I have the problem of too much time on my hand and a couple of actions that need to be made into rifles. I have been thinking about a 7mm cartridge and I just read the thread that “Burke” started on the 7x57 or the 7mmSTW. I have access to some 7mm Weatherby cases at a steal of a price so the normal deterrent of the Weatherby brass being too expensive is not in play here. I have been thinking about a 7x57 Improved or .280 Improved and I owned a 7mm Rem Mag about 10 yrs. ago that I really liked. There are just too many darn 7mm cartridges to choose from!

Presently I have a .257 Roberts, .338 Win Mag and a new .270 that I plan to shoot for the first time this afternoon. So if this .270 turns out to be a shooter, I really can't justify a 7mm that is only .007" larger. I guess that will mean the ol' boring 30-06 would be the choice then and what's the fun in that.

Sorry for the rambling but I just wanted to hear what you guys thought.

C-ROY

There's always room for another 7mm in the gun safe. What's this nonsense about "justifying" a rifle? If you have to justify it, you're playing the wrong game. It's kind of a Zen thing, you need another "because it exists". - Dan

C-ROY

Hmm, actually I like the 7mm Wby better than the Rem because it has a longer neck that seats bullets well. The weatherby will shoot the 175 a bit faster than the rem and that will do for most game

I could easily think of one weatherby, one 7X64 Brenneke and a nice little 7x57. Get hold of 500-600 cases and go for it

I have a friend who is thinking about a wild cat in 7mm based on the 8X68 case.

What action are you thinking about to use for this rifle. long, medium? In a mauser my choice would be 7X64 or 7X57.

I would easily trade a 3006 against something funnier like this one.

Good luck and let us know how things go

/ JOHAN

C-Roy, if you have a .270 then you don't really need a 7x57 or .280 (.280 is my choice o/ .270). Not that "need" has anything to do w/ want. If you have a std. length mag. bolt face, consider the 7Wby. mag or 7mm Dakota. Both will get you more than a 7remmag. The Dakota will run along w/ the 7STW in a shorter action. These are the kind of "problems" I wish I only had. Good luck.

C-ROY
For that matter, if you have a 270, you don't need a 30-06 either.
Go for the 7mm wby. Lots of fun.

Get the 7mm Wby, some IMR7828 and some premium 175 grain bullets. Expect about 3000fps and one-shot kills on Elk-sized critters on down.

What do you think you will use it for? Is there a reason you need to stay with a 7mm if you are going to rebarrel it?

The 7x57 I have been told by a couple of people, is one of the best cartridges to do an A.I. on, it benefits very well from it. What about a cab gun, for behind the truck seat? Build a 7x57 standard, with 22" barrel, parkerized, open sites, synthetic stock. keeping with the same case family as your 257roberts. Or jump up and go with something in 338 or 35cal. Want to go to magnum bolt face go to a 350rem.mag blown out to 375, with a 20-22" barrel.

I think every single day about what to build next, my problem is not having the money. :-)

You could always write down a few cartridges that you are considering on pieces of paper, put them in your hat, and have your gunsmith draw one out.

Red

Well, I tell you what, I have either owned or shot most every 7mm cartridge out there, and my favorite is the 7mm Weatherby Mag.

I know there is darned little difference between it and the 7mm Rem Mag, but I have shot a bunch of both and the Weatherby is a better performer.
I know you are a reloader, but when using factory ammo, the comparison is a joke. Factory 7mm Rem Mag ammo is loaded down to pitfull performance levels.

I have loaded shells for and tested 7 X 57's, 280 Remingtons, 280 Ackley Improved's,7mm Rem Mag's, 7mm WBY Mag's, 7mm X 300 Win Mag's, 7mm X 300 Weatherby's, 7STW's, 7mm Rem Ultra Mag's, etc. They all do well, but when loaded to sane pressures, few do better than my 7mm WBY Mag.

Yeah, I tested stuff for a guy shooting 150's at horrific speeds in his 7mm Rem Ultra Mag, but the cases just about would not come out of the gun, he was way over loaded.

Having said all this, my Remington 700 Classic chambered for 7mm WBY Mag has no problem shooting nice 3/4 inch groups with 160 grain Nosler Partitions using IMR 7828 powder. Either my Oehler 33 or my Pact chronograph will tell you they are doing 3200 fps!! That is plenty good for me. A good friend had a custom rifle built up last year. It was a 7mm Rem Mag and had a 26 inch barrel. With safe loads it would barely do 3050 fps with 160 grain bullets.

Try the Weatherby, I think you will like it.

R F

I am prejudiced against the radiused shoulder of the Weatherby, and also don't care for the extreme freebore of the standard Weatherby chamber (which is almost mandatory even in a custom gun since factory ammunition could be dangerously overpressure in a non-freebored chamber).

The radiused shoulder seems harder to work with than a conventional shoulder, and appears to me give potentially less positive headspacing when properly neck-sized.

As I say, these are just my prejudices, but I haven't had much luck with the Weatherby line. On the other hand, my prejudices might well be overcome if, like you, I had a bucketfull of once-fired brass begging for a gun to shoot it!

Whatever you decide, have fun, and forget trying to justify it. Either your .338 or your .270 will probably do just fine for anything you'll ever hunt, and the .257 would do in 90% of the cases!

If you have a .257 R., a good .270, and a .338, you need something on the smaller end and larger end. My ideas are a .22/.250 or .220 Swift, and a .416 Rigby or .458 Lott! What you DON'T need is something that comes close to the .270 (any kind of 7mm or a .30/'06)!