Last year I fulfilled a wish to own a truly historic No. 1. Of course, historic, only from my viewpoint. The No. 1 I wanted was a 1-A Light Sporter "MADE IN THE 200TH YEAR OF AMERICAN LIBERTY".
For a longtime I thought it was not going to happen. Then one showed up in 7x57 Mauser on Guns International. I had to have it! But in 7x57?! Yikes! I am an adherent of the practice of birth control when it comes to new calibers/rifles. I never had 7x57; but, hell. So, I bought it.
Now it is spring and time to go shoot. But about the 7x57? I remembered seeing a special edition of Rifle from Fall 2012 on 7mm rifles and cartridges. So, I dug it out and there was an article, "7x57mm Mauser" (Dave Scovill: Spotting Scope) which had a Ruger angle on the 7x57.
In the 1970s he acquired a Ruger Model 77 in 7mm Mauser. After a little "blue printing" it turned out the leade was .495-inch. This impacted seating depth to which he set at one caliber giving a fair amount of freebore with the bullets available, ignoring OAL. (The bullet's ogive could be more than .30-inch off the lands if OAL were observed.)
In the mid-1980s Mike Venturino came upon a Remington Model 700 with a shorter throat than the earlier Ruger. At about the same time, a Ken Waters "Pet Loads" in the Jan/Feb 1982 issue of Handloader, featured a Model 700 7x57 with similar (short) chamber dimensions. So, an industry change occurred sometime prior to Water's article, but after the earlier Ruger Model 77 was built. They subsequently came into possession of Ken's rifle and measured the leade as .267-inch. Later, a mid-2000s Ruger M77 MKII was analyzed which had a .25-inch leade.
So, what am I thinking about all this as it relates to my No. 1-A? According to J. D. Clayton, the first 7x57 for the No. 1 shows up only in the 1-A in 1977. But my Ruger Authentication Letter shows that my serial number, a 1-A in 7x57mm, was produced in May of 1976 and shipped to Brownells in June of 1976. There were no No. 1 7x57s prior to 1976. Though clearly, the Model 77 was being made in 7x57 before 1976 and with a .495-inch leade, whereas later in the 1980s the industry had gone to a quarter-inch leade. So, when did Ruger go to the quarter-inch leade; did Ruger start the No. 1 7x57 with the .25-inch leade, of which mine might be one, or do I have a .495-inch leade?
I want to get a measurement of my rifle to know for sure. But it would be interesting to hear if anyone knows more to the backstory of the changing 7x57 Mauser chamber – in particular as it relates to Ruger, both No. 1 and Model 77s. (Dave Scovill suggested it came about with the increasing influence of the 7mm Rem and 7-08, their bullets, and consequently the intent to eclipse the legacy, longer 7x57 military chamber.)
Now, does it matter, either way? Maybe not much. But if I do have a long-leade chamber it does open up some interesting possibilities for heavier (160-grain, plus) VLD boat-tail bullets, if and when I get around to integrating the 7x57 into the herd for handloading. As we know, without a magazine, the No. 1 can go its own, unique way for cartridge OAL.
So when did Ruger make the switch?
For a longtime I thought it was not going to happen. Then one showed up in 7x57 Mauser on Guns International. I had to have it! But in 7x57?! Yikes! I am an adherent of the practice of birth control when it comes to new calibers/rifles. I never had 7x57; but, hell. So, I bought it.
Now it is spring and time to go shoot. But about the 7x57? I remembered seeing a special edition of Rifle from Fall 2012 on 7mm rifles and cartridges. So, I dug it out and there was an article, "7x57mm Mauser" (Dave Scovill: Spotting Scope) which had a Ruger angle on the 7x57.
In the 1970s he acquired a Ruger Model 77 in 7mm Mauser. After a little "blue printing" it turned out the leade was .495-inch. This impacted seating depth to which he set at one caliber giving a fair amount of freebore with the bullets available, ignoring OAL. (The bullet's ogive could be more than .30-inch off the lands if OAL were observed.)
In the mid-1980s Mike Venturino came upon a Remington Model 700 with a shorter throat than the earlier Ruger. At about the same time, a Ken Waters "Pet Loads" in the Jan/Feb 1982 issue of Handloader, featured a Model 700 7x57 with similar (short) chamber dimensions. So, an industry change occurred sometime prior to Water's article, but after the earlier Ruger Model 77 was built. They subsequently came into possession of Ken's rifle and measured the leade as .267-inch. Later, a mid-2000s Ruger M77 MKII was analyzed which had a .25-inch leade.
So, what am I thinking about all this as it relates to my No. 1-A? According to J. D. Clayton, the first 7x57 for the No. 1 shows up only in the 1-A in 1977. But my Ruger Authentication Letter shows that my serial number, a 1-A in 7x57mm, was produced in May of 1976 and shipped to Brownells in June of 1976. There were no No. 1 7x57s prior to 1976. Though clearly, the Model 77 was being made in 7x57 before 1976 and with a .495-inch leade, whereas later in the 1980s the industry had gone to a quarter-inch leade. So, when did Ruger go to the quarter-inch leade; did Ruger start the No. 1 7x57 with the .25-inch leade, of which mine might be one, or do I have a .495-inch leade?
I want to get a measurement of my rifle to know for sure. But it would be interesting to hear if anyone knows more to the backstory of the changing 7x57 Mauser chamber – in particular as it relates to Ruger, both No. 1 and Model 77s. (Dave Scovill suggested it came about with the increasing influence of the 7mm Rem and 7-08, their bullets, and consequently the intent to eclipse the legacy, longer 7x57 military chamber.)
Now, does it matter, either way? Maybe not much. But if I do have a long-leade chamber it does open up some interesting possibilities for heavier (160-grain, plus) VLD boat-tail bullets, if and when I get around to integrating the 7x57 into the herd for handloading. As we know, without a magazine, the No. 1 can go its own, unique way for cartridge OAL.
So when did Ruger make the switch?
