Me too. I'm fascinated reading about WDM Bell aka Karamoja and his work with the 7x57...many hundreds of elephant and buffalo. I think on elephant he averaged 1.5 shells per kill with the 7x57. He was a real student of anatomy and knew the brain shot from any angle. Impressive man with the little rifle.
Actually, upon close examination, the barrel is free floating in the stock. On my M1910, you can easily slide a dollar bill between the two. Stock ammo from Dorfner yields about one MOA from the 19 inch barrel, and I'm about to go on a reloading effort to tighten that up. Questions in the reloading forum to follow...
6.5x54 is actually 17.7”. I have a 9x56 model 1905. I hunt deer and hogs with it using 200 and 250 grain round nose bullets. My rifle is a 1.5 to 2” shooter. Have not had to use more than one round so far and all but one large hog died within sight of the shot. Great rifles. It is my favorite still hunting rifle. Congratulations on a great looking pair.
