ER Shaw Mark VII Semi-Custom - first look at my new rifle in 7x57 Mauser

[@lars277]

You should be very proud of that wonderful new rifle.

[@stuartwear89]

Glad to see you retired your mauser with a good modern rifle with plenty of barrel life .Keeping the caliber the same was sensible too . It is no accident that 6.5 swede , 30-06, 7x57 ,9.3 x62 are all still around and were all made late 19th early 20th century . Ballisticians then were good engineers and what worked then still works now .

[@chriscosby2459]

I bought a Bushnell scope for my Savage Mark II. 22 LR about six years ago. That $80 scope has been an excellent scope -- I have used it in a lot of low light conditions. Bushnell makes great scopes for the money.

[@futurechamp2]

I have a 1983 Ruger 77 in 7x57 caliber. I'm about to put a new Shilen barrel with a custom made stock. I already put in a Timney trigger in it a few years ago. I can't wait to see how it shoots!

[@paulsimmons5726]

Very nice rifle and some good shooting also!

[@ReloadingQuest]

Why not annealing ? It’s easy and saves ur brass and gives you consistent neck tension.

[@upnorthreloading2214]

Hey! How are things going? Annealing is one of those things I always planned on getting into, but never really did. I've done it before, with the old blowtorch method and did not experience anything that rocked my world. I've loaded up rounds after ten or more firings and end up with the same group size and point of impact - but I'm also a bit old school and pay more attention to barrel harmonics and related nodes, which may be wider, than to velocity nodes. It's great for where I live, which has vast ranges in humidity and most available shooting is sub-200 yards. I've watching some of AMP's youtube videos on their products, and how they try to advertise 33-50% smaller groups... but their method was skewed. On one video, they used a different rifle to achieve different results, on another they had a spotter/caller for the shots. Now that I may have access to a 500 yard range, this is something I'm seriously giving consideration again. (What a long-winded response for "I never felt the need.")

[@ReloadingQuest]

@@upnorthreloading2214 haha to each there own 👍🏻

[@cbsbass4142]

Very interested in one of those. Maybe in .257 Roberts. What's your twist rate, and bedding/free float? I read that they bedded those wood stocks. I just got a 7X57 in a Winchester 70 Featherweight, from the 2013 run. Yet to shoot it. Torqued everything down and mounted a Vortex Viper HS with just the V-plex-- 2.5-10. It's free floated to 4 dollar bills...about 17 Thousandths.

[@upnorthreloading2214]

1-8" twist; their website says that it is both glass and pillar bedded. I've been quite happy with it! I'm thinking that I will probably so purchase a replacement for my '98 Mauser chambered in 8x57 with an ER Shaw.

[@cbsbass4142]

@@upnorthreloading2214 good deal

[@cbsbass4142]

@@upnorthreloading2214 A guy brought a 98K out to the range once and handed it to me to shoot. Nice round.

[@tonygslc801]

Nice rifle ya got there! 👊😎🇺🇸

[@upnorthreloading2214]

Thanks! I can't wait to start working up a load for it; I have so many leftover bullets that I'm not sure where to start.

[@richardsveum8452]

If you want to shoot tighter groups shoot smaller targets. Aim Small Miss Small

[@upnorthreloading2214]

Great advise! And precisely what I started doing in my newer videos!

[@tylermettler3906]

I got a question how many rounds does it hold? Have you had any issues???

[@upnorthreloading2214]

I seem to recall being able to load in four (4) rounds! (Keep in mind, this is 7x57 Mauser.) It might be better described as 3+1, though that may be improper, but it is a completely internal magazine without a floorplate to drop (like, say, an old mauser). You'll also be hard-pressed to close the bolt without stripped a round off the magazine and chambering it - I think you can do it, but... just... don't. To directly answer your second question: The one and only problem I have ever had with this rifle is with that internal magazine system. I can't remember which video actually showed that, but the "walls" or "feed lips" of the internal magazine sometimes are pretty strong and springy, so that if I was closing the bolt and a round was being stripped out and into the chamber sometimes the "lips" would launch the round almost out of ejection port. What I caught on camera was when it had done such a thing, and then the bolt caught the "ejecting" round between the bolt head/face and the action bore. If I had been closing it with real authority, I would have totally dented the brass, and might not have been able to use the round. Thankfully, I mostly single-fed my rounds. Other than this, this has been a solid, well-rounded platform. If I weren't tinkering around in ARs still, as well has having a barreled action from Shaw Custom coming in, I'd buy another without a second thought. (However! I'd go with either their MDT or H-S Precision stock options, for the detachable magazine!) My playlist with this is kind of a hot mess, but there are two other videos that may be worth watching for you: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gKenY3Wei6abZ8U - this is my "2000 round" update video, where I also didn't clean the barrel after 400 rounds. kzbin.info/www/bejne/hJ_Oe61ngMh8pqM - this is my 2500+ round update video, which is a bit of a garbage fire because I became infuriated with that stupid 10-shot load development. I also show that my barrel is starting to show some wear, but I'm still capable of handedly getting 1/2" groups with decent load development.

[@jamesbracken4618]

You could have accuracy like that old milsurp with a nos barrel.

[@untermench3502]

I agree. I took a dog of a Yugo 48 that I picked-up for $60, rebarreled it with a NOS pre-war 8x57 barrel (a real gem), added a Timney trigger and custom scope mount. It's a dog but it shoots very well and isn't picky about what I feed it. It was a lot of work, though. If I had to do it over, I would do like he did and but a nice rifle like he did and probably save some time and money.

[@Bman244]

Did you have to put the scope mounts on yourself, or were you lucky enough to get it before they stopped building them with built in?

[@upnorthreloading2214]

You very much have my attention with this - I know that the rifle came with them installed *but* I think it was an option I actually paid for. (Rather, I might say, I was given the option between standard and 20 MOA?) I don't recall reading complaints about the scope mount installation - is this a common issue with them?

[@Bman244]

@@upnorthreloading2214 I’m unsure. I’m going to order one later in the year and I saw on the builder it says they no longer offer the scope mount as an extra

[@upnorthreloading2214]

@@Bman244 You're right; for the Mark VII, I see the option is still in the menu, but trying to select it prompts that "it doesn't work with your selected configuration" and it doesn't seem to matter what config you select. Looks like I ordered the Warne Maxima 2-piece installation. I also must have misread your original post; I took it as you might have meant it was a BAD thing they installed it for you? Did I completely misinterpret that?

[@Bman244]

@@upnorthreloading2214 yeah, haha. It’s all good though.

[@niixodus]

@@upnorthreloading2214 Shaw offers a different model called the Mark X with the rails permanently machined into the receiver, which also comes with the ability to use detatchable magazines.