I have always understood this equation to be true, just differences in nomenclature. However, Cartridges of the World shows the .275 Rigby as having very slightly different dimensions, although it confirms it is the same as the others elsewhere. If there are slight differences, aren't they different cartridges? Do the slight differences have any effect?

I have heard of the differences list for the different names. It has been traced to the fact of converting inches to centimeters when they are formulating cartridge specs. I had a really neat little GERMAN mauser that had the ENGLISH .275 rigby h.v. inscription on the barrel.It has been and continues to be feed with 7x57 brass. This is such a great cartiridge that it makes me whoosy.

Ask BRIAN W about the .275 as he know owns mine.

ED

Thanks, that makes sense. I believe all the .275 Rigby's actually made by J. Rigby were built on Mauser actions. IIRC, he was the British distributor for Mauser or something like that.

Jim, as mentioned the only difference came from conversion of the metric dimensions and Rigby used a slightly different bullet weight as their standard load. I had a custom built last year and had it marked .275 Rigby just because that seemed so much nicer to say.

I agree. Somehow 275 Rigby just has a hint of romance about it. 7X57 sounds kind of clinical.

Gentlemen

I guess Rigby renamed the cartridge to make is more attractive to the Britt sportsmen. Rigby had for manny years the exclusive right to sell Mausers products in U.K.

They have for some reason never liked the Germans. I have seen quite a few English/London rifles that had german mausers stamps. They were hidden soo they didn't appeared untill the rifle was taken apart.

I think that 7X57 Mauser is a more honnest name and better since we have the metric system.

/ JOHAN

--YOU--have the metric system, not we.

ED

Continental rifles tend to be named after groove diameter, while the British ones usually use bore diameter.

The differences between the length, shoulder and base diameters are in thousands of an inch, well within standard chamber measurements.

Besides, there is something appealing in the eccentricity of naming a rifle shooting a .284" dia. bullet a .275. Of course, eveery .270 is really .277" as well. Does anyone know the significance of the .275 number?

Now if I can just find one that actually says .275 Rigby on it that I can afford. Sigh!

Jim, I had my .275 built on a VZ24 action, Douglas barrel, action trued, lugs lapped, new bolt handle welded on, Timney side safety trigger,FN type barrel shroud, bedded in a decent composite stock for under $900, that's almost affordable. The other option is to get a used Ruger/Winchester etc. and have it rebarrelled.

Different names for exactly the same cartridge.

7x57, .275 Rigby, .276 Westley-Richards, all the same from what I understand. I can't say if this is true, but I heard this from a Brit, and may have some basis in fact. According to what he told me, the .275 Rigby was a proprietary cartridge made by Kynoch for Rigby. (Yeah, I know it's just a 7x57 with a fancy name, bear with me.)
However, according to my friend, the average Brit really wasn't that knowledable about firearms, especially during the early 1900s. So, when he bought his ammo, he would buy the Kynock .275 Rigby at the inflated price Rigby sold it for. A few, like W.D.M. Bell were smart enough to realize that it and the 7x57 were one and the same cartridge and purchased the less expensive German ammo.
I don't know if old Jack was right, but it sounded good anyway. He passed on about twenty years ago, and he was good for a great story when in his cups.
Paul B.

[ 11-07-2003, 20:35: Message edited by: Paul B ]

I had always heard that J. Rigby changed adopted the .275 Rigby name to help market the rifles to his British customers, because it sounds more British that 7X57 or 7mm Mauser. Rigby was the British distributor for Mauser at the time.

My original question, BTW, was based on the fact that very slight case dimension data are given for these rounds in Cartridges of the World, but that has been explained by rounding off errors in the metric conversion.