7X57 max OAL

[astocks2622]

I am fairly new to reloading (less than 1000 rds), and have some questions about seating depth. I have a sporterized 7mm Mauser that is great.
I was trying to load up some ammo for elk, and ran into a problem. the nosler manual talks about seating the bullet .015-.030" from the lands. I want to use 160 gr Partitions, but when I seat the bullet as stated, the completed round doesn't fit into the mag. OAL is 3.170" I know the mauser's like it longer than "standard", but does this seem ridiculously long to anyone else?
complete load is WW Super cases, WLR primer, 44 gr H414, Nosler 160 gr Partition, 3.170"
If this is correct, I guess I don't mind having a single shot rifle, so long as it is accurate.
it shoots fairly well (about 1.25" at 100 yd) with hornady 139 gr btsp, but I can't seat those anywhere near the lands.
any insight?

 

[rcmodel]

Forget the lands.

It will not work in a sporterized 7mm Mauser.

They were chambered for a long RN bullet originally, and even later after spitzer bullets became the norm.

You can't reach the leade, so don't even try.

I bet the Nosler bullets have a crimp cannulure on them, right?

Seat to that.

The most accurate factory ammo in the world is Match and Varmint grade ammo.

And it is loaded to standard length, and will work in any standard magazine.

Your hunting handloads should too.

rc

 

[astocks2622]

ok, kinda what I figured. the partitions don't have a cannelure, so I'll just load them to standard, and hope for the best as far as accuracy is concerned. any issues with seating deeper after using a factory crimp die? or should I pull the bullets and resize the neck?

 

[rcmodel]

Depending on how hard you crimped them with a Lee FCD??

You should be able to seat them deeper to standard length.

BTW: There is no good reason at all to crimp them for a bolt-action rifle in the first place, if your case neck tension is correct.

So don't do that again.

MKay??

rc

 

[astocks2622]

I didn't crimp them very hard. if it's not necessary, why do most benchrest shooters do it? I was told it was to ensure uniform start pressures. also, you don't have to worry about the bullets jumping under recoil and jamming up the magazine? I know this is a major consideration with handgun ammo, but was under the impression that it could still be a problem, especially with the hotter rounds (which I understand the 7x57 is not...) so i guess I'm a bit confused.
and though I'm new to reloading, I'm not a seventh grader; the condescending tone isn't necessary.
either way, thanks for the info.

 

[punk427]

I have a beautiful 7x57 sporter that I built from nothing. The 7x57 and the 6.5x55 are by far my most 2 favorite rounds. Both share a lot of the same characteristics, however very different to load for. The magazine well isn't long enough to do what your trying to do, and as already pointed out, not necessary for what your trying to do. If you were to build a mauser for instance 3006, you would have to possibly mill out the stock, and cut the mag box and add an 1/8 to 1/4 to it depending on what your intentions for it are. Next thing you would need to load match ammo is an OAL gauge. again if your just hunting, no need for it. Now, loading for commercial rifles, and loading for milsurps is a little different in most cases, for instance a model 70 win chambered in 7x57 is going to have much different throat dimentions to give the owner the option to shoot any ammo available for that cartridge in that weapon, that wasn't the case when your rifle was chambered. Best thing I can recommend is get yourself a good powder for that cartridge, IMR-4350 is my personal fav for the 7x57 and work up your load .5 gr at a time until you produce the smallest groups, when your group starts to open up, you went to far. The powder charge that I use, and the powder charge that your rifle is going to like is almost certainly going to be different. Crimping them really isn't nessecary, however if you wish a light crimp with the LFC die wont hurt. As for crimping, in a bolt gun isn't nessecary at all. an automatic is a whole diff ballgame, and the reason match shooters crimp for there bolt guns is because they are infact loading there bullets just a few thousands off the lands and depending on the throat of there rifle and the bullets there using theres not a lot of retention, meaning there bullet maybe just barley in the neck of the case, and to be sure it stays there threw transport, handling and chambering they give it a crimp, long as your brass is sized properly you don't need it. This was long winded lol but I wanted to make sure you understood what we were saying so that you'll learn as much as possible. The more you learn and the more you do is less time that youll be a newbie.

 

[rcmodel]

why do most benchrest shooters do it?

No benchrest shooter crimps his rounds.

They almost universally use the same cases over & over again for hundreds of shots or more.

Crimping would destroy the brass due to neck cracking after only a few shots.

Bolt-action rifle ammo doesn't 'jump crimp'.
The recoil pounds the bullet noses into the cases under recoil in the box magazine if anything.
So they get shorter, with blunted tips if anything.

Rimmed revolver rounds jump crimp, because the recoil of the gun tries to jerk the cases off the bullets every shot.

the condescending tone isn't necessary.

Who me??

Heck I was just funn'en you!

I guess you haven't been here long enough to understand my warped sense of humor!!

I apologize if I chaffed your thin skin.

If you want answers, you will have to just put up with me.
Or not.

rc

 

[astocks2622]

ok, that makes sense for the match shooters crimping. I went ahead and reseated them to 3.07".
I just couldn't believe how far out the lands started on this gun. I love it and haven't had any accuracy issues with it (meaning that it will be far more accurate than I for many years to come). I have both IMR 4350 and H414, so I'll try out some loads with the 4350 as well.
thanks again

 

[astocks2622]

@ RC... sorry, my misunderstanding. I thought I had heard that most precision shooters crimp. also, sorry about the snide reply. I've had some bad experiences with other forums where I've been ridiculed pretty severely for not knowing minor points, and that spilled over into my response. thanks for the help. I'll take the advice.

 

[rcmodel]

You will not find that kind of response here on THR from 99% of the members.

I'm the other 1% in the group, far as I can tell.

But I do have good answers, most of the time anyway!!

rc

 

[punk427]

I second that. I doubt any members here will intentionally tell you or try to make you feel like an idiot for not understanding, or missing any information. After all it is the internet and its often hard to explain things, and hard to understand someone without hearing the tone of there voice. We all share and love the same hobbys, and we've all had to start somewhere. And RC didn't mean anything by it, I've noticed him in some other forums and have always seen good smart advice to other users from him.

 

[morcey2]

RC almost always has good answers. I do disagree with him on this one though. I use a FCD on all of the reloads I do for sporterized (or original) military rifles. I have a 7x57 mexican mauser that has an extremely long throat. Same with my Spanish M44 in 8x57. Group size on both of them dropped significantly and repeatably with crimped v. uncrimped loads. I don't crimp on my 1903 because it has a somewhat shorter throat and tighter chamber. I tried crimping on it for fun and the groups got larger. Still acceptable but larger.

Saying that benchrest shooters don't crimp in their rifles so you shouldn't is akin to saying that top-fuel dragsters don't use coolant in their engines so you shouldn't run any coolant in your pickup.

That said, most modern production barrels will have more normal throats/leades won't benefit from a crimp at all, but that's not what the OP was talking about.

Matt