9x57mm Mauser
Encyclopedia
The 9x57mm Mauser is a cartridge based on the 7.92x57mm Mauser
. It uses the identical 57 mm-long cartridge case, with the same shoulder angle, but necked up to accept a 9 mm-diameter bullet. Ballistically - but not dimensionally - it is indistinguishable from the 9x56mm Mannlicher-Schoenauer. It is currently regarded as a semi-obsolete calibre, although hand-loading keeps it alive.
The cartridge's low velocity combined with the heavy, poorly streamlined bullet gave the 9x57 a rather poor trajectory
, which made it unsuited to accurate shooting at longer ranges. This calibre was popular as a large-deer cartridge in Germany and Central Europe; and also in German spheres of influence in Africa in the early 20th century, such as German West Africa and German East Africa
, where it was widely popular among European farmers and settlers for shooting plains game
. It also accounted for many lions and leopards. Its popularity was gradually eclipsed by the significantly more powerful, rather flatter-shooting 9.3 x 62 Mauser cartridge.
The CIP Maximum Average Pressure (MAP) for the 9X57 is 280 MPa bar (40 600 PSI
)
.
Many of these Mauser
rifles were made from de-militarized WWI small ring M98 rifles by many gunsmiths throughout Germany, and usually these are rebored (oversized from 8X57).
When barrels eventually wear out, 9x57 rifles are generally rebarrelled in other, more modern calibres.
The cartridge was popular around the world and was even chambered in Remington Model 30
and Winchester Model 54
rifles.
9x57 cartridge manufactured by the company at its Birmingham
, England
factory up to the 1950s used fully jacketed
and soft-nosed
, round-nosed, flat-based bullets weighing 16.1 gram (1.4490144901449E-06 gr), with an average muzzle velocity of 690 m/s (2,263.8 ft/s). Factory-loaded ammunition is now increasingly hard to come by, and most users handload, using either fire-formed 9x57 brass or modified 7x57 or 8x57 cases necked up to accept 9 mm diameter bullets.
of Sweden. The 9.3x57mm Norma factory load with a 232 grain (15.03 g) bullet has a muzzle velocity of 2,362 ft/sec (720 m/sec) for 2,875 ft-lbf (3,896 J) of energy, which makes it 10-20% more powerful than the 9x57mm.
7.92x57mm Mauser
The 8×57mm IS is a rimless bottlenecked rifle cartridge. The 8×57mm IS was adopted by the German Empire in 1905, and was the German service cartridge in both World Wars...
. It uses the identical 57 mm-long cartridge case, with the same shoulder angle, but necked up to accept a 9 mm-diameter bullet. Ballistically - but not dimensionally - it is indistinguishable from the 9x56mm Mannlicher-Schoenauer. It is currently regarded as a semi-obsolete calibre, although hand-loading keeps it alive.
Performance
Firing a relatively heavy bullet of approximately 14-16 g (220-250 grains) at a modest velocity of about 670-700 m/s (2,200-2,300 ft/s), the 9x57mm is low in noise and recoil, pleasant to shoot, and regarded as accurate and effective on all but the very largest, most dangerous game at distances out to 250-300 m (300-350 yd).The cartridge's low velocity combined with the heavy, poorly streamlined bullet gave the 9x57 a rather poor trajectory
Trajectory
A trajectory is the path that a moving object follows through space as a function of time. The object might be a projectile or a satellite, for example. It thus includes the meaning of orbit—the path of a planet, an asteroid or a comet as it travels around a central mass...
, which made it unsuited to accurate shooting at longer ranges. This calibre was popular as a large-deer cartridge in Germany and Central Europe; and also in German spheres of influence in Africa in the early 20th century, such as German West Africa and German East Africa
German East Africa
German East Africa was a German colony in East Africa, which included what are now :Burundi, :Rwanda and Tanganyika . Its area was , nearly three times the size of Germany today....
, where it was widely popular among European farmers and settlers for shooting plains game
Plains game
Plains game is well established in literature and conversation as the sporting hunter's generic term for all those fair-game species of antelope and gazelle which are to be found - typically in rather open plains or savanna habitats - throughout sub-Saharan Africa...
. It also accounted for many lions and leopards. Its popularity was gradually eclipsed by the significantly more powerful, rather flatter-shooting 9.3 x 62 Mauser cartridge.
The CIP Maximum Average Pressure (MAP) for the 9X57 is 280 MPa bar (40 600 PSI
Pounds per square inch
The pound per square inch or, more accurately, pound-force per square inch is a unit of pressure or of stress based on avoirdupois units...
)
Firearms using the 9X57
Many beautifully made sporting rifles in 9x57mm caliber, often dating from well before 1939, are still giving their owners good service today, but dependable, recently made factory ammunition is increasingly expensive and hard to obtain, and many users must rely on handloadingHandloading
Handloading or reloading is the process of loading firearm cartridges or shotgun shells by assembling the individual components , rather than purchasing completely assembled, factory-loaded cartridges...
.
Many of these Mauser
Mauser
Mauser was a German arms manufacturer of a line of bolt-action rifles and pistols from the 1870s to 1995. Mauser designs were built for the German armed forces...
rifles were made from de-militarized WWI small ring M98 rifles by many gunsmiths throughout Germany, and usually these are rebored (oversized from 8X57).
When barrels eventually wear out, 9x57 rifles are generally rebarrelled in other, more modern calibres.
The cartridge was popular around the world and was even chambered in Remington Model 30
Remington Model 30
The Remington Model 30 is a US sporting rifle of the inter-war period based on the military P14/M1917 Enfield rifle action, which was manufactured for the British and US governments during World War I...
and Winchester Model 54
Winchester Model 54
The Winchester Model 54 is a bolt action rifle manufactured by the Winchester Repeating Arms Company. The 54 was the first successful production run centerfire bolt action for Winchester....
rifles.
Commercial production
The Eley-KynochKynoch
Kynoch was a manufacturer of ammunition, later incorporated into ICI but remaining as a brand name for sporting cartridges.-History:Kynoch was established in Witton in Birmingham in 1862 by Scottish entrepreneur George Kynoch when he opened a percussion cap factory in Witton. In 1895 he built an...
9x57 cartridge manufactured by the company at its Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
factory up to the 1950s used fully jacketed
Full metal jacket bullet
A full metal jacket is a bullet consisting of a soft core encased in a shell of harder metal, such as gilding metal, cupronickel or less commonly a steel alloy. This shell can extend around all of the bullet, or often just the front and sides with the rear left as exposed lead...
and soft-nosed
Dum-dum
An expanding bullet is a bullet designed to expand on impact, increasing in diameter to limit penetration and/or produce a larger diameter wound. They are informally known as a Dum-dum or dumdum bullets...
, round-nosed, flat-based bullets weighing 16.1 gram (1.4490144901449E-06 gr), with an average muzzle velocity of 690 m/s (2,263.8 ft/s). Factory-loaded ammunition is now increasingly hard to come by, and most users handload, using either fire-formed 9x57 brass or modified 7x57 or 8x57 cases necked up to accept 9 mm diameter bullets.
9.3x57mm
The 9.3x57mm (bullet diameter .365 in.), introduced in 1900, is closely related to the 9x57mm Mauser, even though some dimensions of the cartridge case are slightly different. The 9,3x57mm is still fairly popular among moose hunters in Scandinavia (among hunters in Sweden it is affectionately known as "potatiskastaren", "the spud gun"). Factory loaded ammunition with 232 grain (15.03 g) and 285 grain (18.47 g) bullets is available from NormaNorma (company)
Norma Precision is a Swedish manufacturer of ammunition located in Åmotfors, in the province of Värmland, just 20 km of the Norwegian border. It is commonly referred to as simply Norma.- History :...
of Sweden. The 9.3x57mm Norma factory load with a 232 grain (15.03 g) bullet has a muzzle velocity of 2,362 ft/sec (720 m/sec) for 2,875 ft-lbf (3,896 J) of energy, which makes it 10-20% more powerful than the 9x57mm.