Need help with 7x57 load for deer hunting

[martineta]

I recently purchased on Gunbroker an older red pad Ruger No. one rifle with a shorty 20 inch barrel, full mannlicher style stock topped off with an equally old Weaver 4.5 V scope. I have an extra Leupold VX II in 2x7 that I will put on it I don't like the weaver.

I am at my Hunting Lodge is Uruguay and will return to my home in VA late Oct. Pressed a bit for time as I would like to hunt with this rifle in mid November when our firearms season opens.

I have already purchased dies. Help needed on bullet weight, powder, and loaded cartridge length. I think ballistic tips would be fine for the whitetails I will hunt but since there are lots of bears in VA Partion loads would be great also. Any information for both bullets is greatly appreciated. I have read in a few places that this rifle's chamber with shorty barrel full stock likes heavier bullets.

Lastly, with shipping I paid $670 for rifle and scope without original box or paperwork. No rust, blueing is good, and only has marks on stock from being hunted with. This is my first Ruger No.one so I have no idea if I paid to much. I did look on ebay's completed auctions and provided the old USA made weaver is OK, I should be able to sell it for $100 or so. I am hoping the weaver is OK as it would keep the old rifle in the same era more or less.
Thanks for your help.

 

[clearwater]

Since it isn't a short action bolt gun, longer bullets can be used okay without displacing powder
space.

I would think a 140 grain AccuBond would be a great all around choice. I haven't shot anything with
them, but I like what the 30 cal accubonds do.

The best powder I have found so far for that weight bullet in a 7mm and a 7mm ackley has been imr4350.

Some promising results with reloder 17 and W760 too.

In a 175 grain bullet, I got excellent accuracy with an old batch of H450. Not so much speed tho,
around 2100 fps.

 

[1Shot]

140 or 150 ballistic tips and one of the 4350 powders should work well in 7 Mauser. I loaded up some 154 Hornady SP for a friend with I think it was 46 grs IMR 4350, it was a mid load for a 93 Mauser, and it was very accurate and it kills deer VERY WELL.

 

[onesonek]

Congrats on a fine rifle,,,,personally I would say you got a pretty good deal at that price. If you want to sell it down the road, let me know!!!!
As for loads, I don't have any real experience with the 7x57. But if it were mine, I would use the 150 Gr. NPT in it for your deer bear country. With that I wouwld start with H-4350, as it is my go to powder for that case capcity/expansion ratio realm. In the Ruger #1 and beig a very strong action, you should hav no problem going over the modest book loads if you so wish. But with said, I would use Hodgdon's start load with a 150 gr. plus 1 gr.. It shows starting at 41.0 gr. with H-4350. H8831 would be another powder of choice, but it appears you may run out of case capacity before the rifle peaks on pressure. With running higher than stated 46,000 cup, you may find, shortening of case life, I can't say for sure. From the 7x57 brass I haver used in some wildcats, it seems as strong as most any other however. Let the rifle tell you, But that what I would do. if it were mine. Nothing wrong with going to a 140 gr., or a 160 gr. for that matter. Just I have found the 150 weight to be a good all-round buulet weight in the various 7mm's I have had or played with.

 

[JD338]

Tough to beat the 7mm 140 gr PT for deer and bear in the 7mm Mauser.
I have shot WT deer and a Caribou with the 140 gr PT. Even at long range, it will open up fast and penetrate deep.

JD338

 

[martineta]

Thanks for everyone's help. In my old age a couple of things are happening. One is I no longer like the big boomers and second is a fondness for old classic calibers. (so long as they don't beat me to death)

 

[dchamp]

I have a 7x57 Ruger #1 Int. 20" barrel rifle and although my load is with a 139gr Hornady GMX I think it would be similar for a 140gr AccuBond or E-Tip. My load was worked up with Quik Load which over all is fairly accurate. Mine is 48.0gr Norma URP @ 3.11" OAL, R-P brass & Wolf primers, Remington 9 1/2 primers work very well also. Quick Load estimated a velocity of 2766fps with 53,365psi and a CIP max PSI of 56,565psi and my load is averaging 2730fps and is shooting MOA. The AccuBond bullet is one of my favorites but I live in condor country in the repressive state of california and I came across the Hornadys' before the E-Tips. Quick Load shows my load with an140gr AccuBond to be 2722fps & 50,791psi which translates to be at at sea level and 500 yds, 1872fps & 1005ft.lbs. energy. I would start at 46.0gr's of URP powder and work up from there. Sofar in my experiance the Norma URP seems to be a good powder for the 7X57.

Good Luck.. Dan

 

[dchamp]

Oh yea I forgot, I'm using a Leupold 2.5-8 VXIII scope with a Boone & Crocket reticle and the trajectory matches the reticle very closely all the way out to 500 yds. Hope this helps.

 

[martineta]

Thanks Dchamp and everyone else.

 

[efw]

Kenny, you suck. Just let me make that clear before we go any further.

That is an absolutely awesome rifle/cartridge combo. I'm seriously jealous.

My 7x57s like 140 NBTs & RL15, Hunter, or 4350. Deer on the other hand seem to hate 'em!

I've actually settled on 150 NBTs for about everything through that cartridge. They've got a nice heavy jacket, and running Hunter they are accurate and put the hammer down on anything they come into contact with.

139 Interlocks ain't nothing to sneeze at, either.

Good luck w/ the new acquistion. That is one super classy rifle!

 

[martineta]

Kenny, you suck. Just let me make that clear before we go any further.

That is an absolutely awesome rifle/cartridge combo. I'm seriously jealous.

My 7x57s like 140 NBTs & RL15, Hunter, or 4350. Deer on the other hand seem to hate 'em!

I've actually settled on 150 NBTs for about everything through that cartridge. They've got a nice heavy jacket, and running Hunter they are accurate and put the hammer down on anything they come into contact with.

139 Interlocks ain't nothing to sneeze at, either.

Good luck w/ the new acquistion. That is one super classy rifle!

:grin: :grin: :grin:

I think I screwed up. Since I am still in Uruguay wrapping things up, I had my brother go by the FFL guy to pick up the rifle. He said its a cherry. Now I am making mental notes of which other rifles and shotguns I can cull from the herd and get another Ruger Model one in 250 savage or a 257 Roberts, or a 22 hornet, or a 222 rem , or a what the heck, the list is long. I love old calibers. I still shoot a deer every few years with a 30-40 krag a great uncle used in the spanish american war.

 

[Oldtrader3]

My dad only owned one rifle for most of his adult life. It was an Oberndorf commercial, fully stocked with butter knife (Mannlicher) bolt handle, 20 inch barreled, full stocked 7mm Mauser rifle, made probably before WWII. The rifle had an old 4x german, claw mount scope that I have never heard of mounted on it. Unfortunately, the rifle was stolen from his home a few years before he retired and was never recovered. My dad was not a rifle hunter as much as a shotgun (bird) hunter. However, he did kill several whitetail and a couple of Quebec Labrador moose with this 7mm Mauser rifle.

You got a really good price on that Number One 7mm Mauser rifle and I hope that you get much use out of it.

 

[DrMike]

I finished working on a 7 X 57 this summer; it was an old, beat-up, ratty-looking Mauser that shot 0.2 inch groups with 175 grain PTs. The owner hunts moose and deer in the Queen Charlottes. He never takes a shot over 90 yards, and hasn't lost a moose in years with that old rifle. He just wanted a new load. Man, I cried when I had it shipped back to him. Congratulations on acquiring a great rifle chambered in a great cartridge.

 

[martineta]

well, I have been back for a few weeks. My brass and reloading components were waiting. I picked up two boxes of remington ammo on the way home from the airport. Went straight to the range and shot a box. The prior owner had the old weaver V4.5 zeroed nicely and only a minor adjustment was required using the remington factory loads. These were Remington 150 grain coreloks. I am hunting saturday using this ammo as that's what the scope is on. After the season is over, I will go to work tweaking the 150 noslers using IMR 4350. I am very happy and the other rifles in the safe are sad.

 

[SJB358]

Ken, I am looking forward to doing a little loading for my boys M70 Featherweight 7x57 when it arrives. There is a ton of great data for the rifle and jeeze, you can't hardly use a bad bullet in that cartridge. Matter of fact, I might just head down to the reloading room and get some cases prepped for the rifle. I would start loading up some ladders, but I wanna see what the mag length is before I get started!

Good luck on Saturday, my boy and I will be out with Woodycreek trying to get on some deer in Va as well. Scotty

 

[muleman]

I have a Ruger 77 RSI 7x57 in stainless and wood on the way to me as we speak! Gonna put a 2.5x8 leupy on it. It should be a dandy blacktail deer gun. I'll start load work using 150 NPT and NBT next week. I'll use IMR4350 to start and FED210 primers. It should handle real well.
Scott

 

[Polaris]

The classic load in 7X57mm would be a Hornady 175 gr RN. That will take up to moose size game if your range is moderate. Very high SD and a great penetrator at modest velocity.

Anything in the 150-160 grain range should be great bear or deer stoppers.

I shot a deer with the 160 Partition from my .280 rem and was very pleased with the results. This or the 150 pt would make a great all around bullet. Don't have my data in front of me but I'm thinking H380, H414 or IMR 4350 would be superb in this caliber.

 

[PJGunner]

"I would start loading up some ladders, but I wanna see what the mag length is before I get started!"

If your Featherweight it the current version with the schnable forearm tip, the mag is 3 1/8". At least that's the measurement on mine. I do wish they hadn't put that blocker in the magazine box. I have the same problem in my Featerweight in .257 Roberts.
Paul B.

 

[PJGunner]

The 7x57 has ben one of the easiest cartridges to load that I've ever worked with. The only real problem is the cases do have atendency to stretch. Just check the length after resizing and trim as necessary.
The powder that has worked the best for me has been Winchester's W760. My pet load for the Winchester M70 Featherweight does 2800 FPS using the 140 gr. Nosler Ballisitic Tip with no signs of pressure and one more grain of powder did give me 2880 FPS but bolt light was a bit sticky.
That same load in my custom rifle based on an FN Mauser will lock up the bolt so I have to figure something else for that rifle. Accuracy from the M70 run right at .75" average.
The custom Mauser does .50 to .75" epending on how well I'm shooting on any particular day with the Winchester 145 gr. Power point factory load. I have yet to run some over the chronograph as they're not easy to find and Winchester only makes them on a "seasonal basis".
My third rifle in 7x57 is a Ruger #1A. I had to send that one back to Ruger as it had a bad chamber with a 2.5" throat and i could not seat a bullet out far enough to even come close to the rifling. It took 7 months to get that rifle back but it had a new barrel and is a decent shooter now. It does an easy 1.25" with the ballistic tip but .80" with the Hornady 175 gr. round nose bullet. Kind of cool in a way as that's close to the original loading for the round and in a traditional single shot stalking rifles. What could be better?
That same load which does 2400 FPS in the Ruger also does 2410 FPS in the M70. However, in the custom Mauser that same load does 2500 FPS. :shock: This rifle was the first of three rifles built for me by my gunsmith and his metal man is extremely anal about his barrel and chamber work. He chambers his barrels to match grade standards and uses match grade barrels which explains why he's so expensive. It also exxplains the higher velocity from that 175 gr. load and why the 140 gr. ballistic tip load was way too hot for the rifle.
I dunno which version of the #1RSI the OP has but if it has a red pad, the throat may be slightly longer than a later one with a black pad. If that's the case, no pun intended, then the rifle (with red pad) may prefer heavier bullets. I know my #1A does.
Paul B.

 

[SJB358]

"I would start loading up some ladders, but I wanna see what the mag length is before I get started!"

If your Featherweight it the current version with the schnable forearm tip, the mag is 3 1/8". At least that's the measurement on mine. I do wish they hadn't put that blocker in the magazine box. I have the same problem in my Featerweight in .257 Roberts.
Paul B.

Yeah, I couldn't help myself, I loaded up some 140gr BT's with RL19. Used the 3.065" COAL for these. I figure I will see something out of that bunch that shows promise and I can work from there if needed. Scotty