The biggest problem with the 7x57, are its cases.
The cases are manufactured for lower pressures, below 50,000 psi.
I have several rifles chambered in 7x57. As mentioned, it is more than adequate for 99% of the shooting needed in Canada.
Most, not all military 7x57 rifles were built around the 175 grain bullets and have the deep throats to accommodate those long bullets.
Some, like the Brazilian 1908s and 1935s as well as the 1912 Steyrs were chambered for the 140 grain bullets. They will all shoot the 175 grain offering but, in some cases they won't chamber bullets deep enough to close the bolt. I've experienced this on more than one 1935 Brazilian.
TO give an idea of the velocities the Brazilians loaded their 7x57 cartridges to, they got 2900fps from 29in bbls. That is darn good. The shorter barreled rifles, come in about 100 fps slower. The Brazilians, are 98 actions.
Remington, Winchester, Ruger, BSA, Tikka etc make or have made rifles chambered in 7x57.
I have a Remington Mod 700 Classic, chambered in 7x57 and a Remington Mod 7, chambered in 7-08.
Both have 22 in bbls. I bebarreled the mod 7, with a 700 take off barrel.
Now, for performance.
The Mod 7, in 7-08, would always shoot a bit faster than the Mod 700 in 7x57. Even with the same powder charge listed as max for the 7-08 in the Lyman 49 manual.
That isn't unusual as there was only an average of 50fps difference on my chrony.
Now, I did notice a tendency for the 7x57 cases to get pressure rings around the base, where the sidewalls meet the curve.
I cut some cases in half and the 7-08 cases were a bit thicker, quite a ways up the case wall. Lots more strength, less stretch.
Ok, I had about 60 Lake City Match 30-06 cases that weren't getting used and were still new in their original boxes. Lovely soft, virgin brass that was easily formed in one, well lubricated, smooth pass to 7x57. Then trimmed to length and resized again.
I sacrificed two of the LC cases and cut them in half to check wall thickness. It was almost identical to the thicknesses of the 7-08 cases, only around a thou difference and actually thicker.
I then loaded them up to the same capacity, suggested by the No 49 Lyman manual but still got slower velocities out of them than the 7-08. NO Pressure Rings though. Not even a hint of it.
I played with 10 rounds, to see what type of lifespan I could get from the reloads with 140 grain bullets.
after six loadings, the brass was getting quite hard and needed to be reannealed.
This time, I thought I would bump up the powder charge a bit. The case neck of the 7x57 is longer than the 7-08 and there is more room for powder in the case when the bullets are seated out as long as the mag well will allow.
This was done with meticulous care. The first three grains were just added, then 1/2 grain at a time. I was using H414SL10 over CCI250 primers. Very close but slightly slower than W760 or H414. It was one of the early experimental "extreme" powders used by Winchester and other companies back in the day when old Tom Higginson was still around. Darn good powder. Very good consistency under extreme conditions.
Well, I got up to 55 grains of H414SL10 into the case easily, without any pressure signs. No loose primers or case head expansion, nor any pressure rings.
55 grains of the same powder, fills up halfway to the 7-08 case neck.
Now, performance wise, I finally got the 7x57 Rem 700 to shoot faster than the 7-08 with the same bullets. A whopping 50 fps on average faster. Whoop de do. It just wasn't worth the hassle, other than I learned a valuable lesson.
Then I remembered, "Once the sweet spot is reached in a loading, a ten% powder increase will give about a 1% velocity increase, depending on powder being used of course." This proved true with my little experiment.
When push comes to shove, the 7-08 will do anything a 7x57 will do. It has the advantage of being able to size down readily available 308 Win brass as well. It also comes chambered in lighter rifles.
I wouldn't feel under gunned with either of them.
The big issue is availability of the firearms. There are several milsurps out there in varying condition, made by various manufacturers and were suitable for the cartridges made for them at the time of manufacture.
Some of the best, are the Serbian 98s, Brazilian and Chilean 98s etc. They don't come cheap, especially if they are matching and in VG or better condition.
P&S has some Chilean and Brazilian 98s for sale right now, chambered in 7x57. I have a couple of each and they are great rifles that are very accurate, as long as I do my part.
If you're looking for a hunting rifle, rather than a collectible shooter, buy a recent commercial offering. If you can find one of the lovely BSA rifles, grab it. They are about as classy as the they come for the classy 7x57 round and make a very nice combination. Nothing at all wrong with the other offerings.
If I were looking exclusively for a hunting rifle, as well as a shooter, I would peruse the web and look over all of the rifles chambered in 7-08 by various companies, both offshore and local.
Maybe even attend the gun shows to look for one but they don't show up often.
Performance wise, when push comes to shove they are ballistic equals.
It's your choice.
The 7x57, is nostalgic and ultimately capable with all weight offerings in all rifles chambered for it.
The 7-08 is a little race horse and performs above the levels it should.
Sadly, neither cartridge gets the respect they really deserve. Magnumitis is a deadly disease.
