9 x 57 Mauser
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The 9x57mm Mauser is a member of the same family of cartridges as the 7x57mm Mauser | .275 Rigby, and uses the identical 57mm-long cartridge case, with the same shoulder angle, but necked up to accept a 9mm-diameter bullet. Ballistically - but not dimensionally - it is indistinguishable from the 9x56 Mannlicher-Schoenauer. It is currently regarded as a semi-obsolete calibre, although hand-loading keeps it alive.
Firing a relatively heavy (c. 220 - 250 grains) bullet at modest velocity (typically c. 2,200 - 2,300 fps), the 9 x 57 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 yards. The cartridge's low velocity combined with the heavy, poorly-streamlined bullet gave the 9 x 57 a rather high 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 | Namibia and German East Africa | Tanzania, where it was widely popular among European farmers and settlers for shooting plains game. It also accounted for a many lions and leopards. Its popularity was gradually eclipsed by the significantly more powerful, rather flatter-shooting 9.3x62mm Brenneke cartridge.
Many beautifully made sporting rifles in 9x57mm calibre, 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 are thrown back on handloading. When barrels eventually wear out, 9x57 rifles are generally rebarrelled in other, more modern calibres.
The Eley-Kynoch 9 x 57 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 249 grains, with an average muzzle velocity of 2,250 fps. 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 9mm diameter bullets.
