The 7x57mm... or 275 Rigby Part I

11/20/2022 – I hope you all will forgive me if I ramble on every now and then in these articles. I promise there is a thought or two worth sharing in there somewhere. It’s just that writing doubles as cheap psychotherapy and I also like to take and post pictures when the opportunity arises.

Above L-R: 7-30 Waters, 7mm-08 Remington, 7x57mm Mauser, 280 Remington, 280 Ackley Improved, 7mm WSM, 7mm Remington Mag, 7mm Remington Ultra Mag.

It is not that I love 7mm cartridges, as much as I am old. Very, very… very old. With the exception of the Mauser, I was around for the introduction of all. In most cases, that included buying a firearm, reloading the cartridge, then watching it drift toward near extinction. The only two exceptions to being relegated to niche consumption would be the 7mm-08 Remington and the 7mm Remington Mag, and the latter is moving toward shaky ground status.

The problem is that I am slow to let go, so when I begin to feel ambivalent toward one of these old friends, I immediately resume handloading and shooting. Don’t want to hurt any of their feelings. However, I will say, in a whisper to prevent sibling rivalry, the most useful in the bunch is the 7×57 Mauser.

The 7x57mm has been in existence since 1892, a military cartridge that first found a home in the 1892 Mauser, adopted by numerous European militaries, beginning with Spain and emigrating to South America. Remington began chambering civilian firearms for the cartridge in 1897.

To say popularity of the cartridge hit two bumps in the road would be an understatement. Both occurrences centered around Germany’s aggression and political falling out with most of the world. In 1907, German Emperor Wilhelm II’s aggressive posturing, statements and actions were leading to WW I and in the process souring civilian use of the German 7x57mm Mauser cartridge.

Enterprising John Rigby, British gun maker and public relations master extraordinaire, redefined the 7x57mm by its bore, rather than groove diameter and created the perfectly acceptable, anglicized, .275 Rigby. The .275 Rigby became the premier small through medium size gave cartridge in the UK and Karamojo Bell made the cartridge his favorite for hunting elephant… although the latter not in the U.K.. As Bell went on to kill elephants with just about everything from a pointed stick to a flyswatter, I would not say that was a defining cartridge application.

Amorphic subtitle

I intended to subtitle using slang terms for a rifle… but they were so stupid and so… “I’ve never owned a gun, but I can pretend I did” in presence, I decided to just move on. I am also trying to decide if I should head downstairs and grab a cup of coffee, or if it is too late and drinking coffee will keep me up all night. Be right back. Coffee won. No it didn’t. I found a bottle of water.

Drinking a second cup of coffee – I do have a favorite rifle, which will be a puzzler for most modern gunners I think. All full stock Ruger rifles are referred to as “International” as having a Bavarian flavor. Sort of Vincent Vegas’s Royale with cheese.

Quick story – A FedEx driver came into the shop, saw me photographing this rifle and said, “I guess that won’t be much use until you put sights on it”. It appears we now have a generation of enthusiasts that think there are only telescopic and red dot sights. I assume they think those metallic appendages are can openers… except I doubt they know what a can is that doesn’t have a pop top, or a bottle without a screw cap.

Yes, of course I say dumb things also. Frequently on these pages. As an example, I mounted the snow blower on the JD the other day, went out to clear snow and sat there on the driveway, in the bitter cold, cussing up a storm at the toggle switch mounted on the blower control lever that didn’t move the deflector on the discharge chute.

So I got off the tractor and called the very nice people at the dealership, big mouth open, brain disengaged and shared my… frustrations with the tractor and my disdain for the defective equipment.  right up to the point I learned the deflector toggle switch was on the other side dash. In my defense and my best holiday wishes regarding large mechanical assemblies and the potential fit to human orifices.

The service manager trouble shot the problem, beginning by asking if I had tried the deflector toggle switch on the other side of the console rather than the switch for the grapple I seemed intent on using as a substitute control. Hey, the deflector switch is unmarked and an accessory not covered in the manual. Right, I had no defense, other than being an idiot and not leading with a question. But I do know metallic sights when I see them.

Short shooting distances, short rifles

If a long shot in location shooting circumstances is less than 100 yards and probably less than 50 yards. A flat shooting bolt of lightening with 24x scope is probably not essential. So an 18.5″ barrel, on a 38.5″ long firearm, with a 13.5″ length of pull, and 6.5 lbs in weight, and very good adjustable metallic sights is good for me.

“Joe, is the sight on your rifle broken? Looks like it fell over.” No, it is hinged so it can fold out of the way of a scope’s objective lens bell and to not obstruct the view through a scope. No, I never do fold it down because I don’t own a scope that would rest over the sight as it is too far down the barrel. If the sight is in an optical path, I’ve never noticed. Probably makes a lot of sense on a rig set up for long range shooting.

Despite the short barrel, the rifle still has relatively long range reach and power. No, not 1,000 yard, but comfortably 300 yards. So those scallops on the front and rear receiver bridge accept spiffy Ruger rings, without the need for a separate mount.

Subsequently, I handload a decent range of bullet weights and types for Stubby.

As an example…

Bullets above range from 120 to 175 grains, all are hunting bullets featuring differing rates of expansion and penetration. I was trying to avoid tables that make readers snooze, but nothing else suits the occasion.

Bullet	Bullet Type	Weight Grains	Bulllet Length”	Cartridge Overall Length ”	Net Capacity Grains H2O
Sierra Pro-Hunter	FBSP	120	0.970	2.945	56.3
Berger VLD Hunting	BTHP	140	1.270	3.065	52.8
Remington Cor-Lokt	PSP	140	1.100	3.000	53.9
Nosler CT	BTPT	150	1.310	3.060	51.8
Winchester Power Point	FBSP	150	1.190	2.885	52.2
Speer Hot-Cor	FBSP	160	1.240	3.050	52.6
Remington Cor-Lokt	PSP	175	1.310	3.015	50.8

Sierra Pro-Hunter: Sierra classifies this as suitable for large varmints, small and medium game animals. It is specifically optimized for the 7mm-08 Rem and 7x57mm cartridge for deer and antelope hunters.

Berger VLD Hunting: A very low drag bullet for long range performance and a somewhat thinJ4 hunting jacket to promote expansion in medium game such as deer and antelope.

Remington Cor-Lokt: With protected soft point, is is of tougher construction that the Berger or Sierra, has greater penetration and expands fully in deer size game or larger.

Nosler Combine Technology Ballistic Silvertip: Reduced friction exterior, bonded lead alloy core. Nosler recommends this for antelope, deer and hogs.

Winchester Power Point: A tough, jacketed bullet used in Winchester factory ammo. It expands fully on deer and larger game, but stays together.

Speer Hot-Cor: Good, classic soft point Speer makes for medium size game; deer, antelope and hogs. I’ve used these a good deal with 7mm Remington Mag handloads also where they stay together. They also fully expand at 7x57mm velocity.

Remington Cor-Lokt: A very tough bullet, deep penetrating and big on expansion. Good on large thing skinned game, elk, moose, black bear…

Nap time…

So I am going to take a break to finish up the handload work, the more time consuming portion, and we’ll overhaul 7x57mm handload data when we publish Part II