a 7mm cartridge. This is the groove diameter of 7.25mm (0.285"). The land diameter is 6.98mm. We here in America have standardized on the 0.284" diameter.

Cartridge naming can be a tricky proposition especially when we cross borders with other countries and share ammunition with countries using metric nomenclature.

The 8x57 Mauser uses a 7.92 designation but is referred to as the 8mm Mauser.

Best.

ADDED:

This is a nice summary from Norma ammunition:

7x57 Mauser

"This is one of the best-balanced cartridges ever designed. This is particularly remarkable since it was introduced in 1892. It was a military development and was adopted by Spain and several South American countries. It was used with brutal success against the British in the Boer War in South Africa and against US troops in the Spanish-American War.

In the hunting field, it has proven to be one of the best all-around sporting cartridges of all time. It combines a relatively flat trajectory, moderate recoil, a wide selection of bullet weights, and sufficient energy to cleanly dispatch most species, worldwide. It has been used successfully for the harvest of every species of big game on Planet Earth!

In Great Britain it was called the 275 Rigby, after that famous gunmaker adopted this chambering in 1907, in connection with import of other Mauser products. Many other British gunmakers have also chambered this round.

In Europe, this is still a very popular choice for all-around use. It does not usually generate a lot of damaged meat on smaller species, such as roe deer, yet it is powerful enough for use on larger species. With proper bullets, careful shot selection and placement (and a hunter who is willing to pass up shots at too great a range) it is sufficient for hunting all North American species.

However, most experts would consider it on the light side for moose and the largest bear. Nevertheless, this was "Karamojo" Bell's favorite chambering; he used it, with FMJ bullets, for hunting all African game - including hundreds (perhaps thousands!) of elephants, all cleanly dispatched with brain shots. (Shot placement and proper bullet performance always trump brute force.)"

There is a good drawing of the cartridge on their website:

http://www.norma.cc/content.asp?Typ=59&Lang=2&DocumentID=269&Submeny=4&Rubrik=Calibers&Title=7x57 Mauser

I found this in my files. This is a good article from American Rifleman:

http://www.americanrifleman.org/Webcontent/pdf/2009-10/20091015103638-7x57mmmauser.pdf

Best.

PEZHEAD265

I have a 1895 Chilian mauser Loewe Berlin and the bore looks alot bigger then my Spanish 7 mm.Were would the cal. markings be??The bore is dark but strong rilfing.
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=148139903

Ambrose

Military rifles were typically not marked as to caliber/cartridge. Your rifle is likely counter-bored from the muzzle.

nononsense

PEZHEAD265,

Do the lands go all the way to the muzzle or has the muzzle been counterbored, making it slightly larger than the 7mm diameter?

Has the barrel been rebored and not marked? Not necessarily proper and legal but I'm sure it's been done.

Has the barrel been swapped out for another barrel?

Did you ever think of measuring it? You can use something as simple as a 7mm bullet and compare it to an 8mm bullet. The 7mm should almost enter the bore when tested at the muzzle.

If you're careful you can use a dial caliper to check the groove dimension.

The barrel dimensions might be found under the stock line or on the bottom of the barrel.

Best.

11b6r

AND- just FWIW, the 7mm Mauser was the first semi-auto military rifle. The MEXICANS had a 7 auto in the late 1800s. Search for Mondragon.

PEZHEAD265

Thanks for all your help I check in the morning

CapnMidnight

7x57 is also called 275 Rigby, beleieve it or not it did for alot of pacayderms on the dark continent in the hands of a famous PH. His name escopes me at the moment. They say memory is the second thing to go, can't remember what the first is.
W.D.

stanman

quote: His name escopes me at the moment.
W.D.M. (Karamojo) Bell used the 7MM Mauser on some 1,000+ elephants using the 175 gr. solid.
He claimed the 7MM firing that particular projectile was the only round that he had ever fired completely through an elephant's skull.
Useless knowledge rattling around in my head, I suppose.

PA Shootist

Walter Dalrimple Maitland "Karamojo" Bell, a Scot and famous professional ivory hunter, shared his 1000+ elephant kills between the 7x57 Mauser 175 grain solid (aka .275 Rigby) and the 6.5x54 Mannlicher-Schoenauer with 160 grain solid, using the superb little Mannlicher-Schoenauer Model 1903 rifle. Both cartridges shared a similar design philosophy, with long bullets of sturdy round-nosed full-metal-case construction, that offered excellent penetration at their reasonable velocities. Bell found them to be able to penetrate the elephants' skulls and continue in the intended direction with greater predictability than larger bores with less sectional density. He would stand in the midst of an elephant herd and place his shots with surgical precision, knowing how to get to the brain of an elephant from almost any angle. The brain-shot elephant would fall quickly and relatively peaceably; the lack of screaming and running about often enabled repeat shot opportunities at other animals within the herd. He must have been an exceedingly cool character in any event, and a superb marksman to boot. Bell switched to the 7x57 after a couple failures with the 6.5x54, probably due to defective ammo, and never looked back.

joel_black

I am a big fan of both cartridges, but those hunters made a study of elephant skulls and knew exactly where to place those full jacketed bullets based on side or frontal view and shooting angle. Still, the great sectional density of the 160gr. 6.5 and 175gr. 7mm full patch bullets used in the military ammo they employed did help.

5mmgunguy

I really like my 7x57 Mauser.

tsr1965

It is ballistically almost identical to the 7mm-08 Remington. They are both great little cartridges.

Best