Hi Fellas, I got my dads old custom 7x57 mauser and had a lot of work done to it. Its a small ring mauser. My uncle first had it customized by a gunsmith. Barrel cut to 20 inches, Fajen woodstock, williams front ramp sight and williams rear peep sight and that was the way the rifle was hunted with for about 20 years. Then my dad got it and put a scope on it and for about another 20 years it remained that way. Now, I have it and I'm going to reload for it using Hornady 139gr. I. L. bullets, H414 and IMR 4350 powder. What kind of velocity can I expect to get out of that 20 inch barrel. I won't load max rounds because of the age of this rifle.
7x57 short barrel
- Thread starter Waynard
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A friend of mine was given a rifle like yours that had been hot blued and had Williams back and front sights put on and barrel cut to 22". It had been put into what looked like an old Bishop sporter stock but the stock was broken off at the pistol grip. I got him a composite stock and made the military trigger into an adjustable single stage trigger. I cut the old bent bolt handle off and made a new one that would work with a scope welded it on and drilled and tapped it for Leupold bases. The bore on that rifle looked new. Since it was a small ring Mauser which is designed to use lower pressure under 46000 CUP loads that is what I worked up to. From prior experience I chose the 154 gr Hornady interlock bullet and found that 45 grs IMR 4350 ran average 2400 fps and was a tack driver. Later it proved to be a real deer killing bullet for my friend as from prior experience I had discovered.
With your 139 Hornady to stay under 46000 CUP I would not exceed 46 grs IMR 4350 which just happens to be the Suggested accuracy load in the Sierra manual with their 140 gr bullet. You should get around 2500 fps which should make a really good deer load. One thing to keep in mind with these rifles are that they have a throat a mile long. They were designed to use a 173 gr RN bullet and some rifles have around an one in 8" twist and do not shoot really well with shorter light bullets. You may need to go to bullets in the 150 gr range to get good accuracy. Like I stated above the 154 Hornady is a good one. Good luck and have fun.
With your 139 Hornady to stay under 46000 CUP I would not exceed 46 grs IMR 4350 which just happens to be the Suggested accuracy load in the Sierra manual with their 140 gr bullet. You should get around 2500 fps which should make a really good deer load. One thing to keep in mind with these rifles are that they have a throat a mile long. They were designed to use a 173 gr RN bullet and some rifles have around an one in 8" twist and do not shoot really well with shorter light bullets. You may need to go to bullets in the 150 gr range to get good accuracy. Like I stated above the 154 Hornady is a good one. Good luck and have fun.
