Let me explain.
For a few years I was the very proud owner and user of a 1911 built .275 Rigby. .275 is the Anglicised version of 7x57 a Mauser cartridge used by many countries before WW1.
It is a superbly effective cartridge capable of very long distance shooting and available in a variety of bullet weights.
Wiki states:.275 Rigby
"The ballistics of the 7×57mm became popular with deer and plains game hunters. The relatively flat trajectory and manageable recoil ensured its place as a sportsman's cartridge. The 7×57mm can offer very good penetrating ability due to a fast twist rate that enables it to fire long, heavy bullets with a high sectional density. This made it popular in Africa, where it was used on animals up to and including elephants, for which it was particularly favoured by noted ivory hunter W.D.M. "Karamojo" Bell, who shot about 800 African Elephants with 1893 pattern 7×57mm military ball ammunition using Rigby Mauser 98 rifles, when most ivory hunters were using larger-caliber rifles.[12] Bell selected the cartridge for moderate recoil, and used 11.2-gram (172.8 gr) long round-nosed military full metal jacket bullets for reliable penetration. Bell sectioned an elephant skull to determine the size and location of the brain, and used careful aim to ensure bullet placement in the brain.[2]"
More of that later
Mr John Rigby as described by Wiki again:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Rigby_%26_Company
Rigby
"During the period from the Crimean War to the First World War, every facet of firearms and ammunition underwent radical change and thousands of related patents were filed in Britain, the United States and Europe. The areas of greatest interest were military rifles (a matter of grave national importance) and, because of their prestige, top-shelf sporting guns. John Rigby & Co. was deeply involved in creating guns and cartridges for both markets. Because of his expertise, in 1887 the British government appointed John Rigby superintendent of the Royal Small Arms Factory at Enfield Lock. There, Rigby and his large staff resolved design and production problems for a new rifle and its cartridge: the .303-calibre Lee Enfield, which in various forms went on to serve as the principal battle rifle for the United Kingdom until 1957.
By government policy, at the age of 65, in 1894, John Rigby retired from government service. He returned to the family firm with the latest knowledge on repeating rifles, smokeless powder, metallurgy, rifling and bullet design, as well as international contacts at the highest levels of gunmaking. One of these was Peter Paul Mauser, and, in 1898, Rigby was appointed the exclusive importer and distributor for Mauser rifles and components for the British Empire. For sale under his family name, John Rigby also developed sporting versions of the G98 Mauser rifle and its ammunition, notably the 7x57mm infantry round. With hunting bullets, this became a highly successful stalking cartridge known as the .275 Rigby.
In 1912, John Rigby & Co. lost the exclusive British sales contract to a member of the Mauser family, but Rigby continued to base its magazine rifles on Mauser (and Mauser-style) actions and still does so today. Among professional and sporting hunters in India and Africa, Rigby became known as the 'aristocrat of bolt-action rifles'.
In addition to its .275, Rigby developed an equally successful medium-heavy game round known as the .350 Rigby, and its rimmed counterpart for double rifles, the .350 No. 2.
At John Rigby's request, in 1900 Mauser began to develop a stretched version of its G98 action for larger cartridges. This became known as the Magnum Mauser and has served as the foundation for countless bolt-action big-game rifles ever since. The larger action was originally meant for Rigby's interim .400/.350 round, but in 1911 the company introduced the .416 Rigby cartridge for rifles built on the Magnum Mauser action. This was the first magazine rifle that could perform on a par with the powerful Nitro-Express double rifles, for one-third to one-fifth of their prices."
Right, now thats the back story as it were sometime in the 1990's early on I would say I was the lucky buyer of a factory refurbished 1936 MAS in 7.5 French.
Again here is Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MAS-36_rifle
And the round that fed it was: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7.5×54mm_French
Lucky because not only were these rifles cheap but ammo was scarce (probably why they were cheap) apart from cheap Syrian Surplus.
Now the rifle and round didn't really make the impact on the shooting world or even European military shooting because the Germans moved in rather sharply before the rifle was in general circulation.
The reason for this is that the Mas 36 wasn't meant for infantry troops, they were working on a self loading rifle (the Mas 1944) and the Mle 36 was meant for second line and support troops. Pesky Germans ruining everyone's plans!
I did some research as the Syrian ammo was appalling to shoot, the Mle 36 had an "interesting" trigger pull, once described to me as measured in days not pounds and hang fire berdan primed ammo wasn't conducive to accurate shooting.
Perusing my book case in the pre broadband internet days I happened upon cartridges of the world and Bolt action rifles. Now both books have been slated for bias and inaccuracy along with myth peddling however in 1996 there wasn't much else to go on. French manuals were in French if you could find them and there seemed to be very little scholarly work done on French small arms that was widely available.
The rifle was unusual in many ways however I felt it was a good service rifle and capable of shooting very straight with the right ammo.
Cartridges of the world actually listed two loads with IMR powders and standard Nato 7.62 146 grain machine gun ball so I started a bit below and worked my way up to the recommended loads. 48 Grains of IMR 4895 and 54 grains of IMR 4831 both produce 2700 fps at the muzzle and put the bullets pretty much on target with the sights set correctly.
I hadn't discovered anything all I had done was test the loads and find I was in agreement.
The load I would use in future would be the 4895 load as it used a little less powder. I purchased the dies from RCBS and as recommended necked out unfired 6.5 x 55 Swedish brass and just got on with loading.
I had a few very good years surprising fellow competitors at Bisley and other places with how easy it was to shoot and how easy it was to hit the target in a nice tight group.
By now INDEP or FNM as they headstamp their ammo had produced a round in this calibre, sadly it was underpowered and overweight so a 400m sight setting was needed to get near the target at 200.
A shame but they improved and Privi also got into the game so I had masses of brass for my MAS!
The years rolled around and I discovered deer stalking and was eventually taken to Scotland by a very good friend;
I also stalked close to home as well as in Scotland;
A Fallow Pricket
Roebuck taken with a CZ527 in 7.62 x 39
Now of all of these rifles I favoured the 6.5 x 55 CZ550. It was my first proper stalking rifle and in a full stock it looked attractive.
I was hooked but I had a slot on my firearms license for a 7x57 and had fallen in love with a .275 Rigby that was in the auctions at Bonhams in Knightsbridge.
I was only competing against one other bidder who dropped out at £1000 so for a little under £1300 fees included I walked away with a 1911 built Rigby Mauser with a factory fitted scope mount. One had been fitted at some point to the side but removed, filled and reblued, the top mounted one had an old scope from Hertel in West Germany mounted. Still it was very good and worked well. Eventually I sold the rifle and became a dealer which meant I always had a 7x57 I could use should the need arise.
I do miss that Rigby and the prices have really improved however thats not what I am writing about. Lets go back to the MAS1936. I was struggling to find a bullet that performed as well as a Sierra Matchking, I even tried Game Kings and they just wouldn't group properly. I ended up going back to the surplus Nato ball and it was as good as I was going to get from that rifle.
Whilst I was trying the Gamekings I thought to myself that it was a particularly nice load and looked the part. I had read that SFM (a Paris based ammo company) had produced hunting loads but no manufacturer chambered a sporting rifle in it and the MAS didn't lend itself to conversion to a sporter.
A few had been attempted but they didn't sell well and lacked grace frankly.
I thought to myself that the round itself was misunderstood, if the Germans hadn't invaded France at that time perhaps the round would have made a wider impact and become the 7.62 x 51 Nato round or at least been a contender. This and the Swiss 7.5 x 55 are both very capable cartridges of a nice intermediate length.
Anyway I sold the Mas 36, I also sold all of my service rifles I kept for range work but on sending in my license I asked for a one for one variation allowing me to continue using the M1929 cartridge should I get a donor rifle I can rebarrel.
Oh my it took ages, I eventually found in auction a Remington 700 ADL in 6.5 x 55 which of course meant no bolt alterations.
This is where I leave you for a day or two!
More to follow!
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