The Vintage Of These 7×57 mm Mauser Cartridges?

[Major Khan]

Poton, how did the new load work out?

You deserve an in depth report , Shootist43 . I am telling you the good news .

 

[Panther Shooter]

30 years give or take seems like packaging I knew when I was licensed 30 years ago.
Is a lot of your ammunition old inventory or are these just a rare finds in small stores?

CBH Australia
I do believe that the appropriate term is , “ Clearance Sale “ .
Major Khan Sir is correct. For example ,

Winchester Australia ceased to manufacture AAA cartridges after 2013 , and ceased to manufacture shotgun cartridges altogether in 2018 . Now in Bangladesh , only the American shot sizes from Winchester are currently being imported ( Winchester USA, if I am not mistaken ) . Thus , most of the firearms dealers in Bangladesh who possess old stocks of Winchester Australia’s 12 Bore 32 gram AAA cartridges , end up selling the old stock at discount prices in bulk . Because they wish to get them off the shelves , as quickly as possible.
The same goes with .22 Long Rifle caliber ammunition. In the past , “ Eley Rifle Club “ used to be the most popular imported brand of .22 Long Rifle caliber ammunition in Bangladesh. However , nowadays a company named “ CCI “ is the most popular brand for imported .22 Long Rifle caliber ammunition in Bangladesh. That is why firearms dealers wish to sell off their old , existing stocks of “ Eley Rifle Club “ .22 Long Rifle caliber ammunition as quickly as they possibly can . They accomplish this , by selling them off at discount prices in bulk .

 

[shark_za]

Take AAA cartridges , for instance .
To my knowledge ... the only company currently manufacturing actual English size AAA cartridges at the moment ... is Lyalvale Express ( They offer it in their " Super Game " line in a 2.75 inch 36 gram cartridge

This load is what I keep in my shotgun for close range social affairs.
I have found GB from Spain make a load in AAA and I think RIO from the USA also load this size.
There is a South African maker called Industrial Cartridges that load it in their African Buckshot line too.
https://industrialcartridgesa.com/12-gauge-ammunition/

On the 7x57 Ammo, I used to buy boxes of that design in the early 90's so the other estimate make sense. I would also think that slowing the heavy bullet down to 2200ft/s would INCREASE the penetration of the long 175gr bullet, I would be very surprised for it not to penetrate any hog shot through the lungs.

 

[Major Khan]

This load is what I keep in my shotgun for close range social affairs.
I have found GB from Spain make a load in AAA and I think RIO from the USA also load this size.
There is a South African maker called Industrial Cartridges that load it in their African Buckshot line too.
https://industrialcartridgesa.com/12-gauge-ammunition/

On the 7x57 Ammo, I used to buy boxes of that design in the early 90's so the other estimate make sense. I would also think that slowing the heavy bullet down to 2200ft/s would INCREASE the penetration of the long 175gr bullet, I would be very surprised for it not to penetrate any hog shot through the lungs.

Thank you so much , Shark ZA ... for suggesting me more companies which produce AAA cartridges.
Regarding the Winchester Super X 175 grain soft point factory loaded cartridges... They work perfectly well for 243 pound cheetal deer. Double lung shots penetrate both the lungs with utter impunity .
On a 300 pound Wild Boar , however... not so much . Kawshik had taken a perfect double lung shot from the broad side position. The bullet ruptured ( and opened up ) inside 1 lung. However , a post mortem revealed that the other lung was completely intact . I subscribe the reason to the relatively low powder charge of these Winchester Super X soft point 175 grain cartridges.
By comparison .... back when I used to be a professional shikaree in India from 1961 to 1970 ... countless of my clients would bring 7x57 mm Mauser calibre rifles to India , for the purposes of shikar . RWS ( the German brand ) used to offer a 175 grain soft point cartridge , back in those days. This 1 always worked flawlessly on the largest Wild Boars , Neelgai or sambhur deer .1 of my clients even used it on an Asian Sloth Bears with successful results .

 

[Major Khan]

This load is what I keep in my shotgun for close range social affairs.
I have found GB from Spain make a load in AAA and I think RIO from the USA also load this size.
There is a South African maker called Industrial Cartridges that load it in their African Buckshot line too.
https://industrialcartridgesa.com/12-gauge-ammunition/

On the 7x57 Ammo, I used to buy boxes of that design in the early 90's so the other estimate make sense. I would also think that slowing the heavy bullet down to 2200ft/s would INCREASE the penetration of the long 175gr bullet, I would be very surprised for it not to penetrate any hog shot through the lungs.

I got so interested in those new companies that I actually began to search their website , Shark ZA.
GB ( The Spanish Brand ) offers a 21 pellet variety . However , this is the American AAA shot size ( otherwise known as # 4 Buck )
RIO ( The American Brand ) offers a 21 pellet variety and a 27 pellet variety . These are also the American AAA shot size .
They are identical to to the Winchester Super X 2.75 inch 27 pellet # 4 Buck Shot cartridge in the centre of my photograph , below .

Industrial Cartridges ( The South African Brand ) however... offers true English size AAA cartridges . And that 1 is EXACTLY what I prefer !

American AAA / #4 Buck Shot shot pellets have a diameter of 6.16 mm . A standard 2.75 inch 12 Bore cartridge will hold 21, 25 or 27 pellets depending upon the weight of the load ( 28 grams , 32 grams or 36 grams )
English AAA Buck Shot shot pellets have a diameter of 5.16 mm . A standard 2.75 inch 12 Bore cartridge will hold 45 pellets ( in a 36 gram load ) .
Australian AAA Buck Shot shot pellets have a diameter of 5.08 mm . A standard 2.75 inch 12 Bore cartridge will hold 42 pellets in the 32 gram loads ( such as the Winchester Australia 12 Bore 32 gram load AAA cartridges in my photograph , below ) .

 

[shark_za]

Interesting that some would sell #4 Buck as AAA.
I had to see for myself and cut open a GB-AAA. I think they don't put this load on the website.

GB has 40 pellets of 5.2mm in a 34g load; seems like its the one you are after. I don't have any Rio on hand right now, but I also checked South African Swartklip AAA and found 44x 5.08mm pellets in a 35g load.
Proper AAA.

Also looking at what else I can find, S&B offers buckshot loads in "5.1mm" in 67.5mm/70mm and 76mm Magnum shells.
https://www.sellier-bellot.cz/en/products/shotgun-shells/hunting-shells-magnum-buck-shot/
You may also find Eley Alphamax in 40-45 pellet AAA.


Im sure your importers can find these somewhere, we also used to not get anything down at the tip of Africa but things are looking up as far as product goes anyway.

 

[Major Khan]

Interesting that some would sell #4 Buck as AAA.
I had to see for myself and cut open a GB-AAA. I think they don't put this load on the website.

GB has 40 pellets of 5.2mm in a 34g load; seems like its the one you are after. I don't have any Rio on hand right now, but I also checked South African Swartklip AAA and found 44x 5.08mm pellets in a 35g load.
Proper AAA.

Also looking at what else I can find, S&B offers buckshot loads in "5.1mm" in 67.5mm/70mm and 76mm Magnum shells.
https://www.sellier-bellot.cz/en/products/shotgun-shells/hunting-shells-magnum-buck-shot/
You may also find Eley Alphamax in 40-45 pellet AAA.


Im sure your importers can find these somewhere, we also used to not get anything down at the tip of Africa but things are looking up as far as product goes anyway.

A great many people some times get confused that we refer to # 4 Buck Shot as " American AAA " , Shark ZA. We use the old British colonial era shot designations ( as pictured in the chart , below ) .

Remington markets their #4 Buck Shot in Australia as AAA ... or at least

We used to get Eley Alphamax 36 gram 12 Bore 2.75 inch AAA cartridges in the past . However , they ceased to get imported in to Bangladesh in 2015 . We found this very strange , because all the other shot sizes of Eley cartridges were still being imported in to Bangladesh ( They still are ). Our importer told us that Eley no longer manufactures AAA cartridges. Naturally , we did not believe him at the time . Thus , we decided to take matters in to our own hands .
We made the secretary of Bangladesh Shooting Federation e mail Eley Hawk Limited , and they replied that Eley no longer manufactures any shot size larger than BB.

I am completely elated to know that the GB brand manufactures " actual " AAA cartridges ! Are these still currently being manufactured , or are they old stock ?
If they are listed on the GB web site ... then we can easily have them imported in to Bangladesh .

PS : Thank you so much for actually taking the trouble to cut 1 of those beautiful cartridges open for me !

 

[Pondoro]

Any one have experience with this ammunition?View attachment 342839

These are made in Konjic, Bosnia...some of this ammo was sold briefly in Norway, reputedly the bullets were crap..

Looking at their website it looks that they only make mil. ammo these days..

If Prvi-Partizan ammo is imported (Uzice Serbia), the 7x57mm with GROM bullet is a good and fairly cheap choice..

http://www.prvipartizan.com/search_r.php

 

[Dirtdart]

These are made in Konjic, Bosnia...some of this ammo was sold briefly in Norway, reputedly the bullets were crap..

Looking at their website it looks that they only make mil. ammo these days..

If Prvi-Partizan ammo is imported (Uzice Serbia), the 7x57mm with GROM bullet is a good and fairly cheap choice..

http://www.prvipartizan.com/search_r.php

I wasn't trying to hi-jack this thread I just thought there would be a lot of 7x57 fans following this one.
I bought a descent sized lot of 7x57 ammunition several years ago and there were 10 boxes of the "igman" ammo along with some PPU, some loaded with the GROM bullet and some not. I didn't have a 7x57 at the time but have since acquired a rifle in that caliber built on a 1904 Portuguese action. I plan to take that 1904 to the range in the near future and shoot some of this stuff.
Thanks!

 

[MS 9x56]

If you look on one of the inside end flaps there will be lot code information stamped on it. Check on line and you can find date of manufacture. I bought my first high powered rifle a pre 64 model 70 in 243 in 1978 and it was a few years after that when winchester changed their box colors. Mid 80’s vintage is my best guess but the lot code can pinpoint it if that is what you need. Good hunting.