magnatecman
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If that's all your after with this, just go with the 7mm-08 and go have fun. I'm getting very close to this with my kids 20" barrel and 140 SST's and Pro Hunter's.
I overlooked the 7x57
- Thread starter 98s1lightning
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If that's all your after with this, just go with the 7mm-08 and go have fun. I'm getting very close to this with my kids 20" barrel and 140 SST's and Pro Hunter's.
cdb1
Member
Have you read, “The Wanderings of an Elephant Hunter”? I have and no where do I recall Bell stating or intimating what you are saying above. I’ve read Bell’s writing fairly extensively and the context I’ve gathered flows along the lines of what H&Hhunter has written.
cdb1
Member
If Al was good enough for Jack O’Connor that’s more than good enough for me.
cdb1
Member
Don’t be sorry.
Art Eatman
Moderator In Memoriam
In the common deer loading with 140-grain bullets, the 7mm08 is a .308 with ten grains less bullet.
DM~
Member
Bell pretty much logged every expense in his expense book. What ammo cost him was a big deal to him and he stated that shooting big bores to kill an elephant was a waste of money, when he could do the same thing with much less expensive 7x57 ammo...
He was nothing but a huge poacher, and what it cost him to "make money" poaching, was a big deal to him...
DM
He was nothing but a huge poacher, and what it cost him to "make money" poaching, was a big deal to him...
DM
ThomasT
Member
I doubt the OP is going to be using a 7x57 or any other caliber on an elephant so its a moot point. But still a lot of fun to discuss.
Early on Bell had an elephants head cut open so he could see exactly where to aim for the brain. He did state the 275 was the only round that would go through the skull and he could hear it "wang" off the brush and keep going.
With the new ideas of loading lighter bullets for higher velocity the new 140gr bullets in a 7x57 in the standard length action does look short. But load the 170gr bullets and seat them out as in the original loadings and they just a little shorter than a 30-06 round and are a fine fit in the longer action.
I bought some old 7x57 loads from 1938 that had the FMJ silver colored cupronickle bullets in them. Those rounds went off really slow so I pulled the 250 bullets and saved the square flaked powder and loaded 20 rounds with these old style bullets using new powder. I mean you never know when there will be an earthquake and all the elephants in the Ft Worth zoo make good on their escape and I am needed to put them down. Dare to dream, right Duffy?
Early on Bell had an elephants head cut open so he could see exactly where to aim for the brain. He did state the 275 was the only round that would go through the skull and he could hear it "wang" off the brush and keep going.
With the new ideas of loading lighter bullets for higher velocity the new 140gr bullets in a 7x57 in the standard length action does look short. But load the 170gr bullets and seat them out as in the original loadings and they just a little shorter than a 30-06 round and are a fine fit in the longer action.
I bought some old 7x57 loads from 1938 that had the FMJ silver colored cupronickle bullets in them. Those rounds went off really slow so I pulled the 250 bullets and saved the square flaked powder and loaded 20 rounds with these old style bullets using new powder. I mean you never know when there will be an earthquake and all the elephants in the Ft Worth zoo make good on their escape and I am needed to put them down. Dare to dream, right Duffy?
Sergei Mosin
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Was behind a fellow in traffic today with a license plate that read 7MM. Somebody here, maybe?
I only have one 7x57 - a Spanish Model 1893 - but I've regretted passing on a few modern rifles in that chambering. Someday...
I only have one 7x57 - a Spanish Model 1893 - but I've regretted passing on a few modern rifles in that chambering. Someday...
Jim Watson
Member
I thought Bell shot Rigby rifles until he got a .318 WR.
I saw one at a gun show, complete with letter expressing concern that they might have slowed the twist for the 140 gr semispitzer and he couldn't use his accustomed 175 gr roundnose full patch. (They hadn't.)
I READ that he dropped the .256 Mannlicher until let down by poor Austrian ammo.
Never heard why he moved on to .318.
As an old man, he got an early look at the .308. He said it would have served him well if provided with proper FMJ.
I saw one at a gun show, complete with letter expressing concern that they might have slowed the twist for the 140 gr semispitzer and he couldn't use his accustomed 175 gr roundnose full patch. (They hadn't.)
I READ that he dropped the .256 Mannlicher until let down by poor Austrian ammo.
Never heard why he moved on to .318.
As an old man, he got an early look at the .308. He said it would have served him well if provided with proper FMJ.
TN Outlaw
Member
Buy the 7x57 for a "shooters cartridge" or a "hunters nostalgic" cartridge. Their cool to own, have alot of history as this thread shows, and are great at taking game.
But......
If you don't really concern yourself with all of that and are looking for a 7mm pushing 140gr pills@ 2900fps save yourself the trouble and buy a 7mm-08. You won't be sorry. Way easier to find and is one of the most underrated deer killers around. Or even the 280rem or 7rem mag if you handload.
Personally I'd just go the 7mm-08 route if not looking for the added cool factor.
But......
If you don't really concern yourself with all of that and are looking for a 7mm pushing 140gr pills@ 2900fps save yourself the trouble and buy a 7mm-08. You won't be sorry. Way easier to find and is one of the most underrated deer killers around. Or even the 280rem or 7rem mag if you handload.
Personally I'd just go the 7mm-08 route if not looking for the added cool factor.
Jim Watson
Member
I agree. I used to wax nostalgic over 7x57, 257 Roberts, .256 Newton; but you can get the ballistics from current production. So why set yourself up for an ammo hunt?
DM~
Member
Waaaaay back when, I had a Ruger 77 tang safety, chambered in 7x57. I handloaded 175 grain Speer Mag tips and shot caribou with it.
That bullet worked very well in the 7x57 for that purpose...
DM
That bullet worked very well in the 7x57 for that purpose...
DM
Jerry M
Member
7-08 Rem would be my choice.
Good luck
Jerry
Good luck
Jerry
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If you are referring to my statement regarding the .375 H&H on elephant. That is not at all what I said.
Newtosavage
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Maybe in the real world, but not on the internet.
adcoch1
Member
In Africa you would be required to use a 40 cal or bigger rifle...
Given my druthers, of the several rifles I hunt with routinely, I’d feel a lot better facing something that wanted to kill me with a .275 Rigby than a .450 Bushmaster.
‘Course, I don’t make the rules across the pond.,.
I'm not saying I don't have something in .41, watched a feller chase a water buffalo (I think, only caught the tail end of the show) with a 10mm 1911 clone of some famous make, through the brush, it was a successful hunt of course, but for such a game, I'd have felt more comfortable with my Blackhawk. The number of bovine I've put down is not the same as a heavy hunt, but distances and shots presented are similar. However, for deer, bigger deer, hogs, big big deer, and black bear, (most hunters will never put their sights on anything outside of these species-categories) the all American .30 cal obsession is amusing when the metrics are more than sufficient. On another continent? Well, they've got their own rules and reasons for them, and I applaud that too, but it further justifies my thought that with the exception of the military and 'Murica, the .30 is just an ugly stepsister trying to fit into a glass slipper.
adcoch1
Member
I think the 30-06 and its children may be a little on the old side, but not ugly. THAT SAID, I love using enough, but just enough gun for most situations hunting wise. My first centerfire rifle that I bought myself was a 7mm chelean mauser. I fell in love with the perfection of that rifle, the flat shooting and low recoil. I did end up replacing it with a 30-06 cause I had to have one, but it was an upgrade in rifle quality, not in usefulness. I presently rely on a 30-06 for my big game do all rifle, but I am quite enamored with the efficiency of a lot of these metric cartridges.
Big7
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