What can people tell me about 7x 64?

[levigsp]

So I have used this calibre for a lot of years, I have used it on everything from Muntjac to Reds including grey seals in the UK and all sorts abroad up to Bear and Moose and I've always been impressed with the Cal.
Last year I had a nice gun built in the calibre especially for my European boar trips, where it behaved admirably.

I have used home loaded ammo from 120gn to 180 , factory loaded 123gn to 170gn and at present I'm using 170 Norma Vulcan home loads and I'm over the moon with them.

 

[Boarboy]

Thanks for all the replies. Would you choose a 7 x 64 over .308? Or are they pretty similar, 140/150gr up to 170/180 gr. From what I see slightly more velocity on the 7x64. Any significant difference in recoil and how they shoot?

 

[Paul 600]

Thanks for all the replies. Would you choose a 7 x 64 over .308? Or are they pretty similar, 140/150gr up to 170/180 gr. From what I see slightly more velocity on the 7x64. Any significant difference in recoil and how they shoot?

Ive had .308 for 25 years, haven't got one now! .308 is a good caliber though but I think 7X64 is more for me.

 

[Southern]

Thanks for all the replies. Would you choose a 7 x 64 over .308? Or are they pretty similar, 140/150gr up to 170/180 gr. From what I see slightly more velocity on the 7x64. Any significant difference in recoil and how they shoot?

To be honest, with the appropriate bullets, neither you nor the game can tell much difference between the .308 Win and the 7x64 ( or the .270 Win or .30-06) inside 300 yards. The larger case of the latter three cartridges will give it some noticeable edge at long range, and in power, with the heavier bullets. But you need to use a full size 24-inch rifle to get that. If you do, it is like being 100 yards closer. I own .308s, .30-06s and .270s.

I think the 7x64 and .280 Remington offer so much flexibility, with great bullets and ballistics from 120 grains to 175 grains. Recoil is going to depend on the load, the bullet weight, rifle weight, and how it fits you. I have some heavy .308s which seem to kick harder than a 7-lb .30-06 firing 180-gr bullets at 2,800 fps. If you are not comfortable with a .30-06, a .270 Win, 7x64 or .308 is not going to solve that.

The advice above about buying that used BSA 7x64 and trying it, being able to sell it for no loss later, is very sound - a cheap way to wet your feet.

 

[Dalua]

So got a .270 instead. And feel a little sad from time to time...

I also got a .270 instead - but only because I was not a reloader at the time, and I thought finding factory rounds would be a pain.

As it is, I load 140gr bullets for the .270 and just pretend it's a 7x64.

 

[enfieldspares]

Here's my 7x64. Although it now wears a Zeiss Diavari c 3-9x36 which I prefer to the Swarovski it cam with.

View attachment 68796 View attachment 68797

 

[Kalahari]

I think you need to send that very ugly rifle to me so it ceases to offend your fine appreciation for beauty.

David.

 

[mchughcb]

Pretty much everything the 270 should have been. Has the ability to handle heavier rounds than the 270.

David.

You'll find the 180gr woodleighs in the 270Win make it the same heavyweight at the 7x64. Both are good cartridges.

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[Mungo]

Thanks for all the replies. Would you choose a 7 x 64 over .308? Or are they pretty similar, 140/150gr up to 170/180 gr. From what I see slightly more velocity on the 7x64. Any significant difference in recoil and how they shoot?

If you don't reload, get a .308.

The single most important thing to consider with any rifle in the UK is ammo availability. It is so patchy and erratic that getting anything even remotely exotic leads to enormous amounts of wasted time and money.

 

[Erik Hamburger]

I can tell you, with absolute certainly, that if you shoot a deer with it in the killing zone, the deer will die. Just like any other deer legal bullet really!

 

[Conure]

Have just had a bit of fun reading about the 7x64 Brenneke round and it is amazing how many people get it twisted around. The common comment it: ......

It is basically a 280 Remington or 7mm/30-06...

Yet of course the 7x64 dates from 1917 and that is decades before the 280 Remington and as it was introduced the very year the US entered WW1 it seems to be unlikely it was based on the 30-06 case really and as the 30-06 case was based on the 8mm Mauser case! Plus the 7x64 predates the 270 Winchester by almost a decade. I remember reading that one reason for the 7x64's development was for the plains game found in German East Africa to give an edge over the 7mm Mauser round and of course Wild Boar and the big Forrest stags in Germany, Austria, and Hungary were another good reason along with cross canyon shots in the Mountians on Mouflon and Ibex.

The 9.3 Brenneke also came along for similar reasons in the German African colonies.

I remember the ads in Guns Review for the BSA Stutzen rifles in 7x64 but could not afford one at that time so bought a used BSA 270 instead.

 

[enfieldspares]

If you don't reload, get a .308.

I'd more say...if you don't reload get what the gunshops nearest to you have in stock in varied makes, brands, bullet weights. And that might be .30-06 or, indeed, .308, or somesuch other. MUNGO's post poses a question is there, now, in UK, really any longer a "universal" calibre like say .38 Special/.357 Magnum was in the pre-ban pistol and revolver days?

If so what? .308, .30-06, 7mm RM, .270 even? In the small stuff I'm guessing that .223 is now the "universal" calibre and next up .243? But after that is there such a thing any longer?

 

[Southern]

The 7x64 Brenneke was released in 1917, and was based on the 8x64 S Brenneke, which was a totally new cartridge released in 1912. Brenneke was certainly following the development of the .30 US Army, or .30-03, and its evolution from a 220-gr RN to a 150-gr spire point bullet. Powders were rapidly improving, and Brenneke got out in front of things with a flat-shooting cartridge. His 8x64 was a better big game cartridge than the 8x57, and had enough capacity for the 9.3x64 in Africa on really big game. Other designers, like Charles Newton, were building short action stubby magnums.
The ban on military cartridges by lots of countries kept all the Brenneke cartridges alive, which to my mind, is a good thing.

 

[Conure]

Sorry Southern but I don't agree after all both the 30-03 and 30-06 were inferior ballistically than the parent 8mm Mauser. The 154 grain load in the new 8x57IS load produced just shy of 3000 fps when introduced in 1905 the 30-6 despite a longer case and lighter bullet of 150 grains only managed 2700 fps. The Germans and French were miles ahead on smokeless powder development than either the British or Americans. It seem That Brenneke tried to get the Germans to adopt the 8x64 and the Army did look at the 7x64 for sniping use but decided that logistically that was a bad idea.

 

[Southern]

Oh, I am a big fan of the 8x57 and 7x57. The 8x57, like the .303 Enfield and the .30-03, started with heavy bullets. Then the 8x57IS moved to a 154-gr spitzer, and the .30-06 moved to a 150-gr spitzer.

I am only saying that Wilhelm Brenneke saw where powders and bullet design were going, and got there ahead of Mauser and Springfield Armory with cartridges ready to use these components. His 8x64 S was his own design, more like a downsized .375 H&H than anything else. The German Army seriously considered adopting the 7x64 as their standard.

Likewise, Charles Newton, with his .250-3000 and .30 Newton in lightweight hunting rifles, was 50 years ahead of the .243 Win and 80 years ahead of the short magnums. The latest bullets and powders confirm the design of great cartridges.

Cartridges are like automobile engines; the numbers may look very close on paper, but when you put the top ones in the right vehicle and get behind the wheel, you can see what the joy is all about for some of them. And, it is a matter of taste, the difference between a .270 and .280 or 7x64, just like a Porsche 911 and a Mercedes SL or Corvette.

 

[Bavarianbrit]

Think ammo & brass a problem depending where you are of course

What about a straight .284 ? Lapau brass readily available and very common bullets / choice ?

I have a .25-06 but had a hankering for 7x64 too but would probably go straight .284 to negate feeding it issues



Paul

I have a .284 Win on a Winchester 100 semi auto action here in Germany and it shoots very softly.

 

[Kalahari]

I live in North Wales and Scrumbag lives in London, we both use 7 x 64s and don't have problems with getting ammunition. Both our local shops, which have no connection, get the stuff by return. This can't get it stuff seems to be overplayed.

David.