Okay, I may have messed up, but I bought a beautiful custom Mauser in 5.6x57mm, with three boxes of RWS cartridges. Now I have learned that the US distributor for RWS is not importing the metric ammo, and Old Western Scrounger has no 5.6x57 mm RWS left in his supply house, nor does he expect to see more. I gather that the round is still in production in Europe, but we cannot get it here. Help!

For anyone's curiosity, the 5.6x57mm is another .220 Swift type cartridge.

Any good ideas for reloading? I have managed to locate a set of 5.6x57mm dies, so all is not lost.

Larry

Send a PM to Contender if he doesn't drop in soon, I thought he had been able to have someone ship him once-fired cases directly from Europe for some wildcat project.

It's basically a necked down 7x57 Mauser, so you should be able to neck down 7X57 or .257 Roberts brass. Dimensions are in Hornady #3 and #4, maybe #5 too. It has a very thick neck wall, so you might not even have to ream them.

Bye
Jack

Thank you, Jack. I know about that thick neck, just looking for better answers. I may very well have to go the route that you suggest. Thanks,
Larry

I was so interested in the hype around this caliber that I had a 22-250 AI made up with a 1-9 twist so I could reproduce the ballistics. Those 74 RWS conepoints are a superb big game bullet. I took a wack of caribou with complete satisfaction. Penetration was excellent and wound channel very good.

The original neck was very thick for the use of some sub-caliber device and the excessive thickness might be hard to reproduce even with necked down brass. Good luck.

Thanks, North of 61, and now I am curious, where did you find your 74 grain bullets? Dynamit-Nobel is not helpful at all about providing components for the metrics, much less loaded ammo

sierra: I got my 74 cone-points from a guy in Ontario called Rudy Shulz. Don't think he is in business any more. The 74 grain cone points have a very thick jacket with some impressive mechanical core locks. Penetration through caribou was complete in all broadside or slightly quartering angles. Even at close range and high impact velocities bullet performance was stellar. Accuracy was only fair with my sub-minute Douglas barrel getting 1.5 MOA with the best loads. Plenty good for caribou though 55 Trophy Bonded, 53 Barnes X and 60 and 80 grain Allred bullets were all twice as accurate or better, but I felt the bullet action of the RWS bullet was the best. H4831 was a good powder choice. I sold my 22-250 AI and am occasionally tempted by the 223 WSSM as a good replacement.

Thanks for the bullet info. I had not considered using 4831 powder. Guess I should back off a moment. I have some of the Barnes X bullets and some Noslers. I agree with you about the mechanics of the RWS bullets. Have been using their 156 grain H-Mantles in a 6.5mm Mannlicher with aweinspiring results on deer. I think it is really too much bullet for a southern white tail, even in such a relatively low velocity cartridge. RWS makes good stuff, if ony we could get it here.

Thanks for the bullet info. I had not considered using 4831 powder. Guess I should back off a moment. I have some of the Barnes X bullets and some Noslers. I agree with you about the mechanics of the RWS bullets. Have been using their 156 grain H-Mantles in a 6.5mm Mannlicher with aweinspiring results on deer. I think it is really too much bullet for a southern white tail, even in such a relatively low velocity cartridge. RWS makes good stuff, if ony we could get it here.

Slow powder is the way to go with heavy bullets.

Loads I have for 5.6 x 57

74 grain RWS Bullet

44 grains Norma MRP 3550 ft/sec
42 grains IMR 4831 3300

MRP is roughly equivelant (not interchangeable) with RL 22
H4831 worked very well in my 22-250 AI with 74 and 80 grainers.

No loads, but I shot a deer with a 53 gr. Barnes "X" with a .22-250. Couldn't see any fault with the bullets performance. Probably the toughest common .22 cal bullet around... good luck with your project.

No loads, but I shot a deer with a 53 gr. Barnes "X" with a .22-250. Couldn't see any fault with the bullets performance. Probably the toughest common .22 cal bullet around... good luck with your project.

I tried my hand at gun-writing by doing a massive research project on 22 caliber bullets and big game when I lived in Nunavut. I used a custom 27" fast twist 22-250AI and a normal twist 223 to shoot wet newspaper and kill dozens of caribou.

I tested the 53 grain X bullet/ 55 grain Trophy Bonded/60 Allred Triple Jacket/64 Win PP/ 64 Sierra SSp /68 Hornady and 69 Sierra Match Bullets/70 Speer/ 74 RWS Conepoint/ 80 Allred partition and 80 Sierra Match.

The match bullets were inconsistent, the light weight X/Trophy Bonded and Allred bullets ran out of steam fairly quickly due to a relatively low BC, but they penetrated well, even at close range. in the 223 wound channels got iffy at 150 yards + and the 22-250AI extended that 75 yards or so.

The Sierra and Speer bullets were too lightly constructed, good for neck shots only or long range but the 74 RWS and 80 ALLRED worked great out to 270+ yards in the 22-250AI and also worked well at really close ranges.

Of course it wasn't published but the same old rehashed c*ap is. The 74RWS turns the fast 22's into a 6mm class cartridge. Not great but pretty good on big game. I like my 6.5 Rem Mag much more as a light big game rifle but a fast twist 22 with the right bullets is pretty good, and easy to shoot well.

How did the 64 gr. Win Power Point do? It's occasionally used here (Texas) in the .223 for a deer load. I know someone who shot a few small hogs with it as well.

I guess you didn't have the 60gr. Partition available at the time - been tempted to try those out also.

How did the 64 gr. Win Power Point do? It's occasionally used here (Texas) in the .223 for a deer load. I know someone who shot a few small hogs with it as well.

I guess you didn't have the 60gr. Partition available at the time - been tempted to try those out also.


I tried the 64 PP in three rifles, a fast twist 223 /22-250 AI and my 223 Browning A bolt. All these guns were capable of sub moa and the Winchester bullet was pretty mediocre accuracy wise. It also was a bit soft on wet paper but I can't remember using it on game. Recently I have been playing with 60 grain partitions and they shoot much better and penetrate very well. I think the partitions could turn into a favourite for the Browning which is my wifes caribou gun.

Browning A-Bolt 20" barrel 1-12" Twist

53 grain X bullet 27.0 RL 15 .6MOA
55 Trophy Bonded 24.0 AA 2015 .8 MOA
60 Allred Triple Jacket 25.5 RL 15 .65 MOA
60 Nosler partition 25.5 RL 15 .9 MOA
63 Sierra 25.5 RL 15 1.6 MOA
64 Win PP 25.0 RL 15 1.4MOA
70 Speer 25 RL 15 1.2 MOA

223 Sako Gaillhard Heavy barrel 1-8" Twist

200 Yard Average Groups

53 X bullet 26.4 RL 15 2.4"
60 Nosler 25 RL 15 2.1"
64 Win PP 25 RL 15 3.1"
75 Hornady 24 RL 15 .85"

Forgot to say the 64 Win PP seems to be a fair penetrator at 223 velocities but sped up faster it is definately too soft. It sheds it's core fairly easily and the Partition is much more dependable.