8x64mm S
Encyclopedia
The 8x64mm S (the S means it is intended for 8.2 mm (.323 in) groove diameter bullets) is a rimless
bottlenecked centerfire cartridge
developed as a military service round for the German Army who never issued it. As is customary in European cartridges the 8 denotes the 8 mm bullet caliber
and the 64 denotes the 64 mm (2.52 in) case length. The 8x64mm is a hunting cartridge in central Europe and can due to its 87.5 mm (3.445 in) overall length easily be chambered in standard sized Mauser 98 bolt action rifles.
(1865–1951) was experimenting with the engineering concept of lengthening and other dimensional changes regarding standard cartridge cases like the M/88 cartridge case, then used by the German military in their Mauser 98 rifles, to obtain extra muzzle velocity.
In 1912 Brenneke designed the 8x64mm S cartridge. This cartridge is an example of a de novo rifle cartridge (the 8x64mm S and 6.5x64mm have no other cartridge as parent case) intended as a ballistic upgrade option for the Mauser Gewehr 98
rifles that were then standard issue in the German military. The exteriour cartridge case dimensions like overall length and slightly larger case head diameter compared to the German 8x57mm IS military cartridge coupled with a moderate increase in maximum pressure were chosen with easy conversion of Gewehr 98 rifles for the 8x64mm S in mind. Brenneke hoped that he could achieve a major success with this round designed in an age when military doctrine expected rifle shots at ranges up to 800 to 1000 m (875 to 1094 yards). The German military chose however to stick to their 8x57mm IS rifle cartridge avoiding rechambering their service rifles for a larger and heavier cartridge that due to its more favourable bore area to case volume ratio ballistically slightly outperforms the .30-06 Springfield
cartridge introduced by the United States Army
in 1906.
Commercially the 8x64mm S was after an initial success phase in the period between the World Wars rather unsuccessful. Brenneke’s engineering concept to lengthen the 57 mm (2.244 in) long M/88 cartridge case to create new for those days very powerful cartridges was essentially sound and he persisted in the development of new cartridges like the commercially successful 7x64mm
along this line.
The 8x64mm S offered compared to the 8x57mm IS about 2 to 5% extra muzzle velocity. This results in a flatter trajectory and better performance at longer range.
Beside the 8x64mm S rifle cartridge Brenneke also designed a rimmed version for break action rifles of the cartridge. The rimmed 8x65 mm RS variant of the cartridge was also rather commercially unsuccessful.
To avoid potentially serious accidents, it is important to distinguish clearly between cartridges loaded for these two different bullet diameters, and only fire them in appropriately chambered/barrelled rifles.
(69.5 grains
) H2O cartridge case capacity. A sign of the era in which the 8x64mm S was developed are the gently sloped shoulders. The exterior shape of the case was designed to promote reliable case feeding and extraction in bolt-action rifles, under extreme conditions.
8x64mm S maximum C.I.P. cartridge dimensions. All sizes in millimeters (mm).
Americans would define the shoulder angle at alpha/2 ≈ 14 degrees. The common rifling
twist rate for this cartridge is 240 mm (1 in 9.45 in), 4 grooves, Ø lands = 7.89 mm, Ø grooves = 8.20 mm, land width = 4.40 mm and the primer type
is large rifle or large rifle magnum depending on the load.
According to the official with C.I.P. (Commission Internationale Permanente pour l'Epreuve des Armes à Feu Portatives
) guidelines the 8x64mm S case can handle up to 405 MPa (58740 psi) piezo pressure. In C.I.P. regulated countries every rifle cartridge combo has to be proofed at 125% of this maximum C.I.P. pressure to certify for sale to consumers.
The American 8mm-06 wildcat cartridge
(in European nomenclature the 8mm-06 would be termed as 8x63mm S) is probably the closest ballistic twin of the 8x64mm S. This is a necked up .30-06 Springfield
wildcat made to accept 8 mm (.323 in) bullets. This modification was performed to German Mauser 98 rifles in the US to facilitate the use of a commonly available cartridge case in the US, since the German 8x57mm IS cartridge was not readily available in the US when troops brought German Mauser rifles home as war
souvenirs after World War II
.
magnum cartridge making it suitable for hunting all kinds of European game. In the year 2001 the Brenneke Company tried to revive the 8x64mm S cartridge by offering it loaded with 12.8 gram Brenneke Torpedo Ideal Geschoß (TIG) hunting bullets. Sellier & Bellot and Brenneke are currently (2007) the only ammunition manufacturers offering 8x64mm S factory loads.
Loaded with short light bullets it can be used on small European game like roe deer
and chamois
. Loaded with long heavy bullets it can be used on big European game like boar
, red deer
, moose
and brown bear
. The 8x64mm S offers very good penetrating ability due to a fast twist rate that enables it to fire long, heavy bullets with a high sectional density
.
The 8x64mm S can be used in countries which ban civil use of former or current military ammunition. In France where the possession of rifles in their original military caliber is tightly regulated cartridges like the 8×64mm S allow French licensed gun owners to possess rifles based on the Mauser
Gewehr 98
system under the less constraining "hunting rifle" category. The also rare 8x60mm S cartridge offers a comparable rechambering option for Mauser Gewehr 98 and Karabiner 98k based hunting rifles sporting 8 mm S-bores. Due to its larger case capacity the 8x64mm S chambering offers better ballistic performance than the 8x60mm S.
The 8x64mm S rimmed sister cartridge, the 8x65mm RS, is also not popular in central Europe for the same reasons as the 8x64mm S.
(Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers’ Institute) sanctioned maximum pressures.
This comparison is not totally objective since the 8 mm Remington Magnum
and .325 WSM
operate at 448.16 MPa (65000 psi), the 8x68mm S
at 440 MPa (63817 psi), the 8x64mm S at 405 MPa (58740 psi) and the 8x57mm IS at 390 MPa (56564 psi) maximum chamber pressure. Higher chamber pressure results in higher muzzle velocities.
Rim (firearms)
A rim is an external flange that is machined, cast, molded, stamped or pressed around the bottom of a firearms cartridge. The rim may serve a number of purposes, the most common being as the place for the extractor to engage...
bottlenecked centerfire cartridge
Cartridge (firearms)
A cartridge, also called a round, packages the bullet, gunpowder and primer into a single metallic case precisely made to fit the firing chamber of a firearm. The primer is a small charge of impact-sensitive chemical that may be located at the center of the case head or at its rim . Electrically...
developed as a military service round for the German Army who never issued it. As is customary in European cartridges the 8 denotes the 8 mm bullet caliber
8 mm caliber
This article lists firearm cartridges which have a bullet in the to caliber range.*Length refers to the empty cartridge case length.*OAL refers to the overall length of the loaded cartridge.All measurements are in mm .-Pistol cartridges:...
and the 64 denotes the 64 mm (2.52 in) case length. The 8x64mm is a hunting cartridge in central Europe and can due to its 87.5 mm (3.445 in) overall length easily be chambered in standard sized Mauser 98 bolt action rifles.
History
At the start of the 20th century the famous German gun and ammunition designer Wilhelm BrennekeWilhelm Brenneke
Wilhelm Brenneke was a German inventor of smallarms ammunition, including the Brenneke shotgun slug. He was born in 1865 in Hanover and died in 1951, from natural causes...
(1865–1951) was experimenting with the engineering concept of lengthening and other dimensional changes regarding standard cartridge cases like the M/88 cartridge case, then used by the German military in their Mauser 98 rifles, to obtain extra muzzle velocity.
In 1912 Brenneke designed the 8x64mm S cartridge. This cartridge is an example of a de novo rifle cartridge (the 8x64mm S and 6.5x64mm have no other cartridge as parent case) intended as a ballistic upgrade option for the Mauser Gewehr 98
Gewehr 98
The Gewehr 98 is a German bolt action Mauser rifle firing the 8x57mm cartridge from a 5 round internal clip-loaded magazine that was the German service rifle from 1898 to 1935, when it was replaced by the Karabiner 98k. It was hence the main rifle of the German infantry during World War I...
rifles that were then standard issue in the German military. The exteriour cartridge case dimensions like overall length and slightly larger case head diameter compared to the German 8x57mm IS military cartridge coupled with a moderate increase in maximum pressure were chosen with easy conversion of Gewehr 98 rifles for the 8x64mm S in mind. Brenneke hoped that he could achieve a major success with this round designed in an age when military doctrine expected rifle shots at ranges up to 800 to 1000 m (875 to 1094 yards). The German military chose however to stick to their 8x57mm IS rifle cartridge avoiding rechambering their service rifles for a larger and heavier cartridge that due to its more favourable bore area to case volume ratio ballistically slightly outperforms the .30-06 Springfield
.30-06 Springfield
The .30-06 Springfield cartridge or 7.62×63mm in metric notation, was introduced to the United States Army in 1906 and standardized, and was in use until the 1960s and early 1970s. It replaced the .30-03, 6 mm Lee Navy, and .30 US Army...
cartridge introduced by the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
in 1906.
Commercially the 8x64mm S was after an initial success phase in the period between the World Wars rather unsuccessful. Brenneke’s engineering concept to lengthen the 57 mm (2.244 in) long M/88 cartridge case to create new for those days very powerful cartridges was essentially sound and he persisted in the development of new cartridges like the commercially successful 7x64mm
7x64mm
The 7x64mm is a rimless bottlenecked centerfire cartridge developed for hunting. As is customary in European cartridges the 7 denotes the 7 mm bullet caliber and the 64 denotes the case length...
along this line.
The 8x64mm S offered compared to the 8x57mm IS about 2 to 5% extra muzzle velocity. This results in a flatter trajectory and better performance at longer range.
Beside the 8x64mm S rifle cartridge Brenneke also designed a rimmed version for break action rifles of the cartridge. The rimmed 8x65 mm RS variant of the cartridge was also rather commercially unsuccessful.
8x64mm
This cartridge also exists in a 8x64mm variant (without the S or any other further additions) intended for a different bullet diameter. Rifles chambered for the 8x64mm sport the earlier tighter 8.07 mm (.318 in) I-bore as found in the 8x57mm I.To avoid potentially serious accidents, it is important to distinguish clearly between cartridges loaded for these two different bullet diameters, and only fire them in appropriately chambered/barrelled rifles.
Cartridge dimensions
The 8x64mm S has 4.51 mlLitre
pic|200px|right|thumb|One litre is equivalent to this cubeEach side is 10 cm1 litre water = 1 kilogram water The litre is a metric system unit of volume equal to 1 cubic decimetre , to 1,000 cubic centimetres , and to 1/1,000 cubic metre...
(69.5 grains
Grain (measure)
A grain is a unit of measurement of mass that is nominally based upon the mass of a single seed of a cereal. From the Bronze Age into the Renaissance the average masses of wheat and barley grains were part of the legal definition of units of mass. However, there is no evidence of any country ever...
) H2O cartridge case capacity. A sign of the era in which the 8x64mm S was developed are the gently sloped shoulders. The exterior shape of the case was designed to promote reliable case feeding and extraction in bolt-action rifles, under extreme conditions.
8x64mm S maximum C.I.P. cartridge dimensions. All sizes in millimeters (mm).
Americans would define the shoulder angle at alpha/2 ≈ 14 degrees. The common rifling
Rifling
Rifling is the process of making helical grooves in the barrel of a gun or firearm, which imparts a spin to a projectile around its long axis...
twist rate for this cartridge is 240 mm (1 in 9.45 in), 4 grooves, Ø lands = 7.89 mm, Ø grooves = 8.20 mm, land width = 4.40 mm and the primer type
Percussion cap
The percussion cap, introduced around 1830, was the crucial invention that enabled muzzleloading firearms to fire reliably in any weather.Before this development, firearms used flintlock ignition systems which produced flint-on-steel sparks to ignite a pan of priming powder and thereby fire the...
is large rifle or large rifle magnum depending on the load.
According to the official with C.I.P. (Commission Internationale Permanente pour l'Epreuve des Armes à Feu Portatives
Commission Internationale Permanente pour l'Epreuve des Armes à Feu Portatives
The Commission Internationale Permanente pour l'Epreuve des Armes à Feu Portatives is an international organisation whose members are 14 states, mainly European....
) guidelines the 8x64mm S case can handle up to 405 MPa (58740 psi) piezo pressure. In C.I.P. regulated countries every rifle cartridge combo has to be proofed at 125% of this maximum C.I.P. pressure to certify for sale to consumers.
The American 8mm-06 wildcat cartridge
Wildcat cartridge
A wildcat cartridge, or wildcat, is a custom cartridge for which ammunition and firearms are not mass produced. These cartridges are often created in order to optimize a certain performance characteristic of an existing commercial cartridge.Developing and using wildcat cartridges does not...
(in European nomenclature the 8mm-06 would be termed as 8x63mm S) is probably the closest ballistic twin of the 8x64mm S. This is a necked up .30-06 Springfield
.30-06 Springfield
The .30-06 Springfield cartridge or 7.62×63mm in metric notation, was introduced to the United States Army in 1906 and standardized, and was in use until the 1960s and early 1970s. It replaced the .30-03, 6 mm Lee Navy, and .30 US Army...
wildcat made to accept 8 mm (.323 in) bullets. This modification was performed to German Mauser 98 rifles in the US to facilitate the use of a commonly available cartridge case in the US, since the German 8x57mm IS cartridge was not readily available in the US when troops brought German Mauser rifles home as war
souvenirs after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Contemporary use
The 8x64mm S is offered as a chambering option in some European hunting rifle manufacturer’s products palette. The 8x64mm S performance lies between the commercially important 8x57mm IS standard cartridge and the 8x68mm S8x68mm S
The 8x68mm S rimless bottlenecked rifle cartridge and its necked down sister cartridge the 6.5x68mm were developed in the 1930s by Mr...
magnum cartridge making it suitable for hunting all kinds of European game. In the year 2001 the Brenneke Company tried to revive the 8x64mm S cartridge by offering it loaded with 12.8 gram Brenneke Torpedo Ideal Geschoß (TIG) hunting bullets. Sellier & Bellot and Brenneke are currently (2007) the only ammunition manufacturers offering 8x64mm S factory loads.
Loaded with short light bullets it can be used on small European game like roe deer
Roe Deer
The European Roe Deer , also known as the Western Roe Deer, chevreuil or just Roe Deer, is a Eurasian species of deer. It is relatively small, reddish and grey-brown, and well-adapted to cold environments. Roe Deer are widespread in Western Europe, from the Mediterranean to Scandinavia, and from...
and chamois
Chamois
The chamois, Rupicapra rupicapra, is a goat-antelope species native to mountains in Europe, including the Carpathian Mountains of Romania, the European Alps, the Tatra Mountains, the Balkans, parts of Turkey, and the Caucasus. The chamois has also been introduced to the South Island of New Zealand...
. Loaded with long heavy bullets it can be used on big European game like boar
Boar
Wild boar, also wild pig, is a species of the pig genus Sus, part of the biological family Suidae. The species includes many subspecies. It is the wild ancestor of the domestic pig, an animal with which it freely hybridises...
, red deer
Red Deer
The red deer is one of the largest deer species. Depending on taxonomy, the red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Asia Minor, parts of western Asia, and central Asia. It also inhabits the Atlas Mountains region between Morocco and Tunisia in northwestern Africa, being...
, moose
Moose
The moose or Eurasian elk is the largest extant species in the deer family. Moose are distinguished by the palmate antlers of the males; other members of the family have antlers with a dendritic configuration...
and brown bear
Brown Bear
The brown bear is a large bear distributed across much of northern Eurasia and North America. It can weigh from and its largest subspecies, the Kodiak Bear, rivals the polar bear as the largest member of the bear family and as the largest land-based predator.There are several recognized...
. The 8x64mm S offers very good penetrating ability due to a fast twist rate that enables it to fire long, heavy bullets with a high sectional density
Sectional density
Sectional density is the ratio of an object's mass to its cross-sectional area. It conveys how well an object's mass is distributed to overcome resistance. For illustration, a needle can penetrate a target medium with less force than a coin of the same mass...
.
The 8x64mm S can be used in countries which ban civil use of former or current military ammunition. In France where the possession of rifles in their original military caliber is tightly regulated cartridges like the 8×64mm S allow French licensed gun owners to possess rifles based on the Mauser
Mauser
Mauser was a German arms manufacturer of a line of bolt-action rifles and pistols from the 1870s to 1995. Mauser designs were built for the German armed forces...
Gewehr 98
Gewehr 98
The Gewehr 98 is a German bolt action Mauser rifle firing the 8x57mm cartridge from a 5 round internal clip-loaded magazine that was the German service rifle from 1898 to 1935, when it was replaced by the Karabiner 98k. It was hence the main rifle of the German infantry during World War I...
system under the less constraining "hunting rifle" category. The also rare 8x60mm S cartridge offers a comparable rechambering option for Mauser Gewehr 98 and Karabiner 98k based hunting rifles sporting 8 mm S-bores. Due to its larger case capacity the 8x64mm S chambering offers better ballistic performance than the 8x60mm S.
The 8x64mm S rimmed sister cartridge, the 8x65mm RS, is also not popular in central Europe for the same reasons as the 8x64mm S.
8 mm cartridges compared
Maximum muzzle velocity comparison in % of the probably most proliferated European and American 8 mm rifle cartridges out of 650 mm (25.59 in) long barrels loaded with relatively light to heavy 8 mm bullets to their C.I.P. or SAAMISaami
Saami or SAAMI can stand for:*Sami people*Sami languages*Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers' Institute...
(Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers’ Institute) sanctioned maximum pressures.
| Bullet weight gram (grain) | 8.23 g (127 gr) | 9.72 g (150 gr) | 11.34 g (175 gr) | 12.96 g (200 gr) | 14.26 g (220 gr) | Case capacity (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8x57mm IS | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 |
| 8x64mm S | 102.7 | 102.7 | 102.8 | 102.9 | 102.9 | 110.3 |
| .325 WSM | 108.7 | 109.1 | 109.0 | 109.3 | 111.1 | 131.7 |
| 8x68mm S | 108.4 | 108.5 | 108.7 | 110.5 | 112.3 | 136.5 |
| 8 mm Rem. Mag. | 111.9 | 112.3 | 114.5 | 115.3 | 116.0 | 157.1 |
This comparison is not totally objective since the 8 mm Remington Magnum
8 mm Remington Magnum
The 8mm Remington Magnum belted rifle cartridge was introduced by Remington Arms Company in 1978 as a new chambering for the model 700 BDL rifle. The 8 mm Remington Magnum's parent case is the .375 H&H Magnum...
and .325 WSM
.325 WSM
.325 Winchester Short Magnum is an 8 mm caliber rebated rim bottlenecked centerfire short magnum cartridge that was introduced in 2005 by Winchester...
operate at 448.16 MPa (65000 psi), the 8x68mm S
8x68mm S
The 8x68mm S rimless bottlenecked rifle cartridge and its necked down sister cartridge the 6.5x68mm were developed in the 1930s by Mr...
at 440 MPa (63817 psi), the 8x64mm S at 405 MPa (58740 psi) and the 8x57mm IS at 390 MPa (56564 psi) maximum chamber pressure. Higher chamber pressure results in higher muzzle velocities.
See also
- List of rifle cartridges
- 8 mm caliber8 mm caliberThis article lists firearm cartridges which have a bullet in the to caliber range.*Length refers to the empty cartridge case length.*OAL refers to the overall length of the loaded cartridge.All measurements are in mm .-Pistol cartridges:...
- BrennekeBrennekeBrenneke GmbH is a German manufacturer of ammunition and bullets, based in Langenhagen, Lower Saxony.The company was founded by Wilhelm Brenneke in 1895 and is currently owned and run by his great-grandson, Dr. Peter Mank....
- 7x64mm7x64mmThe 7x64mm is a rimless bottlenecked centerfire cartridge developed for hunting. As is customary in European cartridges the 7 denotes the 7 mm bullet caliber and the 64 denotes the case length...
- 9.3×64mm Brenneke