Caliber Review: .275 Rigby (7x57 Mauser) - An Extremely Versatile Cartridge!
To many hunting and sporting fanatics, the legends of Walter Bell and Jim Corbett are what introduced them to the world famous .275 Rigby or known to some as the 7x57 Mauser. This is one of the primary calibers that have shaped the African wild lands having been used to take down everything from the mighty elephant to the common place antelope.
The .275 Rigby is fast enough, flat enough and most importantly powerful enough to effectively deal with a majority of the wild game you would ever encounter all while ensuring minimal recoil and muzzle blast.
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Diving deeper into the rich history of the .275 Rigby, we harken back to the days of Walter Bell who unequivocally proved the reliability of the .275 Rigby taking down quite literally hundreds of elephants with it by his side. Now when I say hundreds of elephants were taken down by the .275 Rigby at the hands of bell that is no exaggeration. He in fact took down 1011 elephant in his lifetime using numerous calibers, namely the .275 Rigby, .303 British and a combo .450/.400. Just as impressive was Jim Corbett who did in-fact take down numerous tigers in the early 1900s including the Champawat Tiger. Corbett’s .275 had great influence on Rigby’s Highland Stalker rifle which is the culmination of centuries worth of both gunsmithing experience and advancement as well as decades worth of hunting knowledge provided by Corbett and others alike.
Fast forward to modern times the .275 Rigby is not only ideal, but one of the optimal calibers for red stag, roebuck, deer of all sorts as well as the hartebeest, kudu and wildebeest of Africa. The .275 Rigby is quite literally a caliber fit for every continent.
Now for more on the performance, the .275 Rigby quite frankly cannot compete with 7mm magnum calibers and the like, however for what it lacks in long range power it makes up from in quickness. Up to 300-400 yards, the .275 Rigby's moderate velocity ensures phenomenal bullet ballistics all while saving you shoulder the recoil on the magnum calibers as well as savings your eyes the blinding muzzle blast.
Without a doubt the .275 Rigby caliber works best with Rigby's Highland Stalker. It goes without saying that the creator of the caliber would know best on how to best utilize the caliber in a bolt-action rifle and the results speak for themselves. One can easily place a 1 MOA group at a hundred yards.
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