Half the reason to hunt with a 45-70 is the rifle you might carry.
GERMAN MAUSER RIFLE BULLET COMPARISON PLUS
For comparison, I’ve included ballistic data for a low pressure load plus a high pressure, heavier bullet load. Handloaders can find directions and recipes for building higher pressure loads with big, heavy bullets, too. A few boutique ammo brands like Powder River Cartridge, Double Tap, and Buffalo Bore build loads with 405- to 500-grain bullets at slightly higher pressures (around 25,000 psi) that are supposed to safe in all guns, but I would be leery about shooting them in any rifle built prior to 1900. But many modern rifles like the 1895 Marlin I used at Fort Richmond Safaris in Africa recently, can handle much higher pressures. These are reportedly safe in any rifle, even 19th century Trapdoor Springfields. Most common from Winchester, Remington, Federal, Barnes Vor-TX, and similar major brands are 300-grain bullets rated 1800 to 1880 fps MV. Most, if not all, factory loadings in 45-70 ammo are held to the standard low pressures. Handloaders can improve performance of both IF they follow mainline handloading recipes and standards and shoot the rounds in strong, modern rifles. The profiles of these clearly show the transition from big, blunt bullets to smaller, streamlined bullets made possible by higher energy smokeless powders at the end of the 19th century. In addition, it is usually loaded to low pressures to prevent damage in 19th century guns. Why don’t we consult some ballistic data and add some facts to these suppositions? But first, a warning about factory loads:įactory loaded 45-70 and 7x57 Mauser ammunition can be hard to find. Anything it can do even the little 7mm-08 Remington can do better. The 7x57 Mauser is thought of as the 7mm Rem. That sounds like a lot until you realize a 22-250 Remington and 7mm-08 Remington ( read about it's performance here) are rated for 61,000 psi.Ĭorrect me if I’m wrong, but most hunters today think of the 45-70 Govt. The 7x57 Mauser was engineered from the get go for the then new smokeless powders and chambered in strong bolt action rifles made from relatively strong steel, though not quite as strong as steel used in rifles today.The 45-70 was created as a black powder cartridge and, because it was chambered in rifles with weak metallurgy, is rated for a maximum average breech pressure of just 28,000 psi.The 7x57 Mauser is a bottlenecked cartridge.The 45-70 is a straight-walled cartridge.The 7x57 propels pointed, 120- to 175-grain projectiles fairly quickly (3,000 to 2,450 fps.).(Read one of my accounts of 45-70 terminal performance on game here.) 458” diameter bullets weighing 300 to 405 grains rather slowly (2,000 to 1,300 fps MV at best.) And yes, you can handload 500-grain bullets for even more energy and penetration potential. The rimless 7x57 Mauser head reflects the switch to headspacing on the shoulder and the different extraction mechanics of the Mauser bolt-action repeater.īut the 45-70 and 7x57 also have significant differences: The rimmed head of the straight-walled 45-70 cle arly defines it as an older cartridge engineered for headspacing and good extraction function in 19th century rifles. Both are widely loved, hated, or ignored.Both have accounted for just about every terrestrial mammal species in the world.Both are still chambered in some of the most iconic, revered rifles of yesteryear and today.Both have been used for more than a century by hunters around the world.The 45-70 in the U.S., the 7x57 Mauser in Spain. Both were created in the latter third of the 19th century.Seriously, why do I think it’s fair to compare the 45-70 and 7x57? Because both are used for hunting everything from whitetails and bears to moose and eland. The 45-70 and 7x57 Mauser have been around since the 19th century, yet are still taking game and pleasing hunters. (That’s tongue in cheek, for all you literalists.) Might even turn the air blue on some social media sites ( apples to oranges!) I’ll be called everything from a dumb #$&*%! to an ignorant But we shall know the truth, and the truth shall set us free. Comparing the 45-70 and 7x57 cartridges will raise eyebrows.