7 x 57 mm Mauser
Encyclopedia
The 7×57mm cartridge, also known as the 7 mm Mauser, 7×57mm Mauser, 7 mm Spanish Mauser in the USA and .275 Rigby in the United Kingdom, was developed by Paul Mauser of the Mauser
company in 1892 and adopted as a military cartridge by Spain in 1893. It was subsequently adopted by several other countries as the standard military cartridge. It is recognised as a milestone in modern cartridge design, and although now obsolete as a military cartridge, it remains in widespread international use as a sporting round. The 7×57mm has been deservedly described as "a ballistician's delight". Many sporting rifles in this calibre were made by British riflemakers, among whom John Rigby
was prominent; and, catering for the British preference for calibres to be designated in inches, Rigby called this chambering the .275 Rigby, after the measurement of a 7 mm rifle's bore across the lands
.
rifle
design in 1893. This took a smokeless powder
centerfire cartridge with a bullet
with a nominal diameter of 7 mm (0.285 in), and a case length of 57 mm - hence the names "7×57mm Mauser" and "7×57mm Spanish Mauser". It featured a long, 11 g (173 grain
) round-nose, full metal jacketed bullet with a muzzle velocity of about 700 m/s (2,296.6 ft/s) from a 29 inches (736.6 mm) barreled rifle. For the late 19th century, these ballistics were impressive, and the loading provided a fairly flat trajectory combined with excellent penetration.
The qualities of the 7×57mm as a military round were shown in the Spanish-American War
of 1898. At the commencement of the American assault on the strategic Cuban city of Santiago, 750 Spanish troops defended positions on San Juan and Kettle hills. The attacking force numbered approximately 6,600 American soldiers, most of them armed with the then-new smokeless-powder Krag-Jorgensen rifle in .30 Army caliber , and supported by artillery and Gatling gun fire. Though the assault was successful, the Americans soon realized that they had suffered more than 1,400 casualties, nearly 20 per cent of their forces. A U.S. board of investigation later concluded that the casualties were primarily due to the superior firepower of the Spanish Model 1893 Mauser rifles.
During the Second Boer War
in South Africa
, British authorities were obliged to re-evaluate rifle and ammunition design and tactics after facing Boer sharpshooters and snipers armed with Model 1895 Mauser rifles firing 7×57mm rounds with withering effectiveness, easily outranging the .303 British
cartridge as regards accurate long-range fire. The .303 cartridge at that time was still using cordite
propellant, in contrast to the Mauser's higher-performance ballistite
type smokeless powder
. The British modernized the previous .303 British cartridge variants to the Mark 7 variant that like the 7×57mm used smokeless propellant, and updated their rifle to the Lee Enfield No. 1 Mk III.
In 1913, following the lead of French and German Army commands in developing the spitzer or pointed-tip bullet shape, the Spanish ordnance authorities issued a redesigned the 7×57mm cartridge with a 139-grain spitzer bullet that developed 2790 ft/s (850.4 m/s) (7mm Cartucho para Mauser Tipo S). The new spitzer bullet style was partially responsible for the cartridge's performance as it significantly reduced air drag within normal combat ranges.
H2O) cartridge case capacity. The exterior shape of the case was designed to promote reliable case feeding and extraction in bolt action rifles and machine guns alike, under extreme conditions.
7×57mm maximum C.I.P. cartridge dimensions. All sizes in millimeters (mm).
Americans would define the shoulder angle at alpha/2 ≈ 20.55 degrees. The common rifling
twist rate for this cartridge is 220 mm (1 in 8.66 in), 4 grooves, diameter of lands = 6.98 mm, diameter of grooves = 7.24 mm, land width = 3.90 mm and the primer type
is large rifle.
European 7 mm cartridges all have 7.24 mm (0.285 in) grooves diameter. American 7 mm cartridges have 7.21 mm (0.284 in) grooves diameter.
According to the official C.I.P.
guidelines the 7×57mm case can handle up to 390 MPa (56,564 psi) piezo pressure. In C.I.P. regulated countries every rifle cartridge combo has to be proofed at 125% of this maximum C.I.P. pressure to certify for sale to consumers. By contrast, the American industry association SAAMI
specifies a lower maximum pressure of 46,000 CUP
or 51,000 psi.
Although this lower specification is in deference to the purportedly weaker actions of the older Mauser 93 and 95 rifles which are still in circulation, this concern is misplaced, as the original ammunition developed for, and issued with, the M93 Spanish Mauser produced an average pressure of 50,370 CUP in those rifles.
The ballistics of the 7×57mm became popular with deer
and plains game
hunters. The relatively flat trajectory and manageable recoil ensured its place as a sportsman's cartridge. The 7×57mm can offer very good penetrating ability due to a fast twist rate that enables it to fire long, heavy bullets with a high sectional density
. This made it popular in Africa, where it was used on animals up to and including elephants, for which it was particularly favoured by noted ivory hunter W. D. M. Bell
, who shot 1,011 elephants using a 7×57mm rifle, when most ivory hunters were using larger-caliber rifles. Bell selected the cartridge for moderate recoil, and used 11-gram military full metal jacket bullets for reliable penetration. Bell sectioned an elephant skull to determine the size and location of the brain, and used careful aim to ensure bullet placement in the brain.
The 7×57 was also the favored cartridge of Eleanor O'Connor, wife of famous hunter and author Jack O'Connor
. Eleanor accompanied her husband on multiple hunting expeditions all over the world, killing small and large game with the 7×57mm. Though not as popular today, the 7×57mm is still produced by most major ammunition manufacturers and many modern rifles are available chambered for the cartridge.
The 8×57mm ("8 mm Mauser") and 7×57mm ("7 mm Mauser") cartridges are not interchangeable; attempts to do so may cause damage or potential injury.
Mauser
Mauser was a German arms manufacturer of a line of bolt-action rifles and pistols from the 1870s to 1995. Mauser designs were built for the German armed forces...
company in 1892 and adopted as a military cartridge by Spain in 1893. It was subsequently adopted by several other countries as the standard military cartridge. It is recognised as a milestone in modern cartridge design, and although now obsolete as a military cartridge, it remains in widespread international use as a sporting round. The 7×57mm has been deservedly described as "a ballistician's delight". Many sporting rifles in this calibre were made by British riflemakers, among whom John Rigby
John Rigby & Company
John Rigby & Company, gun and rifle makers, is a firm specialising in the building of high-quality sporting rifles and shotguns.-History:The company was founded in Dublin, Ireland in 1775, and is known to have traded as W. & J. Rigby during the period 1820 - 1865 during the flintlock and percussion...
was prominent; and, catering for the British preference for calibres to be designated in inches, Rigby called this chambering the .275 Rigby, after the measurement of a 7 mm rifle's bore across the lands
Rifling
Rifling is the process of making helical grooves in the barrel of a gun or firearm, which imparts a spin to a projectile around its long axis...
.
Cartridge Development and Military Usage
The Spanish military adopted a new MauserMauser
Mauser was a German arms manufacturer of a line of bolt-action rifles and pistols from the 1870s to 1995. Mauser designs were built for the German armed forces...
rifle
Rifle
A rifle is a firearm designed to be fired from the shoulder, with a barrel that has a helical groove or pattern of grooves cut into the barrel walls. The raised areas of the rifling are called "lands," which make contact with the projectile , imparting spin around an axis corresponding to the...
design in 1893. This took a smokeless powder
Smokeless powder
Smokeless powder is the name given to a number of propellants used in firearms and artillery which produce negligible smoke when fired, unlike the older gunpowder which they replaced...
centerfire cartridge with a bullet
Bullet
A bullet is a projectile propelled by a firearm, sling, or air gun. Bullets do not normally contain explosives, but damage the intended target by impact and penetration...
with a nominal diameter of 7 mm (0.285 in), and a case length of 57 mm - hence the names "7×57mm Mauser" and "7×57mm Spanish Mauser". It featured a long, 11 g (173 grain
Grain (measure)
A grain is a unit of measurement of mass that is nominally based upon the mass of a single seed of a cereal. From the Bronze Age into the Renaissance the average masses of wheat and barley grains were part of the legal definition of units of mass. However, there is no evidence of any country ever...
) round-nose, full metal jacketed bullet with a muzzle velocity of about 700 m/s (2,296.6 ft/s) from a 29 inches (736.6 mm) barreled rifle. For the late 19th century, these ballistics were impressive, and the loading provided a fairly flat trajectory combined with excellent penetration.
The qualities of the 7×57mm as a military round were shown in the Spanish-American War
Spanish-American War
The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...
of 1898. At the commencement of the American assault on the strategic Cuban city of Santiago, 750 Spanish troops defended positions on San Juan and Kettle hills. The attacking force numbered approximately 6,600 American soldiers, most of them armed with the then-new smokeless-powder Krag-Jorgensen rifle in .30 Army caliber , and supported by artillery and Gatling gun fire. Though the assault was successful, the Americans soon realized that they had suffered more than 1,400 casualties, nearly 20 per cent of their forces. A U.S. board of investigation later concluded that the casualties were primarily due to the superior firepower of the Spanish Model 1893 Mauser rifles.
During the Second Boer War
Second Boer War
The Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...
in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, British authorities were obliged to re-evaluate rifle and ammunition design and tactics after facing Boer sharpshooters and snipers armed with Model 1895 Mauser rifles firing 7×57mm rounds with withering effectiveness, easily outranging the .303 British
.303 British
.303 British, or 7.7x56mmR, is a .311 inch calibre rifle and machine gun cartridge first developed in Britain as a blackpowder round put into service in December 1888 for the Lee-Metford rifle, later adapted to use smokeless powders...
cartridge as regards accurate long-range fire. The .303 cartridge at that time was still using cordite
Cordite
Cordite is a family of smokeless propellants developed and produced in the United Kingdom from 1889 to replace gunpowder as a military propellant. Like gunpowder, cordite is classified as a low explosive because of its slow burning rates and consequently low brisance...
propellant, in contrast to the Mauser's higher-performance ballistite
Ballistite
Ballistite is a smokeless propellant made from two high explosives, nitrocellulose and nitroglycerine. It was developed and patented by Alfred Nobel in the late 19th century.-The development of smokeless powders:...
type smokeless powder
Smokeless powder
Smokeless powder is the name given to a number of propellants used in firearms and artillery which produce negligible smoke when fired, unlike the older gunpowder which they replaced...
. The British modernized the previous .303 British cartridge variants to the Mark 7 variant that like the 7×57mm used smokeless propellant, and updated their rifle to the Lee Enfield No. 1 Mk III.
In 1913, following the lead of French and German Army commands in developing the spitzer or pointed-tip bullet shape, the Spanish ordnance authorities issued a redesigned the 7×57mm cartridge with a 139-grain spitzer bullet that developed 2790 ft/s (850.4 m/s) (7mm Cartucho para Mauser Tipo S). The new spitzer bullet style was partially responsible for the cartridge's performance as it significantly reduced air drag within normal combat ranges.
Cartridge dimensions
The 7×57mm cartridge has 3.90 ml (60 grainsGrain (measure)
A grain is a unit of measurement of mass that is nominally based upon the mass of a single seed of a cereal. From the Bronze Age into the Renaissance the average masses of wheat and barley grains were part of the legal definition of units of mass. However, there is no evidence of any country ever...
H2O) cartridge case capacity. The exterior shape of the case was designed to promote reliable case feeding and extraction in bolt action rifles and machine guns alike, under extreme conditions.
7×57mm maximum C.I.P. cartridge dimensions. All sizes in millimeters (mm).
Americans would define the shoulder angle at alpha/2 ≈ 20.55 degrees. The common rifling
Rifling
Rifling is the process of making helical grooves in the barrel of a gun or firearm, which imparts a spin to a projectile around its long axis...
twist rate for this cartridge is 220 mm (1 in 8.66 in), 4 grooves, diameter of lands = 6.98 mm, diameter of grooves = 7.24 mm, land width = 3.90 mm and the primer type
Percussion cap
The percussion cap, introduced around 1830, was the crucial invention that enabled muzzleloading firearms to fire reliably in any weather.Before this development, firearms used flintlock ignition systems which produced flint-on-steel sparks to ignite a pan of priming powder and thereby fire the...
is large rifle.
European 7 mm cartridges all have 7.24 mm (0.285 in) grooves diameter. American 7 mm cartridges have 7.21 mm (0.284 in) grooves diameter.
According to the official C.I.P.
Commission Internationale Permanente pour l'Epreuve des Armes à Feu Portatives
The Commission Internationale Permanente pour l'Epreuve des Armes à Feu Portatives is an international organisation whose members are 14 states, mainly European....
guidelines the 7×57mm case can handle up to 390 MPa (56,564 psi) piezo pressure. In C.I.P. regulated countries every rifle cartridge combo has to be proofed at 125% of this maximum C.I.P. pressure to certify for sale to consumers. By contrast, the American industry association SAAMI
Saami
Saami or SAAMI can stand for:*Sami people*Sami languages*Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers' Institute...
specifies a lower maximum pressure of 46,000 CUP
Copper units of pressure
Copper units of pressure or CUP, and the related lead units of pressure or LUP, are terms applied to pressure measurements used in the field of internal ballistics for the estimation of chamber pressures in firearms. These terms were adopted by convention to indicate that the pressure values were...
or 51,000 psi.
Although this lower specification is in deference to the purportedly weaker actions of the older Mauser 93 and 95 rifles which are still in circulation, this concern is misplaced, as the original ammunition developed for, and issued with, the M93 Spanish Mauser produced an average pressure of 50,370 CUP in those rifles.
Sporting round
Deer
Deer are the ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. Species in the Cervidae family include white-tailed deer, elk, moose, red deer, reindeer, fallow deer, roe deer and chital. Male deer of all species and female reindeer grow and shed new antlers each year...
and plains game
Plains game
Plains game is well established in literature and conversation as the sporting hunter's generic term for all those fair-game species of antelope and gazelle which are to be found - typically in rather open plains or savanna habitats - throughout sub-Saharan Africa...
hunters. The relatively flat trajectory and manageable recoil ensured its place as a sportsman's cartridge. The 7×57mm can offer very good penetrating ability due to a fast twist rate that enables it to fire long, heavy bullets with a high sectional density
Sectional density
Sectional density is the ratio of an object's mass to its cross-sectional area. It conveys how well an object's mass is distributed to overcome resistance. For illustration, a needle can penetrate a target medium with less force than a coin of the same mass...
. This made it popular in Africa, where it was used on animals up to and including elephants, for which it was particularly favoured by noted ivory hunter W. D. M. Bell
Walter D.M. Bell
Walter Dalrymple Maitland Bell , known as Karamojo Bell, was a Scottish adventurer, a big game hunter in East Africa, soldier, decorated pilot, sailor, writer and painter....
, who shot 1,011 elephants using a 7×57mm rifle, when most ivory hunters were using larger-caliber rifles. Bell selected the cartridge for moderate recoil, and used 11-gram military full metal jacket bullets for reliable penetration. Bell sectioned an elephant skull to determine the size and location of the brain, and used careful aim to ensure bullet placement in the brain.
The 7×57 was also the favored cartridge of Eleanor O'Connor, wife of famous hunter and author Jack O'Connor
Jack O'Connor
Jack O'Connor may refer to:*Jack O'Connor *Jack O'Connor , Australian cricketer*Jack O'Connor , English cricketer...
. Eleanor accompanied her husband on multiple hunting expeditions all over the world, killing small and large game with the 7×57mm. Though not as popular today, the 7×57mm is still produced by most major ammunition manufacturers and many modern rifles are available chambered for the cartridge.
7×57mm Cartridge and Rifle Compatibility
In it's original military loading, the 7x57mm cartridge produced an average pressure of 50,370 CUP when fired through the M93 Spanish Mauser rifle. However, SAAMI has published a Maximum Average Pressure of only 46,000 CUP for this round. This leads to the possibility that commercial rifles built to SAAMI standards may not be designed to withstand the powerful military cartridges intended for the more robust Mauser designs.The 8×57mm ("8 mm Mauser") and 7×57mm ("7 mm Mauser") cartridges are not interchangeable; attempts to do so may cause damage or potential injury.