Show me (or tell me) about your favorite 7X57 rifles!
- Thread starter RicinYakima
- Start date
My favorite and only 7x57 rifle is a Remington Rolling Block. I had wanted a Rolling Block since I was a kid and when I found one at a reasonable price, I bought it. That was in 1972. Since then It has been among my favorite things to shoot. Most of the ammo for this rifle has been my own reloads as I prefer modest pressure loads. Case life is fairly short due to the oversize chamber dimensions. I form brass from range pick up 30/06.
JWFilips
Well-Known Member
Only have one and it is a 1916 Spanish Mauser with a "sewer pipe" bore and a throat that is 7.6 caliber! But with PC bullets and never cleaning the bore and a special bullet from an old single cavity Ideal mould 287-221 which has been beagled .......It is a good target gun now
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richhodg66
Well-Known Member
I mentioned it earlier and I'll need to post some pictures of it, but I have a very short Mexican cavalry carbine. Interesting story on it, my brother retired from the Army and used his GI bill to go to gunsmithing school in Colorado. Several years before, My dad had this little Mauser in a bunch of junk he accumulated in his gun show wheeling and dealing. The metal finish was pretty much gone, safety didn't work, and the bore was without doubt, the worst condition barrel I have ever seen. It was beyond pitting, there were craters in it. The stock has also been painted black. Dad gave it to me, and I figured I'd eventually get around to it and it sat in a closet for several years.
My brother told me he needed a junk gun to demonstrate his ability to perform various gunsmith tasks on. Turned out I found a new 7x57 stepped barrel in the white, bought it and sent the whole mess out to him via a kid we knew from the neighborhood who was going to school in Denver at the time. The little rifle got a complete makeover and you wouldn't believe it if you saw before and after pics.
I'm glad I did that. It's a good FN '98 action and I figured it would become a sporter someday, but restoring it to (more or less) original configuration was cooler. I need to get it out and shoot it more.
My brother told me he needed a junk gun to demonstrate his ability to perform various gunsmith tasks on. Turned out I found a new 7x57 stepped barrel in the white, bought it and sent the whole mess out to him via a kid we knew from the neighborhood who was going to school in Denver at the time. The little rifle got a complete makeover and you wouldn't believe it if you saw before and after pics.
I'm glad I did that. It's a good FN '98 action and I figured it would become a sporter someday, but restoring it to (more or less) original configuration was cooler. I need to get it out and shoot it more.
L Ross
Well-Known Member
They made the Classic, and even better, the Mountain Rifle, ooh la la.
RicinYakima
High Steppes of Eastern Washington
Yep, the Remington I had was the Mountain Rifle with the 24 inch pencil barrel. After the second shot it would start walking up and right. Even free floating the barrel it did the same thing. Sold it to a guy that knew the problem, a high country goat hunter, but said he didn't care as he never shot more than twice anyway. It was 6 pounds and 10 ounces with a 2X7 scope and No-Buckle sling with no ammo.
richhodg66
Well-Known Member
Went to a little town gun show this morning, two 7x57 rifles caught my eye, one a'98 sporter with a synthetic stock and all the work had been done, priced pretty low, but a little rougher than I'd like and I prefer small ring ones for such a thing anyway.
The other was a small ring sporter, should make a decent one, I didn't have the cash, but the guy will be at the next one and I will be ready to deal next weekend. I really have come to like the small ring, cock on closing actions, and 7x57 seems the perfect cartridge for one.
The other was a small ring sporter, should make a decent one, I didn't have the cash, but the guy will be at the next one and I will be ready to deal next weekend. I really have come to like the small ring, cock on closing actions, and 7x57 seems the perfect cartridge for one.
Man, I love this thread. Glad someone hauled it back out.
It's a cool thread, but dangerous. I have a show this weekend and had intended to sell only, but now my eye will be lusting for an old 95 Chilean again.
Speaking of "cock-on-closing," two things:
1) I traded a $308 Bisley Vaquero in 44 Mag. once for a 94 Swedish Carbine, which was all original and looked almost new. The only thing anyone messed with was a cock-on-opening conversion, which I found to be abhorrent on the little beast, so I converted it back. I say "beast" because that little sucker felt awful heavy for as short and light as it "looked." I love the Swedes, but that one just felt like a club. Shot great though.
2) I read an article, a long time ago, in one of the G&A "specials," dedicated to surplus arms and one of the authors was singing the praises of one of the Brits' variants of the 303 Enfield(?), which was supposedly cock-on-closing. I know nothing about the Brits' service rifles. Anyway, one of his perceived wonders of the cock-on-closing feature was that when firing as fast as he could off-hand, this feature forced the muzzle back down, after recoil, so that he could get back on target more quickly. I've never tried it, but it seemed to make some sense.
Ian
Notorious member
I bought 462's Chileno pictured earlier in this thread, in fact am prepping more cast bullets for it this morning and will be shooting some this week weather permitting. I like the cock on closing design because it is dead-simple, robust, and requires less twisting force to open the bolt.
RicinYakima
High Steppes of Eastern Washington
All SMLE's cock on closing, just like the US Model 1917 another British design. I have read that their experience in Africa and Asia, during their world conquests, copper/brass/paper cases were hard to extract when fighting. Therefore, they divided the work load up 50% on opening the bolt and 50% on closing the bolt.
Never had the chance to buy a nice bore Mauser 7mm at a reasonable price, so that is why I built mine on '03 Springfield actions that I already owned.
Never had the chance to buy a nice bore Mauser 7mm at a reasonable price, so that is why I built mine on '03 Springfield actions that I already owned.
I'm embarrassed to say that of all the years I've messed with milsurps, I've concentrated solely on the Mausers and was negligent in studying others, never having given the British rifles a second look. Time was they were dirt cheap too - even cheaper than the cheapest Mausers.
RicinYakima
High Steppes of Eastern Washington
In the early 1990's they were selling new, made in India in 1945, SMLE's for $49.00. I shot mine with the ammo I bought with it and sent it down the road. While it worked and was proofed, it was the ugliest and most poorly made rifle I ever saw. Even worse than the Japanese one made for the defense of the home land.
Petrol & Powder
Well-Known Member
I'm by no means an expert on SMLE rifles but I had a couple of surplus models years ago. From my limited research and some personal experience, I can say that the type has many, many variants and they appear in conditions ranging from excellent to not shootable. I would imagine that late war production in India was aimed more at quantity than quality.
In the the 1980's you could buy surplus SMLE's at department stores for $60 -$100. There may have been a few good ones in there,
In the the 1980's you could buy surplus SMLE's at department stores for $60 -$100. There may have been a few good ones in there,
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Bret4207
At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
Just found this! I had a Rolling Block in 7x57 to use as a deer rifle when I was about 12. The barrel was maybe 20" long and the ammo was Norma factory. Probably not the wisest combination as Norma was HOT ammo. The flame would jet out the barrel of that thing about 3 feet as my young and somewhat overactive imagination tells the story. I think I only shot maybe 3 times. The noise, (no ear muffs back then!) was far, far worse than the recoil and other than a couple sighting shots and "killing" a knot on a popple tree I think that was the end of my fun with that one. It couldn't have weighed much more than 6-6.5 lbs and I was scared to death of it!
Bret4207
At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
There is nothing wrong with the 303 British cartridge, and there isn't much wrong with the SMLE that restocking can't fix. My youngest boy was gifted an SMLE#1 and the darn thing shot pretty good in the factory stock with a loose butt. I put it in a no name plastic/fiberglass/whatever stock and added a NOS Weaver scope base with a 1-4x scope. The 9lbs + behemoth turned out to be about a 7 lbs sweety to shoot. He took a nice buck with it this fall!
Being kind of a fan of Mausers earlier designs like the '91, 93, 95 and 96, the whole cock on closing thing is irrelevant to me. If it shoots decent, I'm good with it!
richhodg66
Well-Known Member
If I were to pick a bolt action battle rifle to go into harm's way with, it would be an SMLE.
I have grown to like cock on closing a lot. As mentioned, it divides the work load up in a logical way. The small ring Mausers make such a trim rifle compared to a 98 which just seems clunky by comparison.
I have grown to like cock on closing a lot. As mentioned, it divides the work load up in a logical way. The small ring Mausers make such a trim rifle compared to a 98 which just seems clunky by comparison.
Bret4207
At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
Agree on the SR's making for a trimmer rifle. I have no interest in making a 7x57 SR into a 7 Mag, or anything else for that matter. Shot placement is a lot more important than anything else, be it target or hunting. A 7x57 even loaded to "wimpy" US factory levels will do the job provided you stick the bullet in the right place.
todd
Well-Known Member
isn't the 1898 krag a cock on close?
the '91 and the '93 ('16 spanish) mausers (both cock on close) i like to shoot. my Husqvarna m46 ('96 mauser) was COC but went with i went with a dayton cocking piece and speed lock striker spring to make it cock on opening because i am one handed and it's HARD to close the bolt. i have a '95 Chilean action too.
being one handed (had a stroke), i like small ring mausers. i have a sporter '16 spanish mauser that needs to rebarreled to 257 bob, which i will do, whenever!!!!
mine has a trash and pitted bore in 7 mauser, but i have a '08 Brazilian and a '24/30
Venezuelan in 7 mauser.
the '91 and the '93 ('16 spanish) mausers (both cock on close) i like to shoot. my Husqvarna m46 ('96 mauser) was COC but went with i went with a dayton cocking piece and speed lock striker spring to make it cock on opening because i am one handed and it's HARD to close the bolt. i have a '95 Chilean action too.
being one handed (had a stroke), i like small ring mausers. i have a sporter '16 spanish mauser that needs to rebarreled to 257 bob, which i will do, whenever!!!!
mine has a trash and pitted bore in 7 mauser, but i have a '08 Brazilian and a '24/30Venezuelan in 7 mauser.