275 Rigby versus 7x57 ammunition

[Rare Breed]

I learn things everyday on this forum which is why it is the very best. I just bought a vintage 275 Rigby vintage 1920 refurbished by Rigby shop in 1960 (thanks Rookhawk) and was trying to buy 275 Rigby ammunition only to find none. Then discovered (I am slow) that 7x57 ammunition is the exact same, is available and a third less in cost all simply because it does not have the Rigby head stamp. Hope this helps someone slow like me

 

[sierraone]

I learn things everyday on this forum which is why it is the very best. I just bought a vintage 275 Rigby vintage 1920 refurbished by Rigby shop in 1960 (thanks Rookhawk) and was trying to buy 275 Rigby ammunition only to find none. Then discovered (I am slow) that 7x57 ammunition is the exact same, is available and a third less in cost all simply because it does not have the Rigby head stamp. Hope this helps someone slow like me

Also the same is 7mm Mauser. This "may" cause you problems with the caliber on the head stamp not what is printed on the rifle barrel. when going through customs in South Africa if you are going there anytime soon. Gordy and Sons in Houston at one time sold Rigby ammo marked at .275 Rigby. If you plan on taking this rifle to South Africa, buy two boxes of this ammo from Gordy's or any other place you find it. Shoot it at the range then load the cases up with your chosen loads that you will hunt with. Or have it done by someone who reloads if you don't. For hunting with it in the U.S. this is totally unnecessary.

Another possibility is to contact Gary Duffey in Texarkana, Tx. He is the Rigby rep in the U.S. Phone 1-903-276-0251. This info was current 2-3 years ago.

 

[Wade J VanGinkel]

Hornady also makes one load stamped 275 Rigby. Just nothing available right now except possibly on gunbroker.

 

[Wade J VanGinkel]

About $40 a box just over a year ago. Likely the last thing being produced in the current situation though.

 

[Red Leg]

Lance Hendershot at Hendershots Sporting Goods https://hendershots.net/ loads my head stamped .275 ammunition that I use in Africa (170 gr Oryx). Stateside, just use 7x57. I should note the 170 gr load is sub-MOA accurate in my Rigby.

 

[Rare Breed]

Also the same is 7mm Mauser. This "may" cause you problems with the caliber on the head stamp not what is printed on the rifle barrel. when going through customs in South Africa if you are going there anytime soon. Gordy and Sons in Houston at one time sold Rigby ammo marked at .275 Rigby. If you plan on taking this rifle to South Africa, buy two boxes of this ammo from Gordy's or any other place you find it. Shoot it at the range then load the cases up with your chosen loads that you will hunt with. Or have it done by someone who reloads if you don't. For hunting with it in the U.S. this is totally unnecessary.

Another possibility is to contact Gary Duffey in Texarkana, Tx. He is the Rigby rep in the U.S. Phone 1-903-276-0251. This info was current 2-3 years ago.

Thanks!!!!

 

[Rare Breed]

Lance Hendershot at Hendershots Sporting Goods https://hendershots.net/ loads my head stamped .275 ammunition that I use in Africa (170 gr Oryx). Stateside, just use 7x57. I should note the 170 gr load is sub-MOA accurate in my Rigby.

Thanks!!!

 

[Rare Breed]

About $40 a box just over a year ago. Likely the last thing being produced in the current situation though.

View attachment 443801

Your right. OOS but thanks!!!

 

[Tom Leoni]

Just a little piece of geeky trivia--but interesting nonetheless:

The ".257 Rigby," strictly speaking, is not the same as the original 7x57mm or even a .275 chambered in a Rigby rifle. It is a Rigby proprietary cartridge designed to fire exclusively the high-velocity 140-gr round. The .257 Rigby was introduced in 1910, so the 7x57mm predates it by almost 20 years.

Up until roughly 1900, Rigby would purchase finished bolt-action rifles from Germany (Mauser) and only perform some minor finishing in-house. This included placing the Rigby name and address on the barrel. Rigby rifles from this period (1890s) are stamped "7x57" like they would have been as they came out of the Mauser factory.

For a short transitional period--I believe the first couple years of the nineteen-aughts--Rigby switched to the first Imperial designation, since Brits didn't like the metric system: the 7x57 became the .276. This is why Bell, in his memoirs, refers to his rifle most often as a .276 and not a .275.

Right around 1901-1902, Rigby started stamping their 7x57 rifles ".275." Why they discarded .276 I don't know, but such is the story. Any pre-1910 .275 Rigby rifle would have been proofed using the 173-grain Kynoch round--virtually identical to the German DWM offering that Bell praised so highly. Then, in 1910, Rigby introduced their proprietary cartridge--the .275 Rigby--dimensionally identical to the 7x57 (or .276 and .275) but firing a 140-grain bullet at 2,800 fps.

Physically, a Rigby rifle chambered for the 7x57 / .276 or .275 differed to one chambered for the .275 Rigby only in the sighting--the former regulated for the 173-grain load, the latter for the HV 140.

The above also comes in handy for being able to date Rigby rifles so chambered. 7x57 = 1890s. .276 = 1900-1901. .275 = 1902-1910. .257 HV or .275 Rigby = 1910 and after. NB: some earlier Rigby rifles did come back to the factory after 1910 to be re-regulated for the HV round, so sometimes the date of the serial number does not jive with the caliber stamping (e.g., a 1900 SN stamped .275 HV or .275 Rigby).

I bet you wanted to know all this - LOL

 

[Rare Breed]

I greatly appreciate it!!! My gun is 1920 refurbished in 1960

 

[jpr9954]

Just a little piece of geeky trivia--but interesting nonetheless:

The ".257 Rigby," strictly speaking, is not the same as the original 7x57mm or even a .275 chambered in a Rigby rifle. It is a Rigby proprietary cartridge designed to fire exclusively the high-velocity 140-gr round. The .257 Rigby was introduced in 1910, so the 7x57mm predates it by almost 20 years.

Up until roughly 1900, Rigby would purchase finished bolt-action rifles from Germany (Mauser) and only perform some minor finishing in-house. This included placing the Rigby name and address on the barrel. Rigby rifles from this period (1890s) are stamped "7x57" like they would have been as they came out of the Mauser factory.

For a short transitional period--I believe the first couple years of the nineteen-aughts--Rigby switched to the first Imperial designation, since Brits didn't like the metric system: the 7x57 became the .276. This is why Bell, in his memoirs, refers to his rifle most often as a .276 and not a .275.

Right around 1901-1902, Rigby started stamping their 7x57 rifles ".275." Why they discarded .276 I don't know, but such is the story. Any pre-1910 .275 Rigby rifle would have been proofed using the 173-grain Kynoch round--virtually identical to the German DWM offering that Bell praised so highly. Then, in 1910, Rigby introduced their proprietary cartridge--the .275 Rigby--dimensionally identical to the 7x57 (or .276 and .275) but firing a 140-grain bullet at 2,800 fps.

Physically, a Rigby rifle chambered for the 7x57 / .276 or .275 differed to one chambered for the .275 Rigby only in the sighting--the former regulated for the 173-grain load, the latter for the HV 140.

The above also comes in handy for being able to date Rigby rifles so chambered. 7x57 = 1890s. .276 = 1900-1901. .275 = 1902-1910. .257 HV or .275 Rigby = 1910 and after. NB: some earlier Rigby rifles did come back to the factory after 1910 to be re-regulated for the HV round, so sometimes the date of the serial number does not jive with the caliber stamping (e.g., a 1900 SN stamped .275 HV or .275 Rigby).

I bet you wanted to know all this - LOL

Any hope for the Courteney Stalking Rifle to come out in either .275 Rigby or 7x57?

 

[Red Leg]

Any hope for the Courteney Stalking Rifle to come out in either .275 Rigby or 7x57?

I’d like to actually see one in anything. They seem pretty much unobtainable to date.

 

[Rare Breed]

Are you two serious? They are making one? I can’t wait to get my hands on my vintage 1920 Rigby this week

 

[Wishfulthinker580]

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/919804956

 

[Tom Leoni]

Any hope for the Courteney Stalking Rifle to come out in either .275 Rigby or 7x57?

The Courteney, as I had originally planned it, was supposed to come in .303 British, 7x57, and .30-06. After a few back-and-forths with the factory, though, I was told that it could only be chambered in rimmed cartridges, without some substantial re-engineering.

Such re-engineering would have driven up the cost of the rifle considerably, and/or made the minimum order quantities way too high for projected demand-per-caliber. I had to therefore spike the idea of offering it in 7x57 and .30-06. And 7x57R is just too obscure to most Americans so I discarded that idea too after some consideration. My passion for rifles had to be tempered by lowly commercial considerations!

The amounts of orders we received after the .303 version was introduced were much higher than expected, which is a contributing factor (together with widespread supply-chain problems) for why they are so hard to find. In 2021 I also expanded the offering to the .45-70, of which they produced even fewer (even I as the designer/manager haven't seen one yet!).

@Red Leg - I have several hundreds on order and slowly but surely Uberti is filling the pipeline. They are, however, still quite backed up--something that is true of most gun-related products in this bizarre time.

Incidentally, as soon as the factory catches its breath, I will submit to them a new quarter rib designed to accept Talley rings, at first as an accessory, then if costs look reasonable, as the default rib on the Courteney. The Weaver design it has now, although perfectly functional, was a compromise that I green-lighted only in the interest of time, but a compromise nonetheless.

In the meantime, keep your eyes on the Chapuis line (the other line I manage) for something super-cool and super-African for 2022!

 

[jpr9954]

The Courteney, as I had originally planned it, was supposed to come in .303 British, 7x57, and .30-06. After a few back-and-forths with the factory, though, I was told that it could only be chambered in rimmed cartridges, without some substantial re-engineering.

Such re-engineering would have driven up the cost of the rifle considerably, and/or made the minimum order quantities way too high for projected demand-per-caliber. I had to therefore spike the idea of offering it in 7x57 and .30-06. And 7x57R is just too obscure to most Americans so I discarded that idea too after some consideration. My passion for rifles had to be tempered by lowly commercial considerations!

The amounts of orders we received after the .303 version was introduced were much higher than expected, which is a contributing factor (together with widespread supply-chain problems) for why they are so hard to find. In 2021 I also expanded the offering to the .45-70, of which they produced even fewer (even I as the designer/manager haven't seen one yet!).

@Red Leg - I have several hundreds on order and slowly but surely Uberti is filling the pipeline. They are, however, still quite backed up--something that is true of most gun-related products in this bizarre time.

Incidentally, as soon as the factory catches its breath, I will submit to them a new quarter rib designed to accept Talley rings, at first as an accessory, then if costs look reasonable, as the default rib on the Courteney. The Weaver design it has now, although perfectly functional, was a compromise that I green-lighted only in the interest of time, but a compromise nonetheless.

In the meantime, keep your eyes on the Chapuis line (the other line I manage) for something super-cool and super-African for 2022!

I get it now. You could do it in .30-30 Winchester or 7.62x54R but why would you want to do that on a rifle with this heritage.

Will the Chapuis line be releasing the "super-cool and super-African for 2022" at the SHOT Show?

 

[Tom Leoni]

I get it now. You could do it in .30-30 Winchester or 7.62x54R but why would you want to do that on a rifle with this heritage.

Will the Chapuis line be releasing the "super-cool and super-African for 2022" at the SHOT Show?

It will be announced, but not shown, at SHOT. At the time I only have 1 sample and I am reluctant to make it inoperable and having it potentially scratched. But I have several on order and I am very happy about how it came out!

 

[jpr9954]

It will be announced, but not shown, at SHOT. At the time I only have 1 sample and I am reluctant to make it inoperable and having it potentially scratched. But I have several on order and I am very happy about how it came out!

I look forward to chatting with you in person about it at SHOT.

 

[WAB]

The Courteney, as I had originally planned it, was supposed to come in .303 British, 7x57, and .30-06. After a few back-and-forths with the factory, though, I was told that it could only be chambered in rimmed cartridges, without some substantial re-engineering.

Such re-engineering would have driven up the cost of the rifle considerably, and/or made the minimum order quantities way too high for projected demand-per-caliber. I had to therefore spike the idea of offering it in 7x57 and .30-06. And 7x57R is just too obscure to most Americans so I discarded that idea too after some consideration. My passion for rifles had to be tempered by lowly commercial considerations!

The amounts of orders we received after the .303 version was introduced were much higher than expected, which is a contributing factor (together with widespread supply-chain problems) for why they are so hard to find. In 2021 I also expanded the offering to the .45-70, of which they produced even fewer (even I as the designer/manager haven't seen one yet!).

@Red Leg - I have several hundreds on order and slowly but surely Uberti is filling the pipeline. They are, however, still quite backed up--something that is true of most gun-related products in this bizarre time.

Incidentally, as soon as the factory catches its breath, I will submit to them a new quarter rib designed to accept Talley rings, at first as an accessory, then if costs look reasonable, as the default rib on the Courteney. The Weaver design it has now, although perfectly functional, was a compromise that I green-lighted only in the interest of time, but a compromise nonetheless.

In the meantime, keep your eyes on the Chapuis line (the other line I manage) for something super-cool and super-African for 2022!

Tom, when you change the quarter rib on that rifle, please, please, please have them position the ring slots so that we can get correct eye relief with a standard scope without crawling the stock! The only way I’ve been able to sort this out on my No1 in .275 Rigby is with a Swarovski Z6 1-6x24 EE. It took the combination of straight tube and extended eye relief to make it work.

 

[Tom Leoni]

Tom, when you change the quarter rib on that rifle, please, please, please have them position the ring slots so that we can get correct eye relief with a standard scope without crawling the stock! The only way I’ve been able to sort this out on my No1 in .275 Rigby is with a Swarovski Z6 1-6x24 EE. It took the combination of straight tube and extended eye relief to make it work.

I'm looking at an eye relief between 3.5 and 4 inches. That seems to work for most shooters.