I bought a 7 X 57 featherweight Mod 70 (push feed) about 20+ years ago. It is the only Mod 70 of any variety that will not shoot straight. I have recrowned the barrel, had the barrel checked for imperfections, had the trigger tuned, floated the barrel and still will not shoot any factory or hand loaded 140 gr. pills worth a flip. I recently tried some 160 gr accubonds that may hold promise. I hate to sell my only 7 X 57. I had plans on letting my wife shoot it in Africa on a few plains game.
Any one with a similar experience with this mod 70 / 7 X 57 combination?

EZ

try some hornady 154 grain round nose bullets. what kind of groups a re you getting at 100 yards? 5"? is your scope 20 years old as well?

I had a Ruger Number one that wouldnt shoot anything under 175 worth crap. The twist was too fast. Went through all the factory light stuff and then tried the old blue box federals in 175 and shot under an inch all day. wouldnt have believed it if it didnt happen to me. Then i had to be an ass and get rid of that rifle...

I originally had a 2 X 7 Leupold on the rifle. It would shoot 5" groups.
I now have a 2.5 X 8 Leupold mounted on it. Still shot 5" groups with 140 gr. fodder @ 100 yrds.
I think I will check the twist in the barrel! I do not care for shooting 175 gr. loads. If that is the case, I will rebarrel this rifle with a more accomidating twist.
Like i said a recent load of 160 gr accubonds a head of 4350 showed some promise. Due to it being a longer bullet, perhaps that is the issue.

I had a tang safety Ruger M77 that grouped like your M 70 with 140 grain loads... It shot fair with 175 factory loads, but was no tack driver..

I peddled the rifle..Later on, I talked to a friend who had the same problem..He said that some 7 x 57s were very long throated, and the accuracy could be improved by seating the bullets as far out as possible and still fit in the magazine... Something to try..

I had an old Ruger 77 that a local gunsmith set the barrel back two threads and recut the chamber. Shoots like a champ now. I still seat 140s out as far as I can.

don't discount the 175 grain loads in 7x57. its the only weight i use. only shoot deer with it. Sight in a 200 yards and you will be good to 300 without much in the way of holdover.

I own a Winchester M70 FW 7x57 and love that rifle. For various reasons though, I haven't shot it in a long while.

I found it to be very accurate with the Norma ammo I had at the time and it was very easy on my shoulder too.

I really like all my Mod 70 FW's. That is the reason I still have the gun.
As you may know it is a standard length action. You can seat the bullets pretty far out and get them in the magazine.
I will try getting the maximum length out of the cartridge and still get them in the box.
I like the performance / recoil relationship of the cartridge; just have got to find a way to get it dialed in.
Thanks for all the responses; We will give them a try and I am going to find out the twist!

EZ

I seriously doubt whether "seating the bullets further out" will turn a 5" gun into a 1" gun!
FWIW, Peter.

I have the same style and caliber rifle and mine is a tack driver. I did di a few things to the gun like a professional glass bedding job, and a trigger job, but the thing that really made a difference was after I fire lapped the barrel. Mine had a very rough bore and would copper foul badly. I bought a fire lap kit and rather than do ten rounds with each grit, I chose to use five. They say firelapping will erode the throat so I held off going all the way.
My notes are not handy, but I have gotten my best results with W-760 for the powder. I've been using Remington brass and Winchester primers. Bullets that have done the best are the Sierra 140 gr. Pro-hunter and the no longer available Sierra 170 gr. Round nose. That 170 gr. bullet makes one very small ragged hole at 100 yards.
The one bullet that has been pure garbage is the 150 gr. Winchester Power Points in bulk form. The few 120 gr. and 140 gr. Nosler ballistic tips have also been very accurate with nothing going over .75".
I also have the push feed featherweight in .257 Robt. and it does not shoot quite as well as my 7x57. It's more like a 1.25" gun. Still, it's fun to shoot
My 140 gr. load does a bit more than 2800 FPS, FWIW.
Paul B.

quote:

Originally posted by redleg172:
I had an old Ruger 77 that a local gunsmith set the barrel back two threads and recut the chamber. Shoots like a champ now. I still seat 140s out as far as I can.

Bingo. The Winchester and the Ruger both had an inordinate amount of freebore that wouldn't handle anything under a 175 grain bullet because of its length. Get the barrel spun in 2 turns or so and it will handle the 140-60 grain pills nicely. Have a gunsmith do a chamber cast and check it. It's a simple process.

Guys,

I am going to give this baby one more try with 160 Accubonds before I have the barrel set back.
I found some old 175 gr factory loads and were surprised on how far they were set out of the case.
The reloading book (Nosler) used a OAL 3.065. I just threw some loads together and loaded to 3.110 and had plenty of room in the magazine and fed just fine; Obviously not touching the lands.
The base of the bullet is about flush with the base of the neck of the case and the 4350 charge of 46 gr is right there.
I will chrono some loads these weekend and supply a report. With the 140 gr pills I am not sure there would be enough bullet left to secure them in the neck seated out that far.
To use those I probably would have to have the barrel set back.
If these 160's will chrono at 2600 like the book suggest (and shoot accurately), I may stick with them.

EZ

I have the same rifle, and mine also is a tack driver! no matter what I feed it..

I also had 2 Ruger 77 Mk 2s that didn't shoot so well.. one was sold to a fellow forum member who was looking for one for his son...

I was looking to rebarrel both of them, until I stumbled upon a load of 40 grains of IMR 3031 for those rifles.. regardless of bullet weight between 130 and 175 grains.. both of those Rugers went from 5 inch groups down to half inch groups with that load and ANY bullet weight from the 130 to 175 grains...

I was loading the cartridges to magazine length in both Rugers and do so in my Model 70.. you might want to try that, as the Model 70 I have, has a long throat like a Military Mauser does..

If the issue is excessive freebore, you may want to consider rechambering to 280 Rem or 7x64mm.

I took two 7 X 57's out with a few new loads today
1) The Mod 70 featherweight
2) An old Ruger Tang safety 77 I about forgot I had (My fathers)

That old Ruger shoots lights out! Anything you feed it!

I seated the bullets far out per the suggestions on this forum. This helped considerably. I got my groups down to around 1" when the wind was not blowing hard.

A couple of very interesting notes. Most of my reloads were with Rem brass. I loaded the same charge with 5 shells using Winchester Brass.
The Remington brass shot 160 Accubonds at around 2615 Avg FPS with 15 std dev. 1" accuracy
The win. brass shot the same charge and projectile at 2540 Avg fps with 23 std and accuracy was lousy; 3.0" groups

Just goes to show what the chrono is worth. I could probably add 1.5-2.0 gr of powder in the win brass and get the same pressure, vel and accuracy.
Great tool! Amazing the difference in brass and wall thickness.

The little Ruger shoots so good it will become my wifes rifle. It shoots 140 accubonds well under 1".
I was seating all the bullets at 3.135" OAL.

1) 160 accubond; 46.5 gr IMR 4350; Rem brass; Rem 9 1/2 primer. 2615 FPS very good accuracy

2) 140 Accubond; 49.0 gr IMR 4350; Rem brass;
Rem 9 1/2 primer; 2820 FPS very good accuarcy

No pressure indications

I agree with 390ish...don't discount the 175 grainers! That's all I shot in my CZ 7x57 until I came across a sweet deal on 7 boxes of 160 grain TSX's. Mine shoots the 175's and the 160's to the same POI at 100 yds. The 175 grainers at 2375 fps are good out to ~300 yds...which is further than I shoot at game. The older I get, the slower me and my bullets seem to get.

Please don't consider re-chambering it. It will be perfect for your wife with 140's if you do get the freebore checked/reduced by a gunsmith as suggested.

Andy,

I shot some old Remington 175's this weekend. They chrono'd at 2150-2200 FPS. These shells were probably 25 years old
They shot pretty good. Low recoil. Sounded more like a shotgun going off.

EZ

Even at 2375 fps they are low recoil...pops way more like a shotgun, like you said. I used to think if it wasn't going over 3100 fps, then it was a worthless slowpoke and the bullet would probably bounce off game if it didn't drop to the ground first! Sure glad I got over that phase.

My tang safety Ruger never shot well with any thing I tried. Maybe 2 inches at best.
I ran into some plain vanilla Federal 175 grain loads that I got for the price of the brass. These loads consistently shot into an inch.

I've read a lot of complaints about this vintage M70. I bought one in 7x57mm when they first hit the market, and in the first two years took 5 deer and a pig, all with 140 grain factory loads, and no complaints at all. Still have the rifle in the safe. I suspect this may be another case of each rifle being a creature unto its own.

LLS

Mine's also an old tang safety M77.The first shot all over the place so I brought it back and they exchanged it for another.This one shot great right from the start and 30+ years later still does.The only factory load it wouldn't shoot well was Norma's 110gr loading.I suspect that was due to the short bullet not catching in the rifling soon enough.Norma's 150gr shot very well.

Guys,

I finally got this 7 X 57 (mod 70) dialed in this weekend shooting the way I expect about 1/2" (3 shots) @ 100 yrds.
I really appreciate the advice on bullet seating depth from many of you. I think that was the real trick. I initially went from 5" groups to 1 1/2 - 2 " groups with just that adjustment.
This weekend I tried a little different load and it all came together.

160 gr Nosler Accubond
Rem Brass (new)
Rem 9 1/2 mag primer
47.0 gr IMR 4350

OAL 3.135 ( I think is the key!)

Following data for 5 shots (Oehler 35)

Hi 2620
Lo 2611
Avg 2617
Std Dev. 5

My old Ruger 77 tang 7 x 57 will just about do this with anything you feed it (not near as finicky).
I have settled on 50 gr IMR 4350 (140 gr Accubond) @ 2850 FPS for the Ruger 77.
Once again; Thanks for the tip! This gun (mod 70) may find its way into the field now!
I think I may trim the stock on that Ruger a bit so it will better fit my wife.

How would you think that 140 Accubond leaving the muzzle at 2850 would be on pains game up to Kudu?

EZ

I have a Featherweigh Mod 70 in 270. I don't have any problems with it. It shoots tight groups.

jro45,

I have had many mod 70 featherweights; This is the only one I every had that was a challenge. I agree that most shoot very well.

EZ

quote:

Originally posted by ACRecurve:
Even at 2375 fps they are low recoil...pops way more like a shotgun, like you said. I used to think if it wasn't going over 3100 fps, then it was a worthless slowpoke and the bullet would probably bounce off game if it didn't drop to the ground first! Sure glad I got over that phase.

You need to chat with those folks over on the Weatherby Forum. They all like those hyper-velocity rounds so they can kill elk at 1000 yards. Lou

quote:

Originally posted by eezridr:
jro45,

I have had many mod 70 featherweights; This is the only one I every had that was a challenge. I agree that most shoot very well.

EZ

Glad you got her to shoot/ The 160grNAB is a good bullet choice for most hunting w/ a 7mm. YOur long throated rifle may also be a candidate for Barnes TSx. They like to be shot further off the lands than conventional bullets. You might give some 140grTSX a try.

i've had good results with the 7x57 using 139-grain hornadys and imr 4064 with winchester brass and primers. i do seat them out as far as i can and have seen great promise with accuracy.

you might consider this powder/bullet combination, but then again for african plains game the 160s might be more appropriate. good luck!

Wow, this is really helpful information. I'm

 fighting 

with a Ruger M77 tang safety 7X57 for accuracy. A gunsmith did a glass bedding job, adding a pressure point out at the end and found that the stock had a crack. (fixed) I did a Tubb's final finish fire lap job, but it still leaves copper streaks on every OTHER rifling, it seems. What's that mean, besides every OTHER rifling is different? I have only shot Seirra 140's. I now have focused on 49 grains of Win 760, to be my favored load, clocking at roughly 2820 fps. It shot a 6 shot 1 1/2 inch group yesterday. My new Browing X-bolt .308 shoots a 1 inch group with 150 Sierras using 49 grains of I-4895 at 2940 fps (too fast, dropping 0.5 grains). So that's not too bad!
Reading over all the input, it's really funny how similar other people's situation is to mine and that many did similar corrections.
I'll have to try seating the bullet OUT more. I'm going to consult with the gunsmith first, though.

You should check the newest speer manual. They list high pressure loads for the 7x57. 51 grains of RL-22 will push a 175 grainer out right around 2600 fps if I remember correctly.

390ish,

51 gr's of RL 22 will probably fill the case to the brim. Allot of compression, but if they say it will work. OK!
I know that 50 gr of IMR 4350 fills the case 2/3 way up the neck.
175 gr at 2600 is impressive!

quote:

Originally posted by 390ish:
You should check the newest speer manual. They list high pressure loads for the 7x57. 51 grains of RL-22 will push a 175 grainer out right around 2600 fps if I remember correctly.

What surprised me, is Hornady's manual listed a charge of 40 grains of IMR 3031, with its 175 grain bullets.... and gave an MV of like 2400 fps...

however seating them to magazine length in a Ruger 77 Mk 2, and a Win Model 70 FW, my chronograph, and a friends Oehler, chronographed that load out of both rifles at 2650 fps....


its been tested more than once also.. same results... but 250 fps faster than published data???

its been tested more than once also.. same results... but 250 fps faster than published data???

Well, when I got my new Chrony a month ago, I chrono'd my 51 grains of W760 with 140gr. Sierras at just over 3000 fps, which is smokin'! An older (20 years) Hornady manual gave a load of maybe 52 grains of W760 with a velocity of 2900 fps. This data was taken from my exact same rifle. Now, I never shot that load. I never will. I'm using 49.5 gr. of W760 at 2850 and happy as a beaver in a grove of new trees with it. But 52 grains will shoot faster than 51 grains at 3023 fps. So that is WAY off. You just can't reload intelligently without a chronograph. You simply don't know what YOUR rifle is doing. There can be BIG differences, and there can be surprisingly small differences. 47 grains of I-4831 in my 308 goes well over 2900. Not what what book (Lyman) said by over 100 fps. And way too hot for PA whitetails. All it does is ruin more meat and blow more gore out the other side of the animal.

Hey Folks,

Can someone tell me what action that 7x57 Mod 70 is built on? Is that a long action or a short action? (suspecting long action...)

i would say either a long action or an intermediate action, which would be more appropriate, but don't take my word for it.

quote:

Originally posted by rnovi:
Hey Folks,

Can someone tell me what action that 7x57 Mod 70 is built on? Is that a long action or a short action? (suspecting long action...)

It's a blocked long action.

Vapo,

my featherhweight in 7mm Mauser, as the barrel is marked, does NOT have a blocked action at all... you can set a 280 or 30/06 cartridge right down in the magazine....

there is no spacer in the mag well on mine...

I bought it used, so I can't verify if it came from the factory that way or not... but it is a full lengthed long action magazine...

Seafire. I'm guessing someone altered the magazine of your rifle. My M70 Featherweights in .257 Bob and 7x57 are long action rifles with blocked magazines.
Just my thoughts on the 7x57 though, as that is the cartridge in question, give winchester's W-760 powder a try. It and it's companion powder H-414 (claimed to be just different lots of the same powder) are excellent in the 7x57 cartridge. My M70 will shoot just about everything into an inch or less, and mostly less. The only bullet that has proved to be pure crap is the Winchester 150 gr. Powerpoint bulk bullet. I haven't been able to get them to shoot worth a damn in three different 7x57 rifle nor in my .280 Rem. I haven't reid them in a newly acquired 7MM Rem. Mag. yet and based on prior experience, I feel it will be a waste of time.
Paul B.

I had a Ruger 7x57 tang saftey, I think it was a Liberty model, with iron sights. It was the most spectacularly innacurate rifle I have ever owned. It didn't group, it patterned. It had an excessive freebore, 175RN just barely seated in the case mouth did not engage the rifling. I suppose I could have messed around with setting the barrel back, but I was so frustrated with it that I sold it. I was told later that during this time period Ruger was getting their barrels from an outside vendor rather than making them inhouse. This may explain the poor performance. Glad some of you had better luck than me.