doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion Double Rifles, Paradox Guns & Gauge Rifles @ doublegunshop.com Tell Me About The 7x57R

gjw,

I don't expect that you will get an answer to your last question but I have one for you:

Do you reload?

I ask this as we regularly see our post-1912 guns being stamped with bullet type and weight and on the pre-1912 guns the powder type and charge but there is more to it than just that. You will need to start somewhere, in your case with a modern load launching a 173 gr bullet, and see what happens at the distance that you would like to have your gun sighted-in. Your sights were cut for a particular 173 gr bullet, powder charge, and primer combination for a set range. The Sellier & Bellot factory loads using the 173 gr SPCE bullet reportedly fly out of the muzzle at 2378 ft/sec. Finding exactly what you�re looking for in a modern cartridge would be a spot of luck.

If you are not lucky out of the gate there are a couple ballistics basics that come into play right off that you�ll need to consider. A heavier bullet with a like charge used with a lighter bullet will be slower and will produce more recoil thus raising the barrel more as it is influenced by said recoil. And of course the heavier bullet will drop faster (trajectory) as distance increases. Consider the range that you wish to "zero" your rifle barrel. Generally, if you are patterning low with your factory 173�s try another factory load with a lighter bullet weight and higher MV. If the 173's shoot high for you at your preferred distance you will have a little more of a project on your hands as right off I don�t know of a heavier bullet combination available on the market though one may exist. Either way shooting the gun with the factory 173 gr bullet will give you an idea of the direction you will have to go. All this is if you do not want to mess around with your original sights. Reloading your own affords you a great deal of flexibility. The number of different 7mm bullets available on the market today combined with the different powders and primers will offer you a sizable number of combinations.

There is another way to skin the same cat. If the available factory combinations don�t do it for you, you don�t have the desire to get into reloading your own and you don�t want to alter your original sights there is one more option: Fit or have a competent gunsmith fit your drilling with a new set of rear blades, a new front blade, or new of both front and rear sights/blades and cut them to suit � or have them cut to suit. None of the above is overly difficult with the right tools but it can be time consuming.

I�m hoping that first you like your new purchase and decide to keep it (after your inspection) and second that factory ammunition will get you very close to where you want to be.

Regards,

Buchseman