I just bought what looks like a pretty cool rifle. Its a FN Military 98 action, Chambered in 7X57.
It has an aftermarket barrel of unknown make.
I am waiting for dies from midway, so i cant shoot it yet.
Got to playing around with my Hornady chamber length gauge , and this thing has one hell of a long throat. I want a long throat , but a 140 grain nosler ballistic tip bullet comes clear out of the case before it touches the lands.
You never know it might shoot great , and of course i hope it does, But i want to shoot 140s and if need be i will have the barrel turned back a thread or two and a new chamber reamed.
Is this likely a spendy job to do ? thanks ...tj3006

I have a reamer made specifically for the Hornady 140 grainer. PM me for details, If interested in a chamber like that. .
But basically, if the throat is as long as you say; Might need all the threads cut off and start over. As in, like fitting a new barrel.

well i am glad its 24 inches, cause i would be fine with 22. i should have my dies about friday.
thanks...tj3006

PM Ray he loves long throats and gets some very impressive velocities with them.

He also get impressive accuracy from them.

Maybe he well share some of his recipes with you.

Try it first. My 7x57 has the standard long throat but is still very accurate with 140 gr Sierra and 139 gr Hornady. It does seem to like the flatbase better than boattail though. I seat the bullets one bullet diameter deep in the case.

Yes, I have a 257 Roberts Ruger with a super long throat; I seat bullets .1 deep (plenty deep) and use 25-06 load data. That works well, if your mag allows it.

I need to try and seat my bullets in my ruger 257 out futher.

I use top end 257AI data and get some good velocities.

You guys are right of course. I have had 7x57s before ' and one was #1 Ruger with a really long throat.
But this puppy is going to have .25 or more of jump before it gets to the lands. And that's assuming I seat .25 deep. As somebody said I will likely need a flat base bullet.
It might be wise to get a lee crimp die to make sure I get a tight grip at the case mouth...

Use it as intended with a 175 grain bullet. That throat will serve you well. Or use Hornady's excellent round nose 154 grain bullet. Again that long throat will serve you well.

Leave the 140 grain bullet for the 270 Winchester. It does it better. 7x57 with a 140 grain bullet unless you've a faux Rigby fetish is pointless since the 270 WCF arrived in 1925.

Do not try to compensate for neck tension with crimp; that usually doesn't work. Just try it first.
Also, my 257 Ruger is a old tang safety; newer ones have shorter throats; mine is super long.

Enfield, i live out west, where shots get long, a 140 grain spitzer shot great out of 2 7x57s i had before. The Ruger #1A Shot great but i never wanted to hunt with a single shot, i had a CZfull stock that was accurate but too slow.
Your logic about the 270 is sound, but if logic matterd i would just have a 30,06 and .45 auto...

I have a Ruger #1 7 X 57 and a LH Mauser Zastava 7 X 57 both with very long throats both shoot 140 to 175 gr loads great.

Since this is not a BR rifle, I would live with the long throat unless acceptable accuracy cannot be found. The 7x57 is designed for long bullets .. but that also requires a fast twist, 10 or less. If you don't want to shoot long bullets and you have the correct fast twist barrel, you may need to do a complete rebarrel to get the best accuracy.

tj - It could be inexpensive if the barrel specs are in your favor and the rifling is crisp and sharp.

Find out the barrel twist after you measure the magazine length inside.

Long-throated barrels with a faster twist rate are common in 7X57 and if this one has a faster twist of 8.5" or so, it's going to love (longer) 175 Partitions (spitzers).
Plastic tip bullets of the same weight and length as spitzers are much sharper at the tip. So, the the ballistic-tipped bullets will require a longer over all length than the Spitzers to be the same distance from the lands.

1/10" twist? Re-cut and re-chamber to run 140's.

I also have a short throat (140 gr) 7x57 reamer....the last three 7x57's, the clients want a LONGER throat..In fact, I can''t remember a client that actually stuck with he short throat..go figure

Everyone who wants a 7x57, always wants the long throat. Everyone who wants the 275 Rigby, wants the short (Rigby's High Velocity) one. And it seems that most want the 275 these days.

The classic European throat is that long, tapered, funnel of a throat. These throats are just the opposite of the favoured NA target rifle throat which is made to about .0005" over nominal bullet diameter and of a length which allows the bullet to reach the lands. The thing is, those long, European throats work like a hot damn if you just don't worry about touching the lands. In fact, .100" or more of jump is just perfect.
Some of the best shooting hunting rifles I have had were chambered this way. 6.5x55, 7x57, 270 Winchester,30/06, 8x57; I had them all in this configuration and all were beyond sastisfactory. Even with cast bullets, where one might expect gas cutting to be a problem, this type of throat worked out surprisingly well. With bullets sized about .003" over groove diameter, they were excellent. Regards, Bill.