7x57 manufacturers

[375 Ruger Fan]

This is one I've had my eye on. I sent the seller a note asking for clarification on the listing, stating that it is a Super Grade Featherweight. Didn't know there was such a thing. Seller has not replied.

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/770997797

 

[Red Leg]

That might be the most beautiful .275 Rigby / 7x57 I have ever seen...

While I love my little 7x57 custom.. that Rigby is beyond a shadow of a doubt, best of show...

I've got a little rifle envy going on this morning..

Sweet little rifle. Shoots Oryx 156 and 170 gr bullets sub-Moa and only an inch or so apart.

Did the same thing you are suggesting over a period of about five or six years with a Swedish Mauser in 6.5. Eventually morphed into a pretty little mannlicher. To be fully honest, I expect I had a couple of grand or more in the little thing, and it might bring 1400 at auction. But this whole gun thing is a fine madness.

You might get a kick out of the “Hill Country Stalker” vignette over on the Rigby site. https://www.johnrigbyandco.com/texashillcountry/

 

[mdwest]

And the possibilities are endless from there! Go ahead and get you a nice piece of walnut from Boyd’s custom built to your LOP, put a barrel on it made in this century, reblue or cerakote the whole thing....man here I am building my own rifle in someone else’s thread!

thats exactly what I did..

I picked up a stock from boyds, got rid of the military trigger and safety and dropped in a timney trigger with a built in "slide" type safety, went with a duracoat "parkerized" finish, installed a new green mountain 7x57 barrel, drilled and tapped for scope mounts, and then installed warne maxima bases and rings and topped with a zeiss optic..

I also had the bolt handle reforged to clear the scope, and then polished.. lapped the lugs on the bolt.. etc..

Even with all of those parts I still have less than $700 invested in the rifle, sans optic... (Im sure it would have been a whole lot more if I had to hire a smith to do the work.. thankfully I was able to do everything needed myself except for the reforging of the bolt handle).. and ended up with something much nicer than if I had gone out and bought a new baseline Rem 700, Win 70, or Ruger 77.. and I get the pride in ownership of knowing I built it from the ground up.. I cut the chamber, I installed the barrel, I installed and adjusted the trigger, I fit the stock, etc..etc.. (its honestly not all that hard to learn to do, doesnt require a lot of special tools, etc.. youtube can coach you through most of the work)..

The only thing really left to do with mine is to bed the action.. but.. Im getting MOA groups with cheap PPU 139gr ammo, and sub MOA with just about everything else right now.. so it really hasnt been a priority.. I'll get around to it sometime this summer..

 

[mdwest]

Sweet little rifle. Shoots Oryx 156 and 170 gr bullets sub-Moa and only an inch or so apart.

Did the same thing you are suggesting over a period of about five or six years with a Swedish Mauser in 6.5. Eventually morphed into a pretty little mannlicher. To be fully honest, I expect I had a couple of grand or more in the little thing, and it might bring 1400 at auction. But this whole gun thing is a fine madness.

You might get a kick out of the “Hill Country Stalker” vignette over on the Rigby site. https://www.johnrigbyandco.com/texashillcountry/

Great write up Joe..

I shouldnt have read it though..

It just made me even more envious/jealous...

 

[wesheltonj]

Sweet little rifle. Shoots Oryx 156 and 170 gr bullets sub-Moa and only an inch or so apart.

Did the same thing you are suggesting over a period of about five or six years with a Swedish Mauser in 6.5. Eventually morphed into a pretty little mannlicher. To be fully honest, I expect I had a couple of grand or more in the little thing, and it might bring 1400 at auction. But this whole gun thing is a fine madness.

You might get a kick out of the “Hill Country Stalker” vignette over on the Rigby site. https://www.johnrigbyandco.com/texashillcountry/

Great write up. Perhaps you can get the Colonel to read it and see that you don't have to have one these ( ! ) every paragraph.

 

[JakeH]

thats exactly what I did..

I picked up a stock from boyds, got rid of the military trigger and safety and dropped in a timney trigger with a built in "slide" type safety, went with a duracoat "parkerized" finish, installed a new green mountain 7x57 barrel, drilled and tapped for scope mounts, and then installed warne maxima bases and rings and topped with a zeiss optic..

I also had the bolt handle reforged to clear the scope, and then polished.. lapped the lugs on the bolt.. etc

We must be some kind of long-lost kin, because that’s exactly what I would do if I were to buy one, right down to the Zeiss optic.

 

[JPbowhunter]

What it's really come our of for me is that since I was a wee tacker I've loved reading hunting literature and Jim corbett was and still is my favourite writer. I love his take on hunting and conservation which is what I myself have worked towards.

I recently lost the closest thing to a mum I've had suddenly and was left a small amount of money. I decided to put it towards something I've always wanted and that I'll cherish forever to remember her and for me there's nothing more meaningful than a nice rifle.

I joked about it previously but a Rigby and co 275 Rigby highland stalker would be just about the greatest thing in the world! But I don't have $13,000 aud, if you scratch the one off the front you're about in line with my budget! So im trying to find the next closest thing.

I'm looking at the avenue for getting something from the state's but id happily look at a rebuild project. I just don't know what I'm looking for in a donor rifle. I will take on all the feedback here and keep digging away at it, I really so appreciate all the advice gents

 

[JakeH]

It’s currently on backorder, but perhaps this could fit in your budget? https://www.eurooptic.com/blaser-r8-professional-green-complete-rifle.aspx

This one is a bit more but I much prefer the look of a wood stock here: https://www.eurooptic.com/blaser-r8-jaeger-complete-rifle.aspx

 

[rookhawk]

Lets set a couple of beliefs I have that you may or may not agree with:

-Guns made 30-80 years ago are by far better made with better materials, particularly Mauser style actions.

-The world is awash in a sea of 7x57 / 7mm Mauser rifles of many wonderful manufacturers.

-Used rifles are almost never sold because they are inaccurate in some way.

-A used rifle is usually sold for about 1/4 to 1/5 of the replacement value to have the gun made today.



In light of all of that, $800-$1500 would get you an extraordinary Mauser actioned 7x57 made by the best hands that ever made rifles if you do some searching. Why buy a replica or counterfeit that is soulless, no where near the fit and finish, and plummets in value if you want to sell it when there are so many amazing options in the wild for you to pick from?

 

[mdwest]

If you go the build route, for a donor action I would prefer a small ring mauser option..

Granted the large ring design is significantly stronger, and many prefer the cock on open design of the large ring over the cock on close design of most small rings..

But 7x57 doesnt require a particularly "strong" action (its a low pressure cartridge, even when loaded to max capabilities).. and the small ring actions are considerably lighter and smaller overall, which makes them more "handy" in the field in my opinion..

I personally prefer the 93 and 96 mauser actions in small ring.. but there is nothing at all wrong with a 94 or 95 model either.. and many other people actually prefer those..

93's made for Spain often get a bad rap for being made of "soft" steel.. but that argument has been debunked numerous times.. much of it centers around Spain rebarreling a significant number of their 93's in .308/7.62x51 in the 1950's when they joined NATO.. the .308 is a higher pressure cartridge, and several people reported their old Spanish Mausers failing on them when they pushed hot loaded .308's through the guns..

That said, I have found the spanish mausers to be EXCELLENT donor rifles for the most part.. they are generally among the most affordable to buy (because of the above mentioned bad rap).. and generally are among the best preserved SR actions available..

I literally picked up the rifle that ultimately became my "custom" 7x57 for $125... it was one of the .308 / NATO conversions.. but you could tell it had barely been shot.. it had some superficial rust on the action and bolt, the stock was a mess, the bore was horribly dirty, and there was some pitting on the external parts of the barrel.. but all the moving parts worked perfectly, the action was reasonably tight (no mauser is ever really "tight" by design), etc.. and the price was definitely right..

Looking at it today, you would have no idea that the rifle didnt come new from the factory in its current configuration.. and while its not an absolute tack driver like a few of my other rifles, it is more than "hunting" accurate for sure, is nice to look at, and it was affordable to build (not to mention I actually had a lot of fun going through the process of building it, and get a lot of satisfaction out of knowing that I built it, etc..)..

 

[Red Leg]

Not sure about down under, but as rookhawk suggests, with a bit of searching, you can find an extraordinary rifle for 1500 to 3000 dollars. Another group worth exploring are the many seventy era custom rifles that are on the market in this country as baby boomers begin their exodus. I have picked up a couple of extraordinary rifles in the last couple of years dead center your budget.

 

[JPbowhunter]

Not sure about down under, but as rookhawk suggests, with a bit of searching, you can find an extraordinary rifle for 1500 to 3000 dollars. Another group worth exploring are the many seventy era custom rifles that are on the market in this country as baby boomers begin their exodus. I have picked up a couple of extraordinary rifles in the last couple of years dead center your budget.

They (7x57) aren't real common here, there's only one that doesn't look shagged at the moment which is a second hand winne featherweight. It's tempting but not really what I think of as a gun to love for a lifetime, no offence intended.

I guess my consideration going the rebarrelling direction would be is it better to pay a little more for a decent action and scope and then rebarrel or just buy a crapper and build it up from scratch?

 

[mdwest]

I think that all really depends on whats available in your area, and what your skills are in terms of rifle building..

Me personally, I'd probably look for an old military mauser that LOOKED like it had been beaten to hell... What you'll find is most pre WWII mausers were built extremely well (stuff made between 1939-1945 can be questionable for obvious reasons).. unless someone very intentionally abused them, they will almost always provide a solid foundation for a build assuming you can find one where the action and bolt (the only things you really want from the gun) have no pitting or other obvious damage to them.. the worse it looks superficially, the better.. you dont want the stock, trigger, barrel, sights, etc..etc.. anyway.. if you can find one that really looks horrid, chances are you can get it cheap.. (I find them here in the US for $200 or less regularly.. where "nice" looking ones typically are $350-$500.. and really no better suited for a build project than an "ugly" one.. )..

But this leaves you with having to do a whole lot of work.. or paying a competent gunsmith for a whole lot of his time.. which can be costly..

The only special tools you really need are an action wrench (about $60) and a bench vise ($50 will get you one capable of handling the task if you dont already own one), a set of punches ($20 if you dont already own a set), and some basic wood tools for stock work (I did 90% of the work on mine with a dremel, and the remaining 10% with small hand files).. you'll also need to rent a chamber reamer and a set of go/no-go gauges (about $60 here in the US)..

For me, as I have stated before, I really enjoyed the build process, and I get a lot of happiness in knowing that I personally built the rifle, that I personally tailored a specific load for the gun and assembled the cartridges, etc.. and was able to do all the work myself..

But others may not find the build process all that rewarding.. If youre one of those guys.. I think you might be better served finding a a rifle that you are already satisfied with that just needs a rebarrel.. I think that would be a much more affordable route.. If you have to hire a gunsmith to do all of the work laid out above, between parts and labor, youre going to hit that $3K mark pretty quickly.. and would have probably been better off just ordering something new, or doing the rebarrel on something you know you already really like..

 

[rookhawk]

If you're willing to rebarrel, look for .257 Roberts rifles also. They are the same bolt dimensions (based on 7x57) so a new barrel is an easy solution. It MAY be possible to rebore and re-chamber an existing .257 Roberts barrel to 7x57 making that route perhaps a $250-$300 endeavor in total.

 

[mark-hunter]

Its hard to find today a maker producing the rifles in 7x57 caliber. (including german makers)

This is one of them, I beleive not so well known in the states, but they are better known in Europe.

Roesler Waffen:
Small Austrian Company, with amazing variety of calibers on offer. I mean really surpirsngly amazing number of calibers!

Turn bolt actions (Titan 6, line of models), and linear bolt action (Titan 16, line of models)

Here is the link:
https://www.titan6.com/en/konfigurator/3

(check caliber options on configurator)

Its worth saying that Titan 16 is cheapest linear bolt action rifle on the market. The are considered as budget rifles.

I am not sure if they have dealers in the states, or Australia. But maybe it can help.

 

[mdwest]

@rookhawk 's recommendation is a really good option too..

I dont know about in Aus.. but there have been a lot of mausers rebarreled in .257 roberts here in the US.. if you could find a "custom" thats already been completed in .257 roberts, it shouldnt be too expensive to get it rebored to 7x57 at all..

 

[Hogpatrol]

Found this Remington NIB but checked again. It is sold. There are a few Rugers out there though.

https://www.gunsamerica.com/951016643/Remington-700-Mountain-Rifle-7x57-NIB.htm

 

[Dwight Beagle]

I haven’t heard anyone mention the current iteration of Mauser. They are making the M98 in 7x57. Is there something wrong with current production Mauser's?

 

[JPbowhunter]

I haven’t heard anyone mention the current iteration of Mauser. They are making the M98 in 7x57. Is there something wrong with current production Mauser's?

Not that I'm aware of but they're $10,000 in Australia and I can't manage that.

The only manufacturers left in Aus in my budget are

Roessler - not keen on the alloy receiver or plastic parts

Heym sr21 - heard some less than great reviews about them

Schultz and larsen - were a front runner but a 12 month wait and requires retro fitting open sights as it's not a standard option.

 

[JPbowhunter]

Found this Remington NIB but checked again. It is sold. There are a few Rugers out there though.

https://www.gunsamerica.com/951016643/Remington-700-Mountain-Rifle-7x57-NIB.htm

I've been looking into importing from the state's, the ruger 275 Rigby has my attention but it was quoted as being $4000 to get here so it's something I need to think on.