Here's the target at 100 yards shooting a 175 grain NP semi spitzer. On the lesser side, bullet drop was 11 inches at 245 yards.

Simple solution: get closer. Probably most of the animals on earth have been killed with a rig similar to yours.

I'd be happy as a pig in shit with that setup. There is no lesser side as far as I can see.

More about your rifle/load. Por favor...

Now you know you need to try another 5 powders and 60 loads to insure that is the best group you can get.

Congrats.

Thanks Paul. I would have had a hard time picking another powder had this one not done the job. Lots to choose from out there.

BaxterB:

Blaser K95, 8.66" twist, 20 inch barrel. Long throat.
Factory 2 lb. trigger
Fire-formed cases, neck sized only.
H4831 powder 48.5 grains that pretty much filled the case.
Nosler Partition 175 grain semi-spitzer
.050" off the lands.
OAL 3.20"
CCI 200 large rifle primer.

wasbeeman: I agree. Close is best if you see them first, then get closer before they see, hear or wind you.

That is a good start. Make sure that load will repeat. A really good test to determine consistency is to fire four consecutive groups, letting the barrel cool completely between each group. When I want to check the consistency of load, that is what I do. It eliminates surprises.

It will repeat these groups if I do my job and "be surprised" by the shot instead of "pushing the shot". When I shot 245 yards on a cool clean barrel (as in a hunting situation) I pushed the first one. The next two shots were with an inch of each other and directly under the bullseye. I'm good.

Nice, nice, nice and congrats. Maybe I missed it but can you share your load with us? My Model 70 7x57 loves PMC and S&B 175 grain factory loads (several .33"-.43" three shot groups at 2360 fps) but, to date, I have been unable to match that precision. I have several boxes of Hornady 175gr SP's.
If you don't want to publish the load, can you give me a PM?

Sorry I missed seeing your post on your magic formula. I'll bet it was a job getting 48.5 gr H4831 in that case but I see you could load it out to 3.2". I have some H4831SC which I will try. Hope I can get close to your great results. Thanks for sharing your load development work with us.

Thanks. My fastest load was 50 grains. There were no signs of stress. But, groups opened up a good bit.

It's hard to pinpoint max loads, generically, for the 7x57 since throat lengths vary so much from rifle to rifle. With my first 7x57, a Ruger 77 ST, 22" barrel, in 1974, I got carried away with a "7x57 at Maximum" article in Handloader.
I ended up with 160 gr Sierra BTs in Norma brass and a heavy charge of N204 giving 2900+ fps. The cases lasted another 20+ years and many more reloadings. Primer pockets were tight and expansion and lengthening were minimal.
My current favorite 7x57, a Winchester Model 70 Lightweight, also with a 22" barrel and a long throat, shoots 140 gr Sierra FBs or 140 gr Nosler Partitions at 2990 fps and 150 grain Nosler Partitions at 2850 fps with no apparent distress. I don't do this routinely since I absolutely hate to case trim.
As you might have guessed, I am a serious 7x57ophile and am constantly amazed that it is not one of the most popular calibers.

My hypothesis on case life is that chamber diameters can vary and oversized ones like my .270 Mauser should wear out a case faster than a tight one although I never shot enough to prove it. It shot 1/4 inch on the 4th load.
Those are some scorching speeds. Sending a 7mm bullet out of a 7X57 case at those speeds certainly took a bit of forethought I'd imagine. The first thing that pops into my head is volumetric density of the powder. Sure is a short case and a dense powder and compressed charge seems necessary to achieve those velocities especially pushing that 160 that fast. Accuracy aside, I bet it flew flat as a .270. Did you take the ogive shape into consideration? I barely touched the subject. Seems like match bullets can be seated a bit higher than hunting bullets allowing for few more grains of powder. I don't intend to use anything but hunting bullets, I'm just curious. Then there is the consideration of the shape of the base, etc. So many angles..aye? Have fun with your 7X57's. Thanks the input.

Hello custombolt,

I am an user of the 7x57 since 1972...
My present one is a Mauser M1935 action with an original Military barrel made by SIG Switzerland as replacement for the Chilean Mausers. It is my most accurate rifle. Period.
It has a long throat (.350") and 8,66" twist and 60 cm barrel lenght (little less than 24")
I love the NP semispitzer! I am in my last box of fifty...Next will be 4 boxes of the next spitzer version. But almost as old as the others.
The load I use: Winchester cases, CCI 200 primers, and R 22 reach 2650 f/s. It is an entirely safe max load in a 7x57 of european specifications barrel. Nosler Reloading Manuals list almost 2600 f/s with the 175 grs in a 22" barrel lenght.
The accuracy with the IMR or H extruded powders, has been in my experience somewhat better than with the Alliant Reloder series, but the velocity/pressure relation with the R22 in the 7x57 with heavy bullets (or in my FN-Akah .30-06 with 180 and 200 grs bullets, by the way) have been unsurpased yet!!! With more than enough accuracy!

Good luck!

PH

Thanks for the interesting bits of information. Albeit accurate, my 175 loads could stand a bit more speed. They are accurate. But, that 11 inch arc at 245 yards suggests that the slightest wind might be a problem in open areas. I may work on flatter loads sometime next year. It will do fine for whitetails in the woods on Monday.

I see a difference in the 160 grain spitzers and that is the base shows more lead than the semi-spitzer 175's and the base is not quite as smooth as the semi's or say less refined with a slightly sharp edge. The R22 keeps popping up lately and I may consider it down the road. But, before I move to another powder I'd like to put both the H4831 and H4831SC through the paces. So, for now, I'll leave the K95 as is and then next project is to work up long range 150 and 160 NPSp loads for the next rifle that has a 9 inch twist, much shorter throat and a 26 inch barrel.

Thanks. Good stuff.

justwondering are you fellows shooting deer with 175gr bullets?
I went with a 140 gr TSX in my 7x57 with 50gr of reloder 19 good velocity and excellent groups and not so much drop over 200 yards. FS

All my 7x57s have been on 30-06 length actions with coresponding throats, so I can seat a bullet .284 in the case (one caliber deep) then with the use of H414 I can beat the socks off a .280 Rem and factory 7 mag but that's not much of a claim on the factory 7 mag as its so underloaded..This in effect get one the same powder capacity as a 7x57 Ackley Imp.

My 275 Rigby and all mod. 21 and 22 Brnos are set up in this manner. My max loads will run about 8 grs. over book 7x57 max, taking into conclusion that all book 7x57 loads are way below max because of frivoulous lawsuits from folks shooting old single shots and early model Mausers.

If you zero it with the bullets hitting 3 inches high at 100, then it won't be off hair at 245, but i am sure you know this. Point blank range and all that....

The Norma powders (N204 and MRP) really shine in the small cased 7x57 because of their high specific density.
Some time ago I was loading 7x57, I forget now what bullet. The load called for 51 gr of IMR4350 as max. At 50 grains, with the bullet .030" off the lands, the load would have been highly compressed (I have no 4350SC). I went to my dwindling stash of N204 and 51 grains was way down in the case. I think I stopped at 54 grains of N204 with no compression.

quote:

Originally posted by custombolt:
Here's the target at 100 yards shooting a 175 grain NP semi spitzer. On the lesser side, bullet drop was 11 inches at 245 yards.

Why 175's? What are you planning on hunting? I have seen great performance using the 140 and 160 gr ABin our 7x57's.

A question???????????
For years and years and years I have heard the reason the 7x57 is loaded down by US factories is the liability factor of hot loads in Mauser 1893s and Remington Rolling blocks. Yet I have never heard of any real problem ever cropping up in either rifle usage when handloaded. And how many M93s or RBs are still in use?
By the same token, there is a real potential of early Springfield 1903 actions cracking in two due to faulty heat treatment on a large number of the first 1,000,000 or so. Even so, the military continued to use these rifles after they were aware of the potential disastrous problem. And 30/06 ammo is loaded to relatively high pressure with, apparently, no liability concerns.
Just a rant, nothing more.

I hunt Pennsylvania whitetail deer with this rifle and in 2015 some large boars and/or large bodied western deer. My goal was to get the best groups I could from this rifle based on recommendations by the manufacturer and several others who said 150 to 180 grain is proven to be best for this twist and the long chamber throat.

Steve, factory 06 loads are slightly anemic too.
For the reason you mention. There is a report on low number springfields on the web some ware done by a DR.
Using statistics, the low number guns are not so dangerous...tj3006