I have written about this many times: in the U.S.A., the 7mm-08 has just about killed off the 7 x 57. They are both excellent cartridges and the 7 x 57 certainly holds the prize in the longevity and historical categories.
Setting aside the cartridges for a moment and focusing on the bullets, there’s a lot to love in the 7mm bullet class.
In the parts of the world where Imperial measurements ruled, 30 caliber was a nice round number. In the parts of the world where metric ruled, 7mm was the similar nice round number. While those lines got blurred a bit and neither one is truly 30 caliber nor 7mm, respectively, it’s understandable how there came to be a difference between them.
In the 7mm class there is an excellent selection of bullets available. There is an even better balance to be had between the diameter, weight, B.C. and length when we get into the 7mm class. The 30 caliber (7.62mm or .308”) bullets have earned their reputation but their 7mm metric brothers may hold a slight edge.
In the perfect alternate universe that only exists in my head…
…..the U.S. military would have selected the 7mm bore diameter at the same time they selected the shorter casing that became known as the 308 Winchester (7.62 NATO). The wildcat folks did it for them with the 7mm-08.