Which one is better 6.5x57 or 7x57 mm ?

[danish21]

Which rifle is better 6.5x57 mm (.256 mauser) or 7x57 mm (.275 mauser) ?

[penpusher]

Which ever is cheaper and for which ammo is more readily available

penpusher

[eljefe]

The SD of the 6.5 has a slight advantage , I would venture. Long heavy 140 (?) grn bullet has taken every thing that stood in its path. But I guess, In India, we stand a better chance of getting 7mm ammo...

[danish21]

6.5 mm cartridges are very easily available in india

danish

[shahid]

My choice would always be 7 x 57, the .275. Some of the best Indian Shooters favoured it. An Ideal calibre for Indian conditions where ranges seldon exceed 200 yards. A sweet rifle with little recoil and medium velocity. The 173 grain bullet does the job perfectly on most game.

Jim Corbett had two, a Westley Richards and a John Rigby. Your own Grandfather, a keen sporstman and a pehnomenal shot in his young days had a .275 Mauser, 7 x 64.

[danish21]

No... my grand father had .275 mauser (7x57mm).

Danish

[Hunter]

.275(7x57)...always....seen it perform on pig and deer....its just amazing!And like Shahid says very sweet shooting too!

[mehulkamdar]

Come on, guys, this is like trying to argue who looks better - Scarlett Johansson or Keira Knightley!

Both the 6.5x57 and the 7x57 have been around for more than a century, both are very effective rounds with low recoil and do their job well. Neither is particularly popular at the moment but that is more because not many production rifles are chamberred for them though the 7x57 is very popular among custom riflemakers both in the USA and in Europe. If 6.5x57 ammunition were more available then that, too, would be more popular though I think that it's relative lack of popularity among custom rifle builders is because it has a strong and popular rival with very similar performance the 6.5x55 Swedish. The Swede is available in both production rifles as well as custom ones and very large numbers of Swedish Mausers have been sold in the USA as milsurp guns for very low prices. No wonder it sells more than both the 7x57 as well as the 6.5x57 here...

Enjoy the guns you have and have fun shooting. Hardly any reqason to worry about which is better - whether it was Scarlett or Keira on your arm, you would be equally envied and admired!

[Mark]

What is the intended use for the cartridge? If target shooting, any particular range? They both overlap pretty closely, for casual shooting however I would go with the smaller caliber however. If/when you get into reloading the smaller one will use less powder too.