My New Rifle

Status
Not open for further replies.
F

Flatbush Harry

Member
Joined
Mar 31, 2008
Messages
1,045
Location
Colorado
So I stopped by the new Cabela's 8 miles from my front door to check out the place 2 days before the official opening. Cabela's Visa Card members got an advance look.

First of all, beautiful new store...looks much like the Cabela's I go to a couple of times a year in Sidney, NE. Second, my standing on line for a while was immediately justified by my scoring 2 bricks of CCI LR primers and Hornady A-MAX and Berger VLD bullets I have not seen anywhere on the web or otherwise. Third, I found a rifle that I just had to have.

Now I have a small gap in my hunting armamentarium...I have 6.5x55 SE Ruger No. 1, a Ruger 77RSI in .270 Win, a Win 70 EW in 7mm RM and the .30s covered and a .375 H&H for the possible future Cape Buffalo hunt (I'm actually going to South Africa in Sept. '14 but have not decided whether to add a hunt to the photography safari). I have wanted to add a 7mm lite for a while...either a 7mm-08, a .280 Rem, .284 Win or something like that. Now Ruger makes a nice Sporter .280 Rem, as does Remmy with their Mountain Light SS and Browning makes an A-Bolt in that caliber. My first choice would be a Winny M70 in a 7mm lite but they don't make one...or so I thought.

As I wandered along the line, beginning to breathe hard when I saw a Sako FinnBear in 7mm RM with beautiful wood, I spied what I thought was a really nice Winny M70 with a beautiful stock, looking a lot like an upgraded SuperGrade. I asked my "outfitter" the caliber and he replied 7mm Mauser. I took a squint...and it was indeed a 7x57 Mauser Featherweight Limited Edition in Grade III wood with a matte finish barrel. Being a hand loader, and recognizing that a 7mm Mauser in a modern action can be run to almost .280 Rem specs, outdoing a 7mm-08 if I wanted to, I seized on it and it now rests in my gun safe, awaiting its scope installation tomorrow (I have some WIN 70 STD bases and rings in my parts box).

The current So.Car.-manufactured Winnies are as nice as any rifle made in the US today and in this classic caliber, I have a real treat. The 7mm Mauser can be loaded to duplicate the 7mm-08 and loaded warm to duplicate .270 Win/.280 Rem performance...they're all like peas in a pod. I bought some Prvi Partizan 139gr loads and a couple of boxes of S&B 173gr loads for the brass and barrel break-in...I'm ordering dies tonight. I've got powder, primers and bullets. I feel like I scored a surprise touchdown and have a nice collector grade rifle to boot. I only wish my son or daughter (or their spouses) liked guns. At least I've got nephews and grandnephews...

FH
 
I apologize to Abel and Turbo and any others who want pics...I'll take them tonite, upload and await your judgment.

I have been hoping that Winchester comes out with a .280 Rem or .280 AI for a while...just because. This fills the bill. Between this guy and his cousin, the 7mm RM EW, I've got the .284" space filled.

Cheers,

FH
 
Nice find. They stock the new opening stores very well. I also like the early invites for club members. The rifle you got is a truly nice classic in a real sweet chambering. Enjoy it.

My wife and I were in Columbus, Ohio this weekend so stopped at the new Columbus store. She was looking for sheepskin slippers for Christmas gifts and I was looking for reloading supplies. I first wandered into the Giun Library. Never made it to reloading supplies, however, now have a sweet S&W Model 27-2 in the safe. :)

You have to love Cabela's.

Ron
 
16turbo:

Eye aghree. Inin wii ain't seedno pichers, tain't likely two halve bin reel. :D Weins knead two sea thim pichers bee four weins beeleave it.

Wii knead pichers! Wii knead pichers!!!

Gee Know (AKA Geno)
 
I wanna see the 7mm Mauser! I think it is still a great caliber and one of, if not the, most truly underappreciated.
 
I think it is still a great caliber and one of, if not the, most truly underappreciated.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't call it underappreciated, it's just not popular in the US. The 7mm Rem Mag is really the only metric sporting rifle cartridge that caught on big time here. Pretty much all the others have ranged from "occasionally encountered in camp" to complete flops. My personal favorite, the 8mm Rem Mag, languished in popularity from day 1, never achieving more than a tiny (but dedicated) following, even though it outperformed it's nearest competitors, the .300 and .338 Win Mag, by a decent margin.

I have a couple of 7x57 rifles, though both are military Mausers. It's a great round, will do anything you could want in the lower 48 at reasonable ranges. The .280 Rem still has a bit of an edge when running them both in modern actions, but it's pretty much academic.
 
MachIVshooter;

I'll take a small exception to the statement that the 7mm Remington magnum is the only metric cartridge that's been accepted by this country's shooter's. May I introduce you to the 6.5 X 55mm Swedish Mauser? It may not have the huge following of the 7-mag, but there's more than just a few of them out there. Not all mil-surps either, all the majors have produced guns in that caliber over the years. The 1994 Remington Classic was the Swede, Winchester has produced some very sweet featherweights in that caliber too. Fact is I shoulda bought the one I was holding, but the bolt was on the wrong side. Winnie's not makin' any LHB guns in S.C. and more's the pity. I'd sure like them to start doing so though. They could get my wallet open if they did. Let's see, I'm pretty sure Savage catalogs it, but whether or not you can find one to buy is probably another story. But, not to worry, CZ, Tikka, and Sako will be glad to sell you one of theirs.

900F
 
Also add the 6 M/M Rem, 6.5 Rem Mag, 7 M/M-08 ,7 m/M STW, 7 M/M RUM, 7 M/M SAUM, 7 M/M WSM. And then we have the 8's. There is plenty of metric cartridges out there.
 
Nice I picked up one of those new Featherweights in 7x57 as well. I just got my 1000 round stockpile of Privi in yesterday as well and Vortex Viper PST 2.5-10 FFP scope with Vortex precision rings on the way. This is going to be sweet.
 
I'll take a small exception to the statement that the 7mm Remington magnum is the only metric cartridge that's been accepted by this country's shooter's. May I introduce you to the 6.5 X 55mm Swedish Mauser? It may not have the huge following of the 7-mag, but there's more than just a few of them out there.
Click to expand...

Also add the 6 M/M Rem, 6.5 Rem Mag, 7 M/M-08 ,7 m/M STW, 7 M/M RUM, 7 M/M SAUM, 7 M/M WSM. And then we have the 8's. There is plenty of metric cartridges out there.
Click to expand...

Don't leave out the 9.3x57s and the 9.3x62s.
Click to expand...

And a pile of others you guys either didn't mention or are unaware of. I personally own more metric chambered rifles than probably 99% of other gun owners. But did you actually read what I wrote? I didn't say there weren't any other metrics here, I said none of the others made it big like the 7RM. 7mm-08 would be a distant second, and all the others trail it. Yeah, the 6.5x55 is a fine round, I' have a couple of 'em. Nonetheless, in all the hunting camps I've been through, I have encountered exactly one of them.

7mm Rem Mag is the only metric that makes the 10 top sellers list in this country among big game cartridges, usually coming in 3rd to 5th. Good as the 6.5x55 is, I doubt it's even in the top THIRTY.

For the record, I have rifles in:

6mm Rem
6.5x50 Arisaka
6.5x52 Carcano (3)
6.5x55 Swede (2)
7x57 (2)
7.35x51 Carcano
7.5x54 MAS
7.5x55 Swiss (2)
7.62x39
7.62x54 (2)
7.7x58
8x57
8mm Rem Mag

Not to mention those that I've sold, and the many others I've played with. So yes, I'm well versed in metrics. Doesn't change the fact that they are simply not popular here. I don't say this because I have some dislike of them (obviously); I say this because it is true. The only other metric that's really popular here is the 7.62x39, and not generally for hunting (more so recently, but I'd still wager that 99,999 out of 100,000 7.62x39 rounds sold here are not fired at game animals)
 
When Winchester brought out the classic m70 I bought one in 280 , featherweight,So I don't know how many they made in the 280,but they are out there,At 6 3/4 Lbs. its light for sure,
 
When I was a kid in school in the 60's they preached about the metric system coming. 50 years later, when I buy 7mm projectiles, they are still marked ".284". That being said, the 7mm Mauser is the sleeper of the bunch if you reload.
 
MachIVshooter said:
And a pile of others you guys either didn't mention or are unaware of. I personally own more metric chambered rifles than probably 99% of other gun owners. But did you actually read what I wrote? I didn't say there weren't any other metrics here, I said none of the others made it big like the 7RM. 7mm-08 would be a distant second, and all the others trail it. Yeah, the 6.5x55 is a fine round, I' have a couple of 'em. Nonetheless, in all the hunting camps I've been through, I have encountered exactly one of them.

7mm Rem Mag is the only metric that makes the 10 top sellers list in this country among big game cartridges, usually coming in 3rd to 5th. Good as the 6.5x55 is, I doubt it's even in the top THIRTY.

For the record, I have rifles in:

6mm Rem
6.5x50 Arisaka
6.5x52 Carcano (3)
6.5x55 Swede (2)
7x57 (2)
7.35x51 Carcano
7.5x54 MAS
7.5x55 Swiss (2)
7.62x39
7.62x54 (2)
7.7x58
8x57
8mm Rem Mag

Not to mention those that I've sold, and the many others I've played with. So yes, I'm well versed in metrics. Doesn't change the fact that they are simply not popular here. I don't say this because I have some dislike of them (obviously); I say this because it is true. The only other metric that's really popular here is the 7.62x39, and not generally for hunting (more so recently, but I'd still wager that 99,999 out of 100,000 7.62x39 rounds sold here are not fired at game animals)
Click to expand...
This is a constant theme on all forums: obscure rounds being cheerled by a vocal minority who try to begin arguments that what they shoot, that can't be found on the average gunshop's shelf, is the best and most popular. It's right up there with anything Russian milsurp being dug out of a pit, walked across a desert, hiked up a hill, stepped up a ladder, and climbed up a mountain face to be put on a pedestal.

These arms and calibers are what they are and such is evident to any experienced shooter. But some seem to get defensive and lose a sense of proportion.
 
Mattschlock,

I made no claims about the rifle or the caliber...I merely said I found a wonderful collector piece that I could also shoot. The CRF Win M70 action has been a classic since introduced more than 70 years ago, while the 7x57/.275 Rigby has been a classic for just the last century or so. For enthusiasts, handloaders and enjoyers of limited recoil, great effectiveness on game and one who enjoys tales of hunting in years past in Africa and around the globe, I regard this rifle as a wonderful find. I am considering adding a Ruger No. 1RSI in 7x57 for the full stock and similarity to the classic Farquharson action.

I am a great fan of modern rifles and technology; my go-to hunting rifles are stainless and synthetic-stocked, in calibers that can be found in any sporting goods or hardware store in BuFu, MT or Two Dot, ID or The Middle of No Where, WY (there is such a store off Hwy 80 and they didn't even have a bag of pretzels when I stopped in on July 8). I love my .30-06s and my 7mmRM ...but they lack a bit of the ethos of a blued and wood-stocked stalking rifle shooting a hundred+ year-old cartridge. Indeed, I cherish my Rem 700 XCR II in .375 H&H that I glass-bedded in a B&C Weatherby-style stock...it will put three 260gr AccuBonds into a cloverleaf at 100 yards. It won't rust or warp...but it also won't bring to mind any Ruarkian stories either. I'll be going to Africa next year on a photo safari. If I add a hunt onto it, I will probably buy a Winchester Safari Express in .375 H&H...it seems a bit more appropriate.

The essence of hunting is the communing with nature, the chase of majestic specimens of game, the fighting of the elements and the natural challenges of high country and, for me, the many weeks of eating what I hunted. To be sure, a fine steak can be stalked in any supermarket, already dressed, cleaned and wrapped to avoid freezer burn. If ease, modernity and commonality are the goals, the hunt at Kroger's is preferable.

FH
 
Harry,

I really want to congratulate you...and be haapy for you on this awesome find....but Im way too jealous :
:)
Great rifle in a great caliber...hope to see a range report.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

Legionnaire
  • Locked
How many different cartridges in one caliber?
2
Replies
40
Views
1K
WisBorn
WisBorn
High Plains
  • Locked
The “Must Have” Cartridges
2
Replies
29
Views
2K
Mike J
M
98s1lightning
  • Locked
I overlooked the 7x57
2 3 4
Replies
81
Views
5K
Robert
Robert
Macchina
  • Locked
I refuse to own a magnum rifle round that has a belt...
2
Replies
45
Views
5K
joed
joed
F
  • Locked
So I Went to the Range, and then...
Replies
5
Views
531
meanmrmustard
M
Back
Top