Rigby .275

wildfowler1

Well-Known Member
Help please I am not a ballistic whizz or a gunny, so need some serious advice. A friend has inherited a Rigby .275 with 140grn bullets,these seem a little bit nasty to use around this part of the country on Roe and Muntjac. Can we get factory loaded lighter bullets? Or is thereany other alternatives please. Wf1
 
Help please I am not a ballistic whizz or a gunny, so need some serious advice. A friend has inherited a Rigby .275 with 140grn bullets,these seem a little bit nasty to use around this part of the country on Roe and Muntjac. Can we get factory loaded lighter bullets? Or is thereany other alternatives please. Wf1

From the sounds of it your friend has got a high class rifle. This is in 7x57 Mauser calibre.

I shoot 7mm, but handload only. Commercial ammo in lighter weights is scarce..... 140grain seems to be the standard offering, then it gets heavier and slower.

PM me if you need some ideas as I'm not far from you.... some links below might help.

http://www.federalpremium.com/products/rifle.aspx

http://www.prvipartizan.com/search_a.php

http://www.norma.cc/en/Products/Hunting/7x57-Mauser/
 
suspect if you go lighter you will actually get more damage not less

I use a 130gr .270 on roe which is pretty much the same as your 7x57/.275 speed/weight

shot placement is the key but no more meat damage than a .243 100gr does
 
suspect if you go lighter you will actually get more damage not less

I use a 130gr .270 on roe which is pretty much the same as your 7x57/.275 speed/weight

shot placement is the key but no more meat damage than a .243 100gr does

I agree i would stick with the 140 or possibly up it to slow things down further if your only doing woodland short range stuff, atb wayne
 
RWS load a 123 gn bullet, which is very fast and flat. I use a 7mm with 140 gn bullet at 2700fps and is really good on Roe - drops them on the spot, passes straight through, in a straight line and buries itself into the ground. With the 243 I get more carcass damage, most seem to run and on Red I have had bullets ricochet of the ribs and go all over the place. I have had one shot broadside on, entry wound just behind shoulder and bullet went through the guts. Nothing wrong with the 275 Rigby and 140 gr bullet - gets the job done with minimal fuss, bother recoil etc.
 
Everyone else more or less nailed it - 275/7x57 is a grand calibre.

Lighter may prove more destructive and moves away from some of the factors that made these classics such good performers.

A good standard soft nose 140 gr should serve you well. If an older rifle and you can find any, there used to be a 154gr load - Hirtenberg? amongst others - it was a belting round in that calibre.
 
Basically the .275 used a rounded profile to the bullet due an experience in WW1 that Rigby had.................................. or so it's said, he claimed they penetrated better with less deflection.

Now depending upon it's actual age and the action it's built one will depend on what factory ammunition would be advisable to use. For example this rifle in 7x57:-

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No it's not a Rigby this is a DWM semi custom sporting rifle dating from about 1897. This is built upon the Mauser M93 action complete with the squared bottom to the bolt face and as such it would be unwise to use say modern RWS 7x57 ammuntion in deference to it's age. When this was built the 7mm Mauser ammunition was of 173 grain at 2300 fps from a 29" barrel.

Rigby's did build some nice .275 rilfes on "Transition" actions. These were the development rifle for the Model 98 and lack a few final tweaks. Then of course they built on full Mauser 98's so it would be best to identify which your friend has exactly.
 
Thanks everybody the advice is fantastic. I know now which way to go.STICK WITH THE 140GRN. The knowledge on here never ceases to amaze me. Thanks again Wf1.
 
.275 Rigby was used successfully by Jim Corbett to bag a fair few of the thirtythree maneating tigers and leopards . it was his favoured rifle for walking the mountains because it was relatively light but packed punch.
 
It's almost exactly the same round as 7mm-08 and the standard for that seems to be 140gr also.
correct the 7x57 is about the same but i think has the abilty to use slightly heavier bullets if needed , the will be no problems using it for muntjac or roe the 140 grain is what i used for them in 7mm 08
 
Rigby made the 275 sighted for either the 140 grain load or for the old, original, 7x57 Mauser 175 grain load. It is that weight used by Bell mostly I believe. The 175 grain bullet was essentially what we British copied to create the 303 Mk VII. That is a 175 grain weight bullet at about 2,450fps. It is a very good killer of game with soft point bullets!
 
Rigby made the 275 sighted for either the 140 grain load or for the old, original, 7x57 Mauser 175 grain load. It is that weight used by Bell mostly I believe. The 175 grain bullet was essentially what we British copied to create the 303 Mk VII. That is a 175 grain weight bullet at about 2,450fps. It is a very good killer of game with soft point bullets!

Sorry but I find some of this hard to believe. The Mkv11 303 round was introduced in 1910 and t'was in response to the radical "Spitzer" bullet Germany introduced in 1905. This is also the reason the Americans introduced the 30-06. The 303 bullet weight came about as the bullet is the same length as the earlier 215 grain bullet but with a spitzer form. Extensive trials were conducted at Hythe to get the best velocity and performance from the new bullet within the pressures of the 303 cases design. These included penetration tests on carcasses dressed in military uniforms complete with webbing equipment. Sheep were used for the carcases.

One must not forget that there was already thoughts to replacing the 303 with the then in development hi velocity .276 cartridge that was a direct result of the 7mm Mauser's impression created by the 2nd Boer war and it's effective use against the British forces by the Boers and the startling results achieved by the Canadian Rifle team at Bisley using the 280 Ross. The cartridge was also to have a new Mauser derived rifle namely the Pattern 13 with a Mauser derived bolt. Due to a problem with the new smokeless powder used in development of this hi pressure, high velocity, cartridge there was a breech explosion and the shooter whom i believe was also one of the acceptance committee suffered the loss of an eye. Add the war looming in 1913 and the project was shelved until the dire need for more rifle production capacity meant the rifle was adapted to the 303 cartridge and then contracted for production in America as the Pattern 14 rifle.
 
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