257 Roberts, 6.5x55 Swede, or 7x57 mauser

Keep in mind that you 93 does not have a safety lug recess on the action so be sure to keep the pressures low. You might have a good smith retemper the action and bolt while you are replacing the barrel.
 
emcon5

I did start neck sizing about 150 or so rounds ago and it groups about 3-1/2" @100 (open sights) but the receiver has been scrubbed so I am going to D&T it,
as I have a fixed 4.75 power Weaver in the safe looking for a home.
I already put a Boyd's laminate on it a few years ago,(original stock already bubba'd when I got it) and the Adams & Bennett barrel will lighten it up even more, it will be a great stalking rifle.

sc928

yeah thanks , I keep pressures low in both of my Spaniards as I have other guns for the high pressure stuff,
I'm going to stick with the 7x57 mauser since I have the dies and all the components, but need to p/u some more brass.
 
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the 6.5 Swede has really become popular out west for deer and even elk. It is inherently accurate and penetrates very well due to the sectional density of the long for caliber bullets.
 
The Swedes use the 6.5 to hunt elk - their elk is what we call moose. Either that or the 7x57 will do the job.

The modern versions of each - the 260 and 7-08 are also more than capable
 
I dont really get why everyone says the Sweede in the older Mauser actions cant handle pressure. There are a very limited few actions that cant, but the vast majority of them can. Some of the Sweedish military loads were actually over the recommended max pressure for the "modern only" loading data. I have an old 96 that is shot out. I think just for fun I am going to go P.O. Ackley and see what it will actually take to blow it up. From what the Rockwell numbers on the action turned out to be when we rebarreled it the last time, I am guessing it is going to take one heck of a charge of fast powder behind a heavy bullet.
 
Throwing Elk into the mix kinda messes me up. Personally I was looking at many many different short/medium action cartridges for a build a few years ago. .257 bob, .260, .250 Savage, and the 6.5 swede. I really wanted something a little different but when it came right down to it I went with a .243. Boring as hell but the other cartridges I was lookin at had absolutely nothing to offer over the little 6mm. Now you throw Elk in and most would avoid the .243 like the plague. Me? I don't have any Elk.
 
I would go with 6.5 swede. more bullet options, (though 7 will probably be a very close second), a lot easier to get ahold of(at least in my area), and very flat shooting.
 
I'd feel comfortable with any of the above, but I'm not sure that I personally would use any of them for elk.

My first choice in that class, though, would undoubtedly be the .250 Savage.
 
I'd feel comfortable with any of the above, but I'm not sure that I personally would use any of them for elk.
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The 6.5 is used for moose and the 7x57 has been used for elephant - I would think that elk would not be an issue with either
 
I don't particularly care what some one else has hunted with any given cartridge.

I care what I would hunt with a given cartridge, and as I said I would not choose any of them for game heavier than deer.
 
When I lived in CO, many of the old timers used a lot of 6.5 mag, 7x57, 284, 270 for deer and elk. And then, of course, there was Mr. Bell:

Bell shot 1,011[10] elephants during his career; all of them bulls apart from 28 cows. He was noted for using high speed, smaller calibre bullets[11][12] rather than the slow speed, larger calibre bullets that were popular with other big game hunters.[13] Around 800 of his kills were made with Rigby rifles manufactured on the Mauser action in .275 Rigby(Also known as the 7x57mm Mauser,
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Living in Montana, I know that more elk out here are killed with the .270 than any other cartridge. I personally use a .300 Win Mag or .35 Whelen but wouldn't feel undergunned with the 6.5
 
"Bell shot 1,011[10] elephants during his career; all of them bulls apart from 28 cows. He was noted for using high speed, smaller calibre bullets[11][12] rather than the slow speed, larger calibre bullets that were popular with other big game hunters.[13] Around 800 of his kills were made with Rigby rifles manufactured on the Mauser action in .275 Rigby(Also known as the 7x57mm Mauser"

I wondered if someone would bring up Mr. Bell and his exploits.

One simply can't say that he whacked a lot of elephants with small caliber rifles and leave it at that. It's out of context, and it leaves out some very significant information.

Bell didn't simply walk into the local "Bwanas 'R Us" outfitters and ask for a box of 6.5x54 or 7x57 cartridges...

"What bullet style do you want, Mr. Bell?"

"It doesn't matter, I'm hunting elephants, and we all know that they're easy to kill with anything!"

It didn't work like that.

Bell chose the 6.5x54 Mannlicher-Schoenauer and 7x57 cartridges based on several VERY important considerations.

He used either military loadings, or loads that emulated the military loads. In other words, he chose full metal jacket round nose bullets.

The jackets on these early rounds were known for being very sturdy, which allowed them to penetrate heavy bone without breaking up or riveting (bending).

He also selected them because they had VERY high ballistic coefficients, which was derived from their heavy weight (160 grains for the 6.5, and 175 to 180 grains for the 7x57). The weight made these bullets VERY long for their diameter.

Those two factors, the ballistic coefficient and the sturdily constructed bullet, meant that they would penetrate literally FEET through the target without yawing or tumbling. That's very important because in some aspects an elephant's skull is well over a foot thick before the brain starts.

Bell also had an uncanny knowledge of elephant anatomy, based on his study of the skulls of elephants that he killed. The story is that he often had his bearers section the skulls with a crosscut saw so that he could see what the bullet did.

Bell also chose his shots extremely carefully. He realized that he might only have one shot, and if he didn't get it right the first time, he might have a couple of tons of very irate elephant trying to squish him.

Finally, and what most people don't know, is that while he apparently didn't use it much, Bell had, at all times, a gun bearer with a .450 double rifle standing beside him in case things did go wrong.
 
What one also does not know about Bell, considering the time and lack of hunting ethics of killing ivory, how many elephants did he stick with a 7x57 only to go unrecovered?
 
Whoops, made an error in the above...

I said Ballistic Coefficient... that's wrong.

I should have said Sectional Density. Sectional density is the critical factor once the bullet hits the target.

As an example...

Hornady makes a 160-gr. soft point round nose in 6.5mm that is close to the old 6.5x54 military round. Not the same, though, as the jacket is thinner and it's designed to expand.

It has a sectional density of .328.

A commonly used .308 caliber bullet is Hornady's 150-gr. Interlock boattail soft point. That bullet has a sectional density of .226, a HUGE difference between it and the 6.5 bullet.
 
25 Roberts hands down

Bought one new in 1981. 50-gr 4350 pushes 100-gr bullets pretty good, and case life is good too (I anneal and trim after 5 loadings). Fairly accurate for a light rifle, shoots better than I do out to 300+. Shot well over 100 deer (mulies and w.t.) and antelope, and even a few bull elk I bumped into while mulie hunting. Use good bullets--I favored Nosler partitions for years, switched to Barnes the past 8 or so years.
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Light to carry while hiking over the Montana hills. Light recoil too--my daughter's first rifle and also several other new hunters.
 
Perhaps you have the Spanish action but have not ordered a barrel yet?

If so I suggest that you sell the old Spanish action and buy a new rifle. The new rifle will be made from better, stronger steel and heat treatments.

Also none of those choices are all that popular so unless you handload and want such a chambering then I suggest choosing a popular cartridge.
 
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