New to loading 7x57. Was curious about brass life. Is it a low pressure cartridge like the 45acp? I will be loading for a 1895 Chilean Mauser. I bought about 300 empties at the same gun show and I'm inspecting and resizing them now.

Not as low as a 45 acp by any means but not a magnum either but it can be both depending on how you load it. 45 ACP is 21 K PSI max.
For your 95, use loads no more than 45 K psi. Brass will last forever unless you set back the shoulder with your sizing die set wrong. By forever I mean 20 times.

Well I set my sizing die using a Wilson case gage. I didn't dig out the comparator to get an exact measurment to the shoulder. Just by visual I can tell this brass is old and has been reloaded before. I can see the impressions from a Lee fcd. Out of 100, I lost 25 to cracked necks, and 3 wouldn't fit in the shellholder. I think I may only load the ones that passed once, if at all. Shopping for more brass now.

Not the way to do it; set your die IAW your rifle chamber; that gauge does not know how your chamber was cut at all. Common mis conception; the only true gauge is your chamber.
Just size enough to get a slight feel on turn down of the bolt for best case life.
Sounds like your brass is too old anyway so get some new brass.

quote:

Originally posted by dpcd:
Not the way to do it; set your die IAW your rifle chamber; that gauge does not know how your chamber was cut at all. Common mis conception; the only true gauge is your chamber.
Just size enough to get a slight feel on turn down of the bolt for best case life.
Sounds like your brass is too old anyway so get some new brass.

^^^what he said!
Zeke

If you have a fat and long military chamber and and a short and skinny resizing die your brass "may" not last long.

Meaning the less you "work" your brass when sizing the longer it will last.

It is best to measure your fired cases and set your dies for minimum shoulder bump if full length resizing.

Or if needed just neck size the cases that extends case life in military chambers.

your only lower cost mitigation step is to anneal all your brass before doing anything else.

dpcd words are pure wisdom.

The best long term answer (if you plan on shooting this rifle a lot) is to put in a new barrel, and have it chambered tightly enough that your dies minimally work the brass.

Sometimes, going cheap is it's own punishment.

Another thought is to anneal during each loading schedule, and just neck size.

Best of luck.

Brass life is dependent on the reloading procedures and the fit of the brass to your chamber just like dpcd says above.

I have a 7mm Rem Mag that I bought about 20 years ago along with two, 50 count bags of Remington brass. I have just over 400 rounds through that rifle and I haven't opened the second bag of brass.

True that,but if you do rebarrel,consider rechambering to a 7X57 AI.Better performance + the best of both worlds. I've never looked back on mine.

Id chunk the brass, 7x57 Privi brass is cheap and lasts and lasts, Midway and Grafs handles it.. Old brass is a trouble maker.

Everyone, thanks for all the advice, but I guess I didn't explain what I was doing and asking well. The rifle I just bought, haven't fired it yet. I haven't had the headspacing checked yet. (gunsmith is 2hr drive away) The brass is a bag of "once fired" i got for next to nothing at a gun show. I was full length sizing it bc I have never used it before. Once I shoot it, then yes, I will have my chamber size and I can see how bumping the shoulder back two thousandths works. My question about brass life was more general. Sorry for the confusion. Noe, if you'll entertain one more question.....I'm looking at three powders, 4895, 4350, and 4320. I've never used any of them in any other round before. I have a pound of 4895 but have been told 4350 and 4320 generate less pressure. I've been cautioned a lot about this action. I don't want to go to the extreme of Trailboss, but I don't want to go too hard on the old girl either. I will probably just stick to starting loads for whatever powder I use. I'm only punching paper. Is the one powder of the three better than the other two?

In my experience free unknown brass is a problem waiting to happen. I'd junk it and start new.

As to the powders, they all will work, and none is better than the other for pressure, that depends on your load.

Which works best? Depends on your rifle and how it likes any given load.

I've used mostly 4350 in my 7x57, but i haven't fully done the work up yet. They all will do for paper punching.

the 4895 will do what you want.
this is an old military rifle it won't take a ton of pressure, not a big deal.
check through your cases, make sure they fit your rifle.
start your loads at the low end and work up until you find the rifle won't hit the broad side of a barn or your happy with the results.

I had a good friend who has passed on. He had an original Model 70 in 7 x 57 with a beautiful $2000 + piece of wood on it. While at the range, on of his reloads sustained a case separation. Fortunately, he had only a small cut on his forehead. I asked how many time he had reloaded his cases. He sheepishly told me 14 times. I yelled back at him stating the he was going broke saving money.

Cartridge cases are cheap, unlike beautiful rifles, your health and well being. I make it a point to not reload cases more than 2-3 times and discard in the field.

Geoff:
In the field, that's for other guys to pick 'em up.
Likely where the cases OP got came from.

IF you think they're no good, smash 'em so they can't be used again by anyone.

George

4350 will get you 100 to 150 fps more velocity across the different bullet weights than 4895, 4320 fill split the difference.

George,
At the range, picking up your brass and proper disposal is good practice and courtesy. However, in the field, looking for ejected brass in the grass or bushes by a hunter/handloader is a poor habit when it prevents for a quick follow up shot when the game is not down on the first shot. Experienced hunters have often paid the price for not being prepared for the second shot when looking for ejected brass. I have witnessed this many times while guiding for 22 years in Hawaii.

Being frugal is OK, but salvaging weather worn brass found in the field, I don't think so. What does one do when hunting dangerous game? Save my brass or save my ass?

Geoff

7 x 57 brass life has been fine with the Spanish Mauser I sporterized... new barrel, trigger, etc. A project for a retired guy[with almost 30 years experience reloading]. I do not load really hot loads. Have put about 300 rounds thru the barrel and by now it shoots MOA with my hunting load when I shoot any good.
Powder choices? I tried IMR4350 and IMR4320 with a variety of bullets. Found that factory Remington Corelok 150gr shot well with the 4320 & a clean barrel.
150 gr Nosler Partition bullets did not do well in front of the 4350.

My best results are the 150 gr N Partitions in front of the 4320. semi clean barrel.
Chronographed this load at about 2550 fps. The 4320 small granule size allows it to flow thru a powder measure nicely.
these medium pressure loads give me good case life. I do anneal after every 2nd or 3rd reloading.
The medium sized buck which was not alert enough last Saturday did not know what kind of powder I was burning.
Part of the fun of reloading is finding what works well for each rifle.

quote:

Originally posted by geoff:
I had a good friend who has passed on. He had an original Model 70 in 7 x 57 with a beautiful $2000 + piece of wood on it. While at the range, on of his reloads sustained a case separation. Fortunately, he had only a small cut on his forehead. I asked how many time he had reloaded his cases. He sheepishly told me 14 times. I yelled back at him stating the he was going broke saving money.

Cartridge cases are cheap, unlike beautiful rifles, your health and well being. I make it a point to not reload cases more than 2-3 times and discard in the field.

How does one get a cut on his forehead from a case seperstion?

The case separation produced enough escaping gas to blow through the magazine, destroying the beautiful stock. The gas also blew bits of brass to the back of the bolt and action.

I suspect that it was brass fragments that produced the small cut on his forehead. I am not qualified to make any forensic statements.

Geoff

well... heck, if it's old and brittle brass, i likely wouldn't load it once...

get you some new brand name ... norma, hornady, federal, remington, winchester, PRVI, in that order of preference, for me ....

then some 139 gr hornady SPs, and mebbe a Lee FCD ... or not ....

a moderate load of varget, h335/tac, and some federal 210 primers (or whatever your favorite is) and set at book length --- NO RESIZE on new brass, just "neck size" ...

and go shoot

I had a 93 Mauser that split necks after a few reloadings. It probably needs a new barrel, or set back and rechambered (a new barrel sounds right).

I go along with what the others say. Get some new brass.
Most brass you get will use a US standard shell holder, some foreign brass ma use the European standard and need a 6.5 x 55 swede shell holder.
Some of my PPU brass I can use the us standard but some needs the 6.5 shell holder.
When you are full length resizing that brass, start with the die screwed out a bit, a turn or two. Size a case then try it in the gun. It may not let the bolt close. If so turn the die in, size a case, try it in the gun. Repeat till the bolt just closes on the case. Lock the die down then size the rest.
This should let that brass work ok. But again I would get new brass and probably a few boxes of factory loads to use as a reference for recoil, report, bolt lift.
That way some idea of what reloads should feel like.
Most factory loads will be safe in your rifle. When reloading keep you loads at about the same velocities as the factory loads and you should good to go.
Leo

I shoot 139gr Hornadays in my 95 at 2400fps they kill well.

I just bought (50) pieces of 7x57 brass from Graf & sons—- $ 31 bucks delivered.