I have an opportunity to buy a 7mm Mauser 7x57 for decent price for my wife. What are the pro's & con's of this caliber? Also, what kind of optics should I expect to purchase for this gun? Thanks in advanced!
Z
The 7x57 is a great little round , I had one that I set the barrel back and rechambered to 7x57 Ackley , that little gun accounted for alot of game and still does as it has been passed down .
Ballisticaly it rought their with a 7-08 with factory ammo and it can be loaded up a good bit faster than whats offered from the factory. The cons would be that the case has a bit of taper so it will need to be trimmed a little more often but al in all its a great round.
As for the optics that depends on what and where she's hunting and what kind of ranges. Generaly speeking the good old 3-9 will cover the vast majority of all big game hunting out to 600yds pretty well , for smaller targets like praire dogs you migh want a little more power. If the hunting is gonna be in low light mostly a good fixed power will generaly be brighter as their are less lenses in the fixed power scopes.
7x57 was my first deer rifle back in 82. My dad built it for me and I still use it today. This weekend it is headed to MO. for a back up for my dad. His first rifle is also a 7x57 that he built in the late 80's. Great caliber, great heritage, excellent performance, low recoil and most of the time will shoot to moa. I can't say enough about this round its just a good all around cartridge for anyone who is'nt stuck on a magnum. Buy it and never look back. 3-9 will do this cartridge well.
I purchased the sporterized 7x57 Mauser for my wife for 100 bucks. Bought a 4x16x40 scope for it and took her out to the range. I zeroed it in at 200 yards. My wife has literally shot two times ever. First group of three was less then two inches @ 200 yards. I then proceeded to shoot my group of three ewwww WIND DRIFT ;) We walked down to check our targets and she said wow I'm terrible, I laughed and told her that was my target she was looking at and hers was the other one. Her response to me, you better practice!
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