7x64

65X55

Well-Known Member
i fancy a bigger calibre thought about 30.06 but what about 7x64 could you lads tell me it good and bad points , currently have 6.5x55
 
i fancy a bigger calibre thought about 30.06 but what about 7x64 could you lads tell me it good and bad points , currently have 6.5x55

The .30-06 will do everything better than both of the other pair you mention.
I have used all three, currently I have a .308 and a 6.5X55 as part of my collection. I gave my .30-06 Sako to a friend a while ago as he currently has use for it.
For the re-loader the .30 cals are much better as ingredients can be obtained in vast profusion almost anywhere whereas those for 7mm and 6.5mm are more difficult to source.

HWH.
 
The .30-06 will do everything better than both of the other pair you mention.
I have used all three, currently I have a .308 and a 6.5X55 as part of my collection. I gave my .30-06 Sako to a friend a while ago as he currently has use for it.
For the re-loader the .30 cals are much better as ingredients can be obtained in vast profusion almost anywhere whereas those for 7mm and 6.5mm are more difficult to source.

HWH.

I'll second that.~Muir
 
i not got a problem getting components as i live less than a mile from reloading solutions , i had a 30,06 , let it go when i got my 6.5x55 sauer 202 and a fella has a barrel for sale so i thought mmmm sounds good wonder what there like ?
how flat shooting etc is a 7x64 is it a lot more gun than 6.5 ?

cheers 6.5x55
 
i not got a problem getting components as i live less than a mile from reloading solutions , i had a 30,06 , let it go when i got my 6.5x55 sauer 202 and a fella has a barrel for sale so i thought mmmm sounds good wonder what there like ?
how flat shooting etc is a 7x64 is it a lot more gun than 6.5 ?

cheers 6.5x55

If you live virtually on Aftabs doorstep you have no problems regarding the components.

Comparing the 7X64 and 6.5X55 from RWS information shows little practical difference.
Using the 127gr and 123gr cone point bullet shows the following :-

6.5X55 :- [127gr.]
Muzzle velocity 3250 FPS. Muzzle energy 2615 Foot/pounds. Most recommended sighting-in-distance is 205 YDS.
At 150 yds the bullet is 1.5 inches high and 2 inches low at 250 yds.

7X64 :- [123gr.]
Muzzle velocity 3180 FPS. Muzzle energy 2775 Foot/pounds. M.R.D. 215 YDS.
At 150 yds the bullet is 1.7 inches high and 1.6 inches low at 250 yds.

HWH.
 
I've a Sauer Mod 90 in 7x64 and I think it is a great round. It has enough umph for continental boar, is Europe legal as it is not a military caliber ( oops there goes the 30-06), there is a vast range of bullets available and so far I've had no trouble finding factory ammo. With the appropriate bullet choice it can be flat as a 25-06 for foxes or drop a moose.
If you fancy one have a go, the chances are you will find more euro rifles than American in this cal' so you will end up with a sweet combo'.
Recoil is not an issue really, I took 20 shots in a shooting cinema with just a shirt and jumper on, no bruises or pain next day. In the Sauer the recoil is straight back and far more manageable than my previous 270 Sako.
I cannot think of any bad points. I got a £25 set of Lee dies off the shelf at my local shop, and they give me 5 shot groups under 3/4inch.
It's a good round used by a huge number of europeans in preference to many new 'improved ' rounds. In the U.K it is a sleeper but watch out when folk wake up to it.
 
i can be at aftabs in under 3 mins , might go have a chat with him in morning about it ,
sound s like the way forward i fancy shooting some boar so guess it just the job
 
6.5X55 :- [127gr.]
Muzzle velocity 3250 FPS. Muzzle energy 2615 Foot/pounds. Most recommended sighting-in-distance is 205 YDS.
At 150 yds the bullet is 1.5 inches high and 2 inches low at 250 yds.

7X64 :- [123gr.]
Muzzle velocity 3180 FPS. Muzzle energy 2775 Foot/pounds. M.R.D. 215 YDS.
At 150 yds the bullet is 1.7 inches high and 1.6 inches low at 250 yds.

HWH.
hmm there's something up with those stats... 3250 from a 127gr 6.5x55 is higher pressure than a 123gr 7x64 at 3180, and certainly more energy. A 7x64 packs noticebly more punch I'd have thought
 
You can prob draw similar comparisons between the 7-08 and 30 as with 7x64 and 30-06. 7mm will always have a better ballistic coefficient thus flatter shooting than a 30 cal with same weight bullet. 7x64 good all round calibre and one of the most popular throughout Europe. 30-06 can be found everywhere else. For most purposes probably interchangeable but I do have a pref based on nothing other than one of the first rifles I ever used was a mannlicher in 7x64.
 
I got a bit puzzled as well, harrygrey. The Norma handbook, for instance, gives generally bigger velocities for the 7X64 over the 6.5X55. The case length of the '64 looks more in line with the .270 which is pretty large and might be termed as a non belted magnum. but I don't know the potential case capacity of the '55 and there's also the matter of which powder is used.

An interesting point for discussion which I hope would not lead to acrimony. stag1933 has done his RWS packet homework, and RWS will have their reasoning.
 
hmm there's something up with those stats... 3250 from a 127gr 6.5x55 is higher pressure than a 123gr 7x64 at 3180, and certainly more energy. A 7x64 packs noticebly more punch I'd have thought

My 21" barrel 6.5x55 spits out RWS 127gr at 2550fps. The figure on the pack I've got is mv 2905fps from a 25.5" barrel.

Furthermore, RWS quote the data for thier 140gr load from a 29" barrel!!
 
I stand corrected gentlemen, the RWS information I quoted as 6.5X55 was in fact for the 6.5X65 .[my 77 year-old eyeballs fail again] but I can still put 3 shots inside an inch at 100yds with the Hornady 140gr SP bullet chased by 46gr of Vihtavouri N160 ignited by a Federal 210 match primer from my Tikka 6.5X55 !

HWH.
 
Hi,
I shoot with a 7x64 Sauer 202. Left handed stutzen. Not everyones cup of tea, but do I care a jot? No. Never been interested in my guns bigger than yours type arguments. It shoots nicely and kills well on boar. Chosen as I need have one rifle for all of the world, not just Africa and the USA. I needed something with more knock down thump than my .243, end of story.

Enjoy the choosing process.

Buckup
 
AS a matter of interest - and I've never fired a 7X64 - 'never even held the cartridge. I get the impression that visually - apart from the ten thou " difference in bullet diameter, i.e. .280 instead of .270 that there's not much difference in length and case size.

Did our American friends sort of 'borrow' the continental cartridge and turn it into a .270 wildcat, to become a production round with a bit of bullet diameter adjustment ? I recognise that the .270 case is the 30-06 necked down.

I look forward to enlightenment. Maybe if I bothered to search PO ackley - - - - .
 
It's entirely possible that Winchester did base the .270 upon the 7x64 Brenneke but how they came upon the size 0.277" is a bit of a mystery.

Just one littel thing the .270 is named for it's bore size and as the Americans liek a depth of 0.004" for their rifling it should really be 0.278" for the bullets :confused: but even if we work on the 0.277" that they are the 7x64 uses 7mm bullets which are of 0.284" diameter so there is only 0.007" difference in size and not 0.010" as you mention..

The 7x64 has a bit more taper to the case it seems and is slightly smaller in diameter probably as a result of the metric measurements used in design and production I would have thought.
 
The .270 was just a wildcat from the 30-06.
The 7x64 is virtually identical to the American 280 Remington except a few thou' in base diameter and the fact it was created almost 80 years ago. Loading data given by the powder manufacturers is identical.
To quote Cartridges of the World ' the 7x64 is adequate for any north American big game given the right bullet selection'.
ONLY adequate mind you, but rather more gun than a 6.5x55. I've nothing against 6.5x55 it's just that the 55 factory ammo runs lower pressures to allow for older rifles of dubious ability to manage modern peak pressures.
 
'Seems to me that the narrower a bullet is - the more of a bitch it can be to get moving in bullets heavier than the .243/6mm. 100/105 grain. I really liked my 6.5X57mm but it didn't like being forced over 2800fps.. Maybe something to do with the old mauser case shape ?
I often wondered what would happen if I got it Ackley-ised. I suppose that the '55 Swede provides something towards the shape of an Ackley case, but the printed box velocity does not reflect the actuality if your rifle barrel is shorter than than stated. Not many hunting rifles have a barrel of 25.5 inches !
Perhaps one of the easiest calibre bullets to get moving in the more everyday hunting class - with reloading - is the 300 bullet with a nice fat - flat - backside. I'm not saying that boat-tails are hard to push, but I never did feel easy about hot gases trying to squeeze their way past between the bullet and barrel.

I might be wrong, but it seems to me that the old idea of having a tapered case was to try and ensure easy extraction. In this case it appears that PO Ackley proved it wrong with his steep shoulder and almost parallel-sided cases.

Any ideas on this ?

Thanks for your observations on the .277 bullet diameter Brithunter. I suspected that there was something lurking at the back of my mind but didn't put the finger on it until you pointed it out.

Now - Maybe one of these days I'll stumble on a 7X64. This snow, and getting colder today by the minute, certainly keeps me out of the unheated workshop and on this forum. One of the guilty perks of being an OAP.
 
I don't own one but speaking to European friends it is fairly popular and very similar in utility to the .270/3006, being slightly more versatile than the former and generally shooting a bit flatter than the latter.

With the right bullet nothing in Europe should be a problem.
 
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