I'm thinking of doing a rebarrel on my Remington M700 in 270 AI. It's just too much now that I'm back east. I want my brass to last a long time and I don't need much velocity anyway in these woods, so I'm wondering if there's any type of load that would be pretty consistant and not too temperature dependent for deer hunting with long brass life.

I've never used 7x57 before.

I would think about going to heavy cast bullet load at about 1800 fps nice and mild ect. Or if you want a jacket bullet I would just go to the low end of loads in any of the books.

quote:

Originally posted by JWK:
I'm thinking of doing a rebarrel on my Remington M700 in 270 AI. It's just too much now that I'm back east. I want my brass to last a long time and I don't need much velocity anyway in these woods, so I'm wondering if there's any type of load that would be pretty consistant and not too temperature dependent for deer hunting with long brass life.

I've never used 7x57 before.

I find 50 grains of IMR 4350 and the 150-grain Nosler BT is accurate, adequate for deer, and generates VERY LOW pressures..... MV is around 2700 FPS from a 22" barrel.

El Deguello,

I also recommend the 7x57, but my results differ with yours so educate me a little cause you got lots of experience. I always enjoy your posts even though some of your loads seem a little hot to me. What brand of brass do you use for your 7x57 loads?

With unfired remington cases, I worked up to 49 grains of IMR-4350 with the 150 gr, Nosler BT's and got high pressure signs so I backed off a grain and pressures went back to normal with good accuracy.

I had a long discussion with a guy who has a gun like mine (Ruger 77 tang safety) with real close serial #'s about this. He has some sophisticated ballistic software and said Winchester Brass is thinner and yields lower pressures. He also uses 50 gr. IMR-4350 with same bullet like you recommend with Win brass.

He told me to fireform the new Rem cases and they will expand sufficiently even after resizing to reduce pressures. I still use 48 gr. with the Nosler 150 BT cause I like the lighter recoil. (bad back)

Our rifles are as different as night and day. He can load his rifle up much hotter than I can with no signs of pressure.


My favorite load for my 7x57 Ruger Tang Safety model 77, of all things, is a full level case (48.5 gr.)of AA-3100 with a plain jane 139 gr. Hornady Flat Base Interlock (#2820). I touch each full case with my sonic toothbrush and it settles the 3100 to about halfway down the neck. Makes a nice lightly compressed load and a tack driver with light recoil and pressure. I figure the 4831's would work about the same with one's favorite 7mm bullet in 139-140 gr.

I don't have a chrony, but I would guess this load to be around 2500-2600 fps. It seems to duplicate Remingtons factory load they claim to be 2660 with the 140 gr. core lockt.

I'm sure results will be different in the Rem. 700 but the 7x57 is one of the best IMO. Merg

El D, I was assuming you were referring to a load in 7x57 (50 gr.imr 4350/150 gr. NBT) or were you referencing a load for the 270? As you can tell, I'm easily confused.

JWT, You might have received the best advice from your first response. Sorry for any confusion I may have caused. Rebarreling to a lesser caliber seems expensive to me when you can just use a reduced load. But the 7x57 is a great one. Merg

Load the 270AI down to around 50,000 and the brass will last a lifetime. I love a 7x57 but I sure wouldn't rebarrel simply to reduce the velocity a little. You can load your rifle down to 22-2400fps or lower if you want. Then you still have it if you need the velocity later.

I wanna jump in on this one. I have an 1895 Chilean Mauser that I want to reload for. To say I would be devastated if I hurt that rifle would be a major understatement. I would like an accurate load that is good enough to not worry about hurting my rifle. I am open to any bullet weight, powder, primer combos since I have not loaded for it yet. I have 40 7mm Mauser cases and I am going to buy the form die to make 30-06 into 7mm Mauser. I think I will just scratch a VII next to the headstamp so I won't mix them up. Thanks for any input.

The 7x57 pressure limit is 51,000 any load in that or lower range should be safe in your rifle. Just curious with 7mm brass available and as cheap as 06 brass why go to the trouble? You will need to form and trim the 06 brass by about almost 1/4" then you will have the 7mm neck down in the old 06 shoulder area. Buy 7mm brass load and fire if you already have 40 another 50 will last a lifetime at that low pressure.

I'm not sure I'd want to reform 30-06 brass into 7x57 Mauser. You'd be better off buying 100 rounds of new brass from someplace like Midway or Graf's.
Making 7x57 from 30-06 entails a lot more than just running the brass through a file and trim die. After trimming the brass, the wall of the necks will be way too thick and something will have to be done to thin them down. Otherwise, they will not properly expand and pressures will definitely be way out of control.
I think your best bet would be to load ammo that does not exceed current factory velocity. With a 139/140 gr. bullet, no faster than 2600 FPS. Or, you can duplicate the original 1892 load by loading a 175 gr. bullet to 2300 FPS. The now discontinued Winchester load with 175 gr. bullet did 2450 FPS from one of my 7x57 rifles. Federal may still load that weight bullet, but velocity was quite a bit less.
Sometimes though, I feel that the "weakness" if the 1893 and 1895 Mausers, especially the ones made in germany is a bit overstated. case in point. Not too long agao, there was a bunch of 1893 mausers made at the Oviedo Arsenal in Spain imported into the U.S. that had been converted to the 7.62 NATO cartridge. Random samples of these rifles were sent to the H.P. White Laboratory and tested for strength. These rifles were being sold here as .308 Win. and were declared perfectly safe in that chambering.
I think that considering the long throat your rifle probably has, along witht he fast twist rate used with the 173 to 175 gr. round nose bullets of the original loading, that this just might be the most accurate bullet for your rifle. That was the case in the "93" Mauser sporter I once had. I should have kept that one. It's no use giving you a load for the bullet I used. Sierra discontinued their 170 gr. round nosed bullets quite a few years back due to lack of demand. It was softer than the 175 gr. Hornady and worked quite well on deer out to about 200 yards.
My notes on loading for that "93" Mauser were lost in the move from Nevada to Arizona so I can't help there. IIRC though, the powder was H-4895.
Paul B.

Check out some of the cast load data...

SR 4759, IMR 4198, and RL 7 all will give you some very accurate loads, in the 30/30 velocity range...

I load a lot of 7 x 57 loads, with ANY bullet weight, using either 30 grains of IMR 4198 or RL 7... for SR 4759.. 25 grains will give you a very accurate load with ANY bullet weight also... 20 grains of SR 4759 will give you a VERY VERY light recoiling load that is still very capable out to 150 yds or so...

Hodgdon has low velocity H4895 data for the 7x57, never used it tho.

http://www.hodgdon.com/data/youth/7x57mauser_y.php

quote:

Originally posted by wrongtarget:
Hodgdon has low velocity H4895 data for the 7x57, never used it tho.

http://www.hodgdon.com/data/youth/7x57mauser_y.php

I have tried them.. and I don't recommend them...

There accuracy is all over the map...

I have found some of those loads shoot like no tomorrow.. and then a few tenths of a grain either way, and they are throwing bullets all over the place...

SR 4759, IMR 4108, H 4198 and RL 7 are consistent across the board...

If you want under 2000 fps, IMR 4227, H4227, 2400 all work pretty darn well for accuracy...

A 175 grain Rem Corelokt, will really penetrate even with an MV in the 1800 fps range...

I would more likely load the 270AI down using one of the 4350's with a 150 grain Hornady or Sierra. 2600-2700 fps should be just right and those two bullets will work perfectly at that velocity. Then again a guy that has as many rifles as I do can't easily sell logic. My 7x57's mild deer load is 46.5 grains of AA 4350 under the Sierra 160 grain BTSP Gameking. Out of my 19 inch barrel I figure I am getting less than 2600 fps but deer really go down quick with this combination and brass lasts forever. I also killed with one shot the biggest feral hog I have taken to date with this load, a real hog at around 400 pounds. Accuracy is first rate with this load also.

The only powder I use these days int he 7x57 is H-414, it is really under loaded in the reloading manuals because of the many soft mausers floating around the country.

I see no reason to load a deer rifle down to such low velocity as 1800 or 1900, that is asking for trouble in the killing area.

I would simply use the factory RN 175 gr. Rem or Win round at about 2300 plus a tad FPS, it is a proven killer, leaves a good blood trail and they don't go far at all.

Great caliber the 7x57, its a one gun do it all without the fuss kind of gun. It is the lightest caliber that I would hunt any animal in the world with including an elephant if I had the chance and no other choice.

I load my 7x57 Remington Mountain rifle up with 50 grains of H4350 under a 140 Nosler Partition and get 2825 fps over the chrony.This load can be downloaded for slower velocities as needed.