In this edition of a rather disjointed series of essays on cartridges I will discuss two very good ones almost forgotten by today's hunters. Those are the 7x57 Mauser and the .35 Whelen. Both are old cartridges, the Mauser going back to the early 1890's and the Whelen to 1922 as a wildcat which only recently has been resurrected in factory cartridges. The 7x57 has been factory loaded almost since its inception. The 7x57 has been my primary hunting cartridge for over 25 yrs and is my favorite.
Back in 1978 a coworker offered me a barreled Commercial Mauser action, in the white, with a 6 power Weaver scope mounted on it. This action had a solid gold rose with silver leaves inlaid on the receiver. It was made by his father, a gunsmith from Denmark who had escaped from Denmark before the Nazis invaded. After the war the father went back to Denmark to visit and while there went over to Herstal Belgium to the Fabrique-National factory and purchased some Commercial actions. He then completed one for himself and had started to build one for is son, my co-worker. He died before it was finished. This was in the early 1950's. My coworker decided he needed some money more than an unfinished rifle so he offered it to me for a very, and I mean very, low price.
I couldn't resist. Both rifles were barreled in 7x57, a favorite of hunters over there.
I stocked the rifle and browned the metal which came out a very deep brown, almost black. My co-worker had provided me with some ammunition he had worked up for the other rifle his father had finished. I took the rifle to the range and fired a few shots at 25 yards to make sure the scope was zeroed and then put out a target at the 100 yard range. 5 shots later I had a group that was a four shot almost one hole with one out a little further to open the group to about ¾ of an inch. I now had myself a nice little light -weight hunting rifle. I tried to improve the accuracy by trying different hand loads but gave up after I realized that I wasn't going to use this as a target rifle and the accuracy was more than adequate for hunting.
The history of the 7x57 goes back to the Spanish model 93 Mauser rifle which our troops encountered during the Spanish American War and the British also had to confront during the Boer War. Both those encounters convinced the Brits and the Americans that what they had was totally inadequate. The result was our '03 Springfield and the Brits SMLE Lee-Enfield. It's hard to believe that the Brits were still using single shot Martini rifles as late as 1899 at the start of the Boer War. The 7x57 cartridge caught on as a very good game cartridge and many rifles in that caliber were made for hunters in Europe and Africa. As pointed out in a recent article in the American Rifleman, the English firm of Rigby made many in what they called the ".275 Rigby" which was actually the 7x57 Mauser cartridge. Those rifles in that caliber became the favorite of some of Africa's most famous hunters, like Selby and Bell. Bell is famous for killing over a thousand elephants with the 7x57. The late Finn Aagard who wrote for the American Rifleman and other magazines often wrote glowing accounts of the 7x57 performance when he was a boy and later professional hunting guide in Africa. The late great writer and hunter Jack O'Connor who was instrumental in developing the .270 was a great advocate of the 7x57 and wrote many articles about using it in hunting all over the world. Unfortunately there are very few rifles available today being built in 7x57. Ruger and Remington made some but I don't think they are in current inventory. Some foreign made rifles are available in that caliber.
It really is too bad as this cartridge is ideal for most thin-skinned game in the USA and elsewhere and its recoil is very well tolerated by women and junior hunters. The 140 grain bullets are an ideal choice for deer here in New England. I prefer the 154 grain as they shoot best in my rifle with BL-C2 or IMR 4895 powders. In a modern action with modern powers this cartridge can be loaded to near 3000fpm. That is a bit much for game here in New England, I load to 2650 as being more accurate and appropriate for deer hunting. It is still a good choice for open country shooting and will take deer and antelope out to 300 yards with ease.
The other cartridge I wish to talk about is the .35 Whelen, named after Col. Townsend Whelen whose friend Howe developed it in 1922 while Whelen was on safari. It is nothing more than the .30-06 cartridge necked up to take a .35 caliber bullet. Until recently it was considered a wildcat cartridge. Rifles for it were a custom affair. Remington made their pump action rifle for it and made it a factory loaded cartridge. This cartridge, with proper bullets will take just about all large game found in North America. It may not be a great choice for the large bears but anything else would be fair game for this cartridge. Loaded with 250 grain bullets and a charge of IMR 4064 at 2500 fps it is a thumper with 2600 foot pounds of energy, more than adequate for the big guys like moose and elk. It obviously is not a long- range cartridge but 200 yard shots wont be a detriment. With all the new whiz-bang short magnum cartridges getting all the attention it really is a shame that some of the best of years ago, though still effective, have been overshadowed and forgotten. I have an old beat up military model 98 Mauser waiting to be converted to .35 Whelen as soon as the quarter collection tells me I have enough cash.
For those who would like a .35 caliber with nearly the same performance there is the .358 Winchester, which is a .308 necked up to .35 caliber. Not quite up to the .35 Whelen performance it is available in many production rifles and is a fine cartridge in its own right.
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Until next time, Keep Your Powder Dry.
Bill Oikle
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