1948CJ2A
Member
I've seen this debate come up time and time again so I thought I would offer up some interesting information I recently came across. First, here is some background on my experience with both.
I built my first deer rifle circa 1993-1994 on a German M98 mauser. It was originally chambered in 8x57. We decided to re-barrel and re-chamber to 7x57, as this was a better deer cartridge in our minds. The rifle turned out great and I shot my first deer with it that fall.
At around the same time, a neighbor down the street who was my age was also getting into deer hunting. His dad bought him a Remington 700 BDL 7mm-08. That's the point where the debate (for us) began. We would always argue back and forth as to which cartridge was faster, flatter, and just outright better than the other. He would always point to his Remington Ammo factory ballistics charts, which clearly showed the 7mm-08 to have higher velocities. I would then turn around and reference my Hornady reloading manual and argue otherwise.
Fast forward to present. I don't talk with that guy much anymore these days but the debate still persists within hunting camps today. One thing that seems to have noticeably changed since the mid 90's is the reloading data. With each new reloading edition (regardless of brand) the ballistics data typically shows a retreat in velocities, especially when examining the 7x57. I started to look deeper into this.
Briefly, lets look at the history of both rounds. The 7x57 dates back to the late 1800's (1892 to be exact). The first rifles built for the 7x57 were pre-98 Mausers such as the original 1893 (M93) Spanish Mauser. The 7-08 was originally wild-catted in 1958, known then as the 7mm/308 (as this cartridge is simply a 308 Win. necked down from .308 to .284). In 1980 Remington decided to stamp their name on it and make it a factory offering in their 700 rifles.
If you look up the SAAMI cartridge dimensions for both rounds, you'll immediately notice that the 7-08 is 1/5 of an inch shorter. This allows the rifle manufacturer to chamber a 7-08 using a short action. The 7x57 on the other hand requires a standard long action (or intermediate on some actions). The end result is more cartridge capacity for the 7x57, which in turn yields more velocity right? Not according to the reloading manuals or factory ammo data. Why is this? The answer is pressure tolerances.
According to SAAMI, they list the max pressure limit for the 7x57 Mauser at 51,000 PSI. For the 7mm-08 Remington, the max pressure limit is listed at 61,000 PSI. That's a full 10,000 PSI difference. Why is this? Well the answer is debatable but most attribute it to the attorneys for the ammo and handloading companies. They don't want to make ammo or publish ballistics data that could cause a shooter to "blow-up" a firearm component resulting in civil suit. I'll buy this explanation to some degree as it makes sense, especially when considering the age of the 7x57 versus the 7-08. Still, I tend to believe that firearms manufacturers these days love to cut costs. Just look at the number of plastic stocks and short actions today. They dominate the market. It costs less for the manufacturers to mass produce a rifle chambered in 7-08 compared to a rifle chambered in 7x57.
At the end of the day, both of these cartridges are excellent whitetail rounds. They both produce mild recoil and both are terrific cartridges to handload. But that's really where the similarities end. If you really want to know which one is faster and has more energy, go out and put both on a chrony using handloads and you'll see the difference. The 7x57 wins out when you use load data that hasn't been "gimped" down. Just be sure you're using a modern rifle.
End Rant
I built my first deer rifle circa 1993-1994 on a German M98 mauser. It was originally chambered in 8x57. We decided to re-barrel and re-chamber to 7x57, as this was a better deer cartridge in our minds. The rifle turned out great and I shot my first deer with it that fall.
At around the same time, a neighbor down the street who was my age was also getting into deer hunting. His dad bought him a Remington 700 BDL 7mm-08. That's the point where the debate (for us) began. We would always argue back and forth as to which cartridge was faster, flatter, and just outright better than the other. He would always point to his Remington Ammo factory ballistics charts, which clearly showed the 7mm-08 to have higher velocities. I would then turn around and reference my Hornady reloading manual and argue otherwise.
Fast forward to present. I don't talk with that guy much anymore these days but the debate still persists within hunting camps today. One thing that seems to have noticeably changed since the mid 90's is the reloading data. With each new reloading edition (regardless of brand) the ballistics data typically shows a retreat in velocities, especially when examining the 7x57. I started to look deeper into this.
Briefly, lets look at the history of both rounds. The 7x57 dates back to the late 1800's (1892 to be exact). The first rifles built for the 7x57 were pre-98 Mausers such as the original 1893 (M93) Spanish Mauser. The 7-08 was originally wild-catted in 1958, known then as the 7mm/308 (as this cartridge is simply a 308 Win. necked down from .308 to .284). In 1980 Remington decided to stamp their name on it and make it a factory offering in their 700 rifles.
If you look up the SAAMI cartridge dimensions for both rounds, you'll immediately notice that the 7-08 is 1/5 of an inch shorter. This allows the rifle manufacturer to chamber a 7-08 using a short action. The 7x57 on the other hand requires a standard long action (or intermediate on some actions). The end result is more cartridge capacity for the 7x57, which in turn yields more velocity right? Not according to the reloading manuals or factory ammo data. Why is this? The answer is pressure tolerances.
According to SAAMI, they list the max pressure limit for the 7x57 Mauser at 51,000 PSI. For the 7mm-08 Remington, the max pressure limit is listed at 61,000 PSI. That's a full 10,000 PSI difference. Why is this? Well the answer is debatable but most attribute it to the attorneys for the ammo and handloading companies. They don't want to make ammo or publish ballistics data that could cause a shooter to "blow-up" a firearm component resulting in civil suit. I'll buy this explanation to some degree as it makes sense, especially when considering the age of the 7x57 versus the 7-08. Still, I tend to believe that firearms manufacturers these days love to cut costs. Just look at the number of plastic stocks and short actions today. They dominate the market. It costs less for the manufacturers to mass produce a rifle chambered in 7-08 compared to a rifle chambered in 7x57.
At the end of the day, both of these cartridges are excellent whitetail rounds. They both produce mild recoil and both are terrific cartridges to handload. But that's really where the similarities end. If you really want to know which one is faster and has more energy, go out and put both on a chrony using handloads and you'll see the difference. The 7x57 wins out when you use load data that hasn't been "gimped" down. Just be sure you're using a modern rifle.
End Rant