7x64 Brenneke - Opinions

[Jon Glajchen]

Great caliber! Has very little recoil and punches way above its weight. Mine likes heavier conventional bullets like Sako 170gr Hammerhead as well Barnes TSX monolithic 160gr.

The rifle is a custom Mauser 98 built in Austria on BRNO VZ 24 action. It is slim and trim and a pleasure to carry in the bush. It has a S&B fixed power 6x scope.

Currently using the Hammerheads at a claimed velocity of 2780 fps. I’m using it in the Bushveld where it knocks everything down with monotonous regularity. Species include Kudu, Impala, Wildebeest, and Warthog. Here’s a pic of my daughter in law who used it to take a nice impala.

 

[capra-capra]

Unsure if you bought it, if you did, hope you like it as it's a fine calibre. 150gr and higher is ideal for the 7x64 in my opinion. Most prefer the 7x64 due to heavier bullets as heaviest 7x64 - 177gr v 270 win - 160gr .

The calibre will not harvest your intended prey but a good bullet and shot placement will. Your prey will not know which calibre it is from

Happy Hunting with the 7x64

 

[Grumpy gumpy]

I have found the 140gn Woodleigh are quite accurate and effective in my .280ai.

I saw that 280 Bruce had in the SARA store sometime back. It was well used by the look and I imagine it was as he had wore out several barrels.



I’m fascinated by the .280a.i cartridge and would like to have it in a nice blued timber hunting rifle. Mine is a C/F stocked with C/F wrapped barrel another idea I was working on at the time. Things fell into place to get all the gear at good rates.

I still think it’s a sweet looking cartridge and performs well.

I recently picked up the 7x64 as well. This was for my wife and I like it. Was looking for a 7mm-08 for her but this came with dies and cases for a great price.

The 7x64 is a Tikka. I see in this thread I had mentioned they make them but on looking it’s the only one I’ve seen for sale in Australia. I don’t know if it was a special import or just a discontinued line for Australia but happy we got it.

I miss Bruce, he used to come to my club for gong shoots.
Gumpy

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

I miss Bruce, he used to come to my club for gong shoots.
Gumpy

@Grumpy gumpy
He is sorely missed here as well. A truely knowledgeable man, told it how he saw it and was a good laugh to go with it. Spike to hime quite often but unfortunately we never got together.
Bob

 

[ThreeJacks]

I just recently joined the ranks of 7x64 owners. I am not exactly sure what I have, a Sauer & Sohn Weatherby "Europa" with a 26" barrel and a Zeiss Diavari D 1.5x6 scope. I have found some S&B (173 gr), Norma (150 gr), and RWS (177 gr) to try. Looking forward to trying it out. Any information on the rifle would be appreciated.

 

[CBH Australia]

I dunno really but it’s nice.

I have come to like the 7mm calibre and I like the idea of “Classic cartridges” for hunting, hunting Africa or Europe if I could.

I use a .308 to shoot pigs, common as because everyone has one.

I just recently joined the ranks of 7x64 owners. I am not exactly sure what I have, a Sauer & Sohn Weatherby "Europa" with a 26" barrel and a Zeiss Diavari D 1.5x6 scope. I have found some S&B (173 gr), Norma (150 gr), and RWS (177 gr) to try. Looking forward to trying it out. Any information on the rifle would be appreciated.

By the way that scope should have nice glass.

 

[Milan]

Well have you tried it out yet?

 

[ThreeJacks]

I have not had the chance to do any target work yet, hopefully soon.

 

[Sagarua]

Couple of photos from my last fallow deer hunt (02/2025) with Mannlicher Schönauer M72 in 7x64, 60cm length of barrel(23.6inch) and 22cm twist rate(8.66inch). I took this shot from approximate 180m(200yard) with Geco Plus 11g(170gr), measured approx. MV 842 m/s (2825 fps). Lungs and liver shot with massive internal bleeding.

 

[Sagarua]

….full size photo, I did mistake when uploading….this is old Zeiss West Germany - Diavari 2,5-10x52 with Pard 007A, second photo is Hikmicro Day/Night Alpex 4K LRF for wild boar, fox and jackal night hunt.

 

[Sagarua]

7x64 is pleasant to shoot and very effective caliber. I own 8x57JS in Zastava M70 and two 8x68S in Mannlicher-Schönauer GK and NO model. When I compare them the 7x64 has the most managable recoil. I am not reloading, using just factory ammunition. Nice and accurate rifle and caliber.

 

[mark-hunter]

It is not 30-06 necked down to. 7mm.
Im the world of 7mm high power catridges arguably will have the heaviest bullets per calibre
If you take it you wont do wrong.

 

[Sagarua]

This is my target from the Hikmicro shooting. It allows me to create multiple profiles and so I chose two bullets. Geco Plus 11g (170gr) for wild boars and Fox Bullets 8.4g (130gr) for foxes and jackals.

 

[grand veneur]

It is not 30-06 necked down to. 7mm.
Im the world of 7mm high power catridges arguably will have the heaviest bullets per calibre
If you take it you wont do wrong.

The cartridge 7x64 Brenneke was a high-performance cartridge for its time. It was always designed for the heavy bullets of this caliber class. Unfortunately, it never found its way to Africa or India, where it would have better suited for the same purpose than the outdated cartridge 7x57.

 

[Odinsraven]

Yes my ex gf took 40 cull animals on a trip with one .....everything died 175gr ppu sp ....
The calibre hits a sweet spot ...even dropped blue wildebeest and Zebra with ease....

 

[PerH]

Brenneke used the 8x64S as a prent case for the 7mm , when he designed it in 1917 .

The trouble with it was the way the Great War turned and the lack of years before German ammo once again was available . It would been excellent in the India areas with the heavy bullets it’s made for and the sister one 7x65R in doubles and so .

 

[grand veneur]

It is said that Wilhelm Brenneke had hoped that the cartridge 8x64S would be adopted by the Army, but they remained loyal to the cartridge 8x57IS. Brenneke then designed the cartridge 7x64 by necked down the cartridge 8x64S.

For traditional reasons in Germany, for a new designed cartridge almost always a rimmed equivalent was also designed. Our beloved 9,3x64 cartridge also had something similar under the designation 9,3x65R Brenneke. Unfortunately, this cartridge was lost at some point.

 

[PerH]

Brenneke

The German Gun Collectors Association has an 8 page reprint of the 1930’s Brenneke Export Catalog available for purchase. Click here to go to their site and view the Catalogs they offer The following images are courtesy of my friend Fredrik Franzen The following article by Harald Wolf appeared...

germanhuntingguns.com

 

[grand veneur]

The cartridge 7x64 Brenneke is often mistakenly compared to the cartridge 7mm Remington Magnum. The cartridge were designed for very different purposes, as were rifling and throat of the rifles for it proves, meaning for shooting heavy game at standard distances with heavy bullets under hunting conditions in the forests where this kind of game was primarily hunted in our countries. The cartridge 7mm Remington Magnum is on the other side a cartridge for shooting light to medium game at long range.

 

[grand veneur]

The cartridge 7x64 Brenneke was widely used by many French hunters, not because of its various ballistic advantages, but above all because there was little alternative to the ban on all military cartridges in the class 6,5mm to 8mm before the legislation was changed. Unfortunately, this has sometimes given the cartridge a bad reputation if they was not appropriate used.