Quote:
Originally Posted by whirley
The original "Spanish Mausers" were cal. 7x57, with 1-8 rifling designed for a 172 grain bullet. They don't handle 140 grain bullets very accurately. The British called the cartridge the .275 Rigby. Karamojo Bell of african ivory fame took many elephants with this caliber. However he was an expert in elephany anatomy and knew exactly where to shoot effectivrly. Less knowledgeable people were trampled. I have two originals and they are very effective for deer and bear. 700 Spaniards armed with the 1893 7x57 gave 15,000 Americans a very hard time at San Juan Hill in Cuba.
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................and as a result of the success of that rifle in the Spanish-American War the U.S. Army demanded a better rifle than their .30-40 Krags that were being issued at the time and the resulting new gun was the 1903 Springfield Rifle in .30-06 caliber. Except for the .30 caliber in the '03 Springfield vs the 7mm (.28caliber) in the Mauser the ammunition for the two rifles is very similar in performance.
In fact the two rifles were so similar that Springfield Armory ended up having to pay royalties to Mauser Werke for patent infringements.