Cartridge Development and Military Usage
The Spanish military adopted a new Mauser rifle design in 1893. This took a smokeless powder centerfire cartridge with a bullet with a nominal diameter of 7 mm (0.285 in), and a case length of 57 mm - hence the names "7×57mm Mauser" and "7×57mm Spanish Mauser". It featured a long, 11 g (173 grain ) round-nose, full metal jacketed bullet with a muzzle velocity of about 700 m/s (2,300 ft/s) from a 29-inch (740 mm) barreled rifle. For the late 19th century, these ballistics were impressive, and the loading provided a fairly flat trajectory combined with excellent penetration.
The qualities of the 7×57mm as a military round were shown in the Spanish-American War of 1898. At the commencement of the American assault on the strategic Cuban city of Santiago, 750 Spanish troops defended positions on San Juan and Kettle hills. The attacking force numbered approximately 6,600 American soldiers, most of them armed with the then-new smokeless-powder Krag-Jorgensen rifle in .30 Army caliber, and supported by artillery and Gatling gun fire. Though the assault was successful, the Americans soon realized that they had suffered more than 1,400 casualties, nearly 20 per cent of their forces. A U.S. board of investigation later concluded that the casualties were primarily due to the superior firepower of the Spanish Model 1893 Mauser rifles.
During the Second Boer War in South Africa, British authorities were obliged to re-evaluate rifle and ammunition design and tactics after facing Boer sharpshooters and snipers armed with Model 1895 Mauser rifles firing 7×57mm rounds with withering effectiveness, easily outranging the .303 British cartridge as regards accurate long-range fire. The .303 cartridge at that time was still using cordite propellant, in contrast to the Mauser's higher-performance ballistite type smokeless powder. The British modernized the previous .303 British cartridge variants to the Mark 7 variant that like the 7×57mm used smokeless propellant, and updated their rifle to the Lee Enfield No. 1 Mk III.
In 1913, following the lead of French and German Army commands in developing the spitzer or pointed-tip bullet shape, the Spanish ordnance authorities issued a redesigned the 7×57mm cartridge with a 9 g (139-grain) spitzer bullet that developed 2,790 ft/s (850 m/s) (7mm Cartucho para Mauser Tipo S). The new spitzer bullet style was partially responsible for the cartridge's performance as it significantly reduced air drag within normal combat ranges.
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