9.3x64mm Brenneke
Encyclopedia
The 9.3x64mm Brenneke is a rimless
bottlenecked centerfire cartridge
developed for big game hunting. As is customary in European cartridges the 9.3 denotes the 9.3 mm bullet diameter and the 64 denotes the 64 mm case length. Using the bullet diameter is unusual in German cartridge designations. Normally the land diameter of the barrel is used for such designations. The 9.3x64mm Brenneke can easily be chambered in standard sized Mauser 98 bolt action rifles.
(1865–1951) was the 9.3x64mm Brenneke. He designed this cartridge de novo (the 9.3x64mm Brenneke has no other cartridge as parent case) and introduced it commercially in 1927. This big game cartridge is the most powerful cartridge he designed. The 9.3x64mm Brenneke was designed to have the largest possible case capacity without any shape or dimensional drawbacks that would hamper its chambering and perfect functioning in Mauser
Gewehr 98
rifles that were then standard issue in the German military.
The widespread availability of standard size Mauser 98 rifles in central Europe and the fact that the .375 Holland & Holland Magnum cartridge and its necked down version the .300 Holland & Holland
Magnum with approximately 72.4 mm case length were too long to fit in standard sized Mauser 98 bolt action rifles made the shorter 9.3x64mm Brenneke an interesting chambering option for European big game hunters.
Brenneke introduced the 9.3x64mm Brenneke with a 19.65 gram (303 gr) Torpedo Ideal Geschoss (TIG – Torpedo Ideal projectile) designed for big game and a 17 gram (262 gr) jacketed bullet with lead, bronze or a copper tip for smaller game. Later a special TIG with a bronze tip and a full metal jacket bullet where added for thick skinned dangerous game. After that Brenneke developed a 19 gram (293 gr) Torpedo Universal Geschoss (TUG – Torpedo Universal projectile) with a lead tip that is still produced.
The Russian military has recently (2009) developed the semi-armour piercing 9SN cartridge for the 9.3x64mm Brenneke SVDK
variant of the Dragunov sniper rifle. This cartridge has a 16.6 g (256 gr) pointed boat-tailed FMJ bullet with steel core and achieves a muzzle velocity of 770 m/s (2520 ft/s). The 9SN cartridge should be able to defeat body armor at ranges up to 600 meters (660 yd).
The 9.3x64mm Brenneke ballistic performance is on par with the .375 Holland & Holland Magnum
while being smaller and using less propellant, making it a more modern efficient design.
With the official certification of the 6.5 x 63 Messner Magnum this German 64 mm "family" of magnum rifle cartridges that all share the same basic cartridge case got expanded 71 years later.
The cartridges in this German 64 mm cartridge "family" are, in the order of development:
(88 grains
) H2O cartridge case capacity. A rare feature of this German rimless bottlenecked centerfire cartridge design is that it has a slightly rebated rim (P1 - R1 = 0.28 mm). A sign of the era in which the 9.3x64mm Brenneke 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.
9.3x64mm Brenneke maximum C.I.P. cartridge dimensions. All sizes in millimetres (mm).
Americans would define the shoulder angle at alpha/2 ≈ 17.49 degrees. The common rifling
twist rate for this cartridge is 360 mm (1 in 14.17 in), 4 grooves, Ø lands = 9.00 mm, Ø grooves = 9.28 mm, land width = 4.60 mm and the primer type
is large rifle magnum.
According to the official with Commission Internationale Permanente pour l'Epreuve des Armes à Feu Portatives
(C.I.P.) guidelines the 9.3x64mm Brenneke case can handle up to 440 MPa (64,000 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 .375 Holland & Holland Magnum
cartridge is probably the closest ballistic twin of the 9.3x64mm Brenneke. When compared to the 9.3x64mm Brenneke the .375 Holland & Holland Magnum has a slightly larger calibre and it is a belted
cartridge
will help to reduce recoil induced problems. An advantage of the short stocky 9.3x64mm Brenneke is that it can be chambered in standard sized bolt-action rifles.
German big game
hunters often use 9.3x64mm Brenneke rifles in Africa for hunting plains game
and Big Five game
, where British or American hunters would choose the .375 Holland & Holland Magnum or similar cartridges. As a pure civil cartridge it can be used in countries which ban civil use of former or current military ammunition. The 9.3x64mm Brenneke has a good accuracy reputation i.e. it is not hard to develop or find loads that will shoot 1 MoA
(0.3 mrad
) or better out of decent standard mass produced rifles.
There are not many factory loads available. After WWII only the 19 gram (293 gr) TUG was produced by the Brenneke Company and later a 18.5 gram (285 gr) round nose and a 16 gram Torpedo Optimal Geschoss (TOG – Torpedeo Optimal projectile) bullet were added to the Brenneke factory load pallet. With these loads the 9.3x64mm Brenneke gained a good reputation amongst German hunters on their big game safaris.
The German ammunition manufacturer RWS also offers 2 factory loads. In America A-Square offers the 9.3x64mm Brenneke loaded with 18.5 gram (285 gr) lion load, 18.5 gram (285 gr) dead tough and 18.5 gram (285 gr) monolithic solid bullets.
Due to its good field reputation, efficiency and flexibility, the 9.3x64mm Brenneke is often used by reloaders
. They have used this cartridge extensively to create powerful loads by handloading
. Whilst staying within the 440 MPa C.I.P. limit a 9.3x64mm Brenneke rifle with a 610 mm (24 in) long barrel and appropriate modern gunpowder
can be handloaded to propel bullets ranging from 5.8–20.7 grams (90–320 gr) for all kinds of hunting.
Reloaders realized that bullets with different characteristics can be utilized to produce varying effects on game. They also realized that from 8 mm calibre upwards the rise of sectional density
and penetrating capability of practical spin stabilized rifle bullets (bullets up to 5 to 5.5 calibres in length) tends to flatten out .
This means that loaded with light, short and soft nosed 9.3 mm bullets the 9.3x64mm Brenneke can be used on remarkable small game. Loaded with heavy, long and hard (solid copper) bullets the 9.3x64mm Brenneke offers enough weight and speed derived power to penetrate heavy and dangerous game. The 9.3x64mm Brenneke is suitable for hunting any game animal on the planet, though certain sub-Saharan Africa
countries have a 9.53 mm (.375 in) minimum calibre rule for hunting Big Five game
—i.e. leopard
, lion
, cape buffalo, rhinoceros
and elephant
. In the growing number countries, where the 9.3x64mm Brenneke can be legally applied, it is used successfully for hunting elephant making it a flexible safari cartridge.
The 6.5x63mm Messner Magnum has 5.42 ml (83.5 grains) water cartridge case capacity.
6.5x63mm Messner Magnum maximum C.I.P. cartridge dimensions. All sizes in millimetres (mm).
Americans would define the shoulder angle at alpha/2 = 29 degrees. The common rifling
twist rate for this cartridge is 200 mm (1 in 7.87 in), 6 grooves, Ø lands = 6.45 mm, Ø grooves = 6.70 mm, land width = 3.50 mm and the primer type is large rifle magnum.
According to the official C.I.P. guidelines the 6.5x63mm Messner Magnum case can handle up to 440 MPa (64,000 psi) piezo pressure.
The idea behind the 6.5x63mm Messner Magnum was to develop a very powerful 6.5 mm long range hunting cartridge that achieves very high muzzle velocities out of relatively short 600 mm (23.6 in) long rifle barrels. The developer, Mr. Joseph Messner from France, chose the 9.3x64mm Brenneke as parent case, since it offers enough case capacity and a competent gunsmith can relatively easy rechamber a standard Mauser 98 or any other bolt action rifle to accept 9.3x64mm Brenneke based cartridges. Beside the 6.5x63mm Messner Magnum rimless rifle cartridge Mr. Messner also designed a rimmed version for break action rifles of the cartridge called the 6.5x63mm R Messner Magnum.
Due to the large case capacity in relation to the 6.5 mm (.264 inch) calibre bore size the 6.5 x 63 Messner Magnum is very harsh on barrels. It typically wears out a rifle barrel in 500 to 1000 rounds. A lot of thorough barrel cleaning (after every 5 shots) and carefully avoiding long strings of shots help to minimize barrel wear. This makes this cartridge unpractical for most competition shooters who tend to fire a lot of rounds in practice to acquire and maintain expert long-range marksmanship.
The German 6.5x68mm
cartridge introduced in 1939 and the American .264 Winchester Magnum
cartridge introduced in 1959 are probably the closest ballistic twins of the 6.5x63mm Messner Magnum.
. This is essentially a shortened 9.3x64mm Brenneke cartridge necked-up to 9.5 mm (.375 in) calibre developed as an evolution of Jeff Cooper's "Super Scout" medium rifle
concept, which was in turn an extension of his original scout rifle
concept. With a higher felt recoil
, the .376 Steyr is the largest practical cartridge for use in a short, lightweight weapon as the Steyr Scout
rifle.
(Commission Internationale Permanente Pour L'Epreuve Des Armes A Feu Portative) or its American equivalent, SAAMI
(Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers’ Institute) are generally known as wildcats
. By blowing out standard factory cases the wildcatter generally hopes to gain extra muzzle velocity by increasing the case capacity of the factory parent cartridge case by a few percent. Practically there can be some muzzle velocity gained by this method, but the measured results between parent cartridges and their 'improved' wildcat offspring is often marginal. Besides changing the shape and internal volume of the parent cartridge case, wildcatters also can change the original caliber. A reason to change the original caliber can be to comply with a minimal permitted caliber or bullet weight for the legal hunting of certain species of game.
Wildcats are not governed by C.I.P. or SAAMI rules so wildcatters can capitalize the achievable high operating pressures. Because the 9.3x64mm Brenneke offers a pressure resistant cartridge case that can relatively easily be reloaded with primers, powder and bullets and hence be reused several times it has become quite popular amongst wildcatters.
An example of a 9.3x64mm Brenneke based wildcat is the 8 mm Mázon. This is essentially a 8 mm (.323 in) necked-down version of the 9.3x64mm Brenneke.
An example of a 6.5x63mm Messner Magnum based wildcat is the 8.5 Messner Magnum. This is essentially a 8.5 mm (.338 in) necked-up version of the 6.5x63mm Messner Magnum.
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 for big game hunting. As is customary in European cartridges the 9.3 denotes the 9.3 mm bullet diameter and the 64 denotes the 64 mm case length. Using the bullet diameter is unusual in German cartridge designations. Normally the land diameter of the barrel is used for such designations. The 9.3x64mm Brenneke can easily be chambered in standard sized Mauser 98 bolt action rifles.
History
One of the most successful cartridge designs of 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 the 9.3x64mm Brenneke. He designed this cartridge de novo (the 9.3x64mm Brenneke has no other cartridge as parent case) and introduced it commercially in 1927. This big game cartridge is the most powerful cartridge he designed. The 9.3x64mm Brenneke was designed to have the largest possible case capacity without any shape or dimensional drawbacks that would hamper its chambering and perfect functioning in 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...
rifles that were then standard issue in the German military.
The widespread availability of standard size Mauser 98 rifles in central Europe and the fact that the .375 Holland & Holland Magnum cartridge and its necked down version the .300 Holland & Holland
.300 H&H Magnum
The .300 H&H Magnum Cartridge was introduced by the British company Holland & Holland as the Super-Thirty in June, 1925. The case was belted like the .375 H&H Magnum, and is based on the same case, as also is the .244 H&H Magnum. The belt is for headspace as the cases' shoulders have a narrow...
Magnum with approximately 72.4 mm case length were too long to fit in standard sized Mauser 98 bolt action rifles made the shorter 9.3x64mm Brenneke an interesting chambering option for European big game hunters.
Brenneke introduced the 9.3x64mm Brenneke with a 19.65 gram (303 gr) Torpedo Ideal Geschoss (TIG – Torpedo Ideal projectile) designed for big game and a 17 gram (262 gr) jacketed bullet with lead, bronze or a copper tip for smaller game. Later a special TIG with a bronze tip and a full metal jacket bullet where added for thick skinned dangerous game. After that Brenneke developed a 19 gram (293 gr) Torpedo Universal Geschoss (TUG – Torpedo Universal projectile) with a lead tip that is still produced.
The Russian military has recently (2009) developed the semi-armour piercing 9SN cartridge for the 9.3x64mm Brenneke SVDK
SVDK
SVDK is a Russian sniper rifle from the Dragunov sniper rifles family chambered for the 9.3x64mm Brenneke cartridge.The Dragunov SVDK large caliber sniper rifle is a somewhat controversial weapon, recently adopted by Russian army...
variant of the Dragunov sniper rifle. This cartridge has a 16.6 g (256 gr) pointed boat-tailed FMJ bullet with steel core and achieves a muzzle velocity of 770 m/s (2520 ft/s). The 9SN cartridge should be able to defeat body armor at ranges up to 600 meters (660 yd).
The 9.3x64mm Brenneke ballistic performance is on par with the .375 Holland & Holland Magnum
.375 H&H Magnum
The .375 Holland & Holland Magnum is a powerful rifle round and one of the best-known and most popular medium-bore cartridges in the world. The .375 H&H was only the second cartridge ever to feature a belt, now common among magnum rounds. A popular misconception is that the belt is for headspace,...
while being smaller and using less propellant, making it a more modern efficient design.
With the official certification of the 6.5 x 63 Messner Magnum this German 64 mm "family" of magnum rifle cartridges that all share the same basic cartridge case got expanded 71 years later.
The cartridges in this German 64 mm cartridge "family" are, in the order of development:
- 9.3x64mm Brenneke (1927)
- 6.5 x 63 Messner Magnum (2002)
Cartridge dimensions
The 9.3x64mm Brenneke has 5.71 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...
(88 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 rare feature of this German rimless bottlenecked centerfire cartridge design is that it has a slightly rebated rim (P1 - R1 = 0.28 mm). A sign of the era in which the 9.3x64mm Brenneke 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.
9.3x64mm Brenneke maximum C.I.P. cartridge dimensions. All sizes in millimetres (mm).
Americans would define the shoulder angle at alpha/2 ≈ 17.49 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 360 mm (1 in 14.17 in), 4 grooves, Ø lands = 9.00 mm, Ø grooves = 9.28 mm, land width = 4.60 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 magnum.
According to the official with 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....
(C.I.P.) guidelines the 9.3x64mm Brenneke case can handle up to 440 MPa (64,000 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 .375 Holland & Holland Magnum
.375 H&H Magnum
The .375 Holland & Holland Magnum is a powerful rifle round and one of the best-known and most popular medium-bore cartridges in the world. The .375 H&H was only the second cartridge ever to feature a belt, now common among magnum rounds. A popular misconception is that the belt is for headspace,...
cartridge is probably the closest ballistic twin of the 9.3x64mm Brenneke. When compared to the 9.3x64mm Brenneke the .375 Holland & Holland Magnum has a slightly larger calibre and it is a belted
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...
cartridge
The 9.3x64mm Brenneke in field use
A powerful cartridge like the 9.3x64mm Brenneke has its drawbacks. Like every other big game cartridge it presents a stout recoil. An appropriate fitting stock and an effective muzzle brakeMuzzle brake
Muzzle brakes and recoil compensators are devices that are fitted to the muzzle of a firearm or cannon to redirect propellant gases with the effect of countering both recoil of the gun and unwanted rising of the barrel during rapid fire...
will help to reduce recoil induced problems. An advantage of the short stocky 9.3x64mm Brenneke is that it can be chambered in standard sized bolt-action rifles.
German big game
Big game hunting
Big game hunting is the hunting of large game. The term is historically associated with the hunting of Africa's Big Five game , and with tigers and rhinos on the Indian subcontinent. In North America, animals such as bears and bison were hunted...
hunters often use 9.3x64mm Brenneke rifles in Africa for hunting plains game
Plains game
Plains game is well established in literature and conversation as the sporting hunter's generic term for all those fair-game species of antelope and gazelle which are to be found - typically in rather open plains or savanna habitats - throughout sub-Saharan Africa...
and Big Five game
Big Five game
The phrase Big Five game was coined by white hunters and refers to the five most difficult animals in Africa to hunt on foot. The term is still used in most tourist and wildlife guides that discuss African wildlife safaris. The collection consists of the lion, African elephant, cape buffalo,...
, where British or American hunters would choose the .375 Holland & Holland Magnum or similar cartridges. As a pure civil cartridge it can be used in countries which ban civil use of former or current military ammunition. The 9.3x64mm Brenneke has a good accuracy reputation i.e. it is not hard to develop or find loads that will shoot 1 MoA
Minute of arc
A minute of arc, arcminute, or minute of angle , is a unit of angular measurement equal to one sixtieth of one degree. In turn, a second of arc or arcsecond is one sixtieth of one minute of arc....
(0.3 mrad
Radian
Radian is the ratio between the length of an arc and its radius. The radian is the standard unit of angular measure, used in many areas of mathematics. The unit was formerly a SI supplementary unit, but this category was abolished in 1995 and the radian is now considered a SI derived unit...
) or better out of decent standard mass produced rifles.
There are not many factory loads available. After WWII only the 19 gram (293 gr) TUG was produced by the Brenneke Company and later a 18.5 gram (285 gr) round nose and a 16 gram Torpedo Optimal Geschoss (TOG – Torpedeo Optimal projectile) bullet were added to the Brenneke factory load pallet. With these loads the 9.3x64mm Brenneke gained a good reputation amongst German hunters on their big game safaris.
The German ammunition manufacturer RWS also offers 2 factory loads. In America A-Square offers the 9.3x64mm Brenneke loaded with 18.5 gram (285 gr) lion load, 18.5 gram (285 gr) dead tough and 18.5 gram (285 gr) monolithic solid bullets.
Due to its good field reputation, efficiency and flexibility, the 9.3x64mm Brenneke is often used by reloaders
Handloading
Handloading or reloading is the process of loading firearm cartridges or shotgun shells by assembling the individual components , rather than purchasing completely assembled, factory-loaded cartridges...
. They have used this cartridge extensively to create powerful loads by handloading
Handloading
Handloading or reloading is the process of loading firearm cartridges or shotgun shells by assembling the individual components , rather than purchasing completely assembled, factory-loaded cartridges...
. Whilst staying within the 440 MPa C.I.P. limit a 9.3x64mm Brenneke rifle with a 610 mm (24 in) long barrel and appropriate modern gunpowder
Gunpowder
Gunpowder, also known since in the late 19th century as black powder, was the first chemical explosive and the only one known until the mid 1800s. It is a mixture of sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate - with the sulfur and charcoal acting as fuels, while the saltpeter works as an oxidizer...
can be handloaded to propel bullets ranging from 5.8–20.7 grams (90–320 gr) for all kinds of hunting.
Reloaders realized that bullets with different characteristics can be utilized to produce varying effects on game. They also realized that from 8 mm calibre upwards the rise of 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...
and penetrating capability of practical spin stabilized rifle bullets (bullets up to 5 to 5.5 calibres in length) tends to flatten out .
This means that loaded with light, short and soft nosed 9.3 mm bullets the 9.3x64mm Brenneke can be used on remarkable small game. Loaded with heavy, long and hard (solid copper) bullets the 9.3x64mm Brenneke offers enough weight and speed derived power to penetrate heavy and dangerous game. The 9.3x64mm Brenneke is suitable for hunting any game animal on the planet, though certain sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa as a geographical term refers to the area of the African continent which lies south of the Sahara. A political definition of Sub-Saharan Africa, instead, covers all African countries which are fully or partially located south of the Sahara...
countries have a 9.53 mm (.375 in) minimum calibre rule for hunting Big Five game
Big Five game
The phrase Big Five game was coined by white hunters and refers to the five most difficult animals in Africa to hunt on foot. The term is still used in most tourist and wildlife guides that discuss African wildlife safaris. The collection consists of the lion, African elephant, cape buffalo,...
—i.e. leopard
Leopard
The leopard , Panthera pardus, is a member of the Felidae family and the smallest of the four "big cats" in the genus Panthera, the other three being the tiger, lion, and jaguar. The leopard was once distributed across eastern and southern Asia and Africa, from Siberia to South Africa, but its...
, lion
Lion
The lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...
, cape buffalo, rhinoceros
Rhinoceros
Rhinoceros , also known as rhino, is a group of five extant species of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. Two of these species are native to Africa and three to southern Asia....
and elephant
Elephant
Elephants are large land mammals in two extant genera of the family Elephantidae: Elephas and Loxodonta, with the third genus Mammuthus extinct...
. In the growing number countries, where the 9.3x64mm Brenneke can be legally applied, it is used successfully for hunting elephant making it a flexible safari cartridge.
The 6.5x63mm Messner Magnum
The 9.3x64mm Brenneke case has functioned as the parent case for the 6.5x63mm Messner Magnum, which is essentially a 6.5 mm (.264 in) necked-down version of the 9.3x64mm Brenneke. The wildcat status of the 6.5x63mm Messner Magnum ended in 2002 when it got C.I.P. certified and became an officially registered and sanctioned member of the German 64 mm "family" of magnum rifle cartridges.The 6.5x63mm Messner Magnum has 5.42 ml (83.5 grains) water cartridge case capacity.
6.5x63mm Messner Magnum maximum C.I.P. cartridge dimensions. All sizes in millimetres (mm).
Americans would define the shoulder angle at alpha/2 = 29 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 200 mm (1 in 7.87 in), 6 grooves, Ø lands = 6.45 mm, Ø grooves = 6.70 mm, land width = 3.50 mm and the primer type is large rifle magnum.
According to the official C.I.P. guidelines the 6.5x63mm Messner Magnum case can handle up to 440 MPa (64,000 psi) piezo pressure.
The idea behind the 6.5x63mm Messner Magnum was to develop a very powerful 6.5 mm long range hunting cartridge that achieves very high muzzle velocities out of relatively short 600 mm (23.6 in) long rifle barrels. The developer, Mr. Joseph Messner from France, chose the 9.3x64mm Brenneke as parent case, since it offers enough case capacity and a competent gunsmith can relatively easy rechamber a standard Mauser 98 or any other bolt action rifle to accept 9.3x64mm Brenneke based cartridges. Beside the 6.5x63mm Messner Magnum rimless rifle cartridge Mr. Messner also designed a rimmed version for break action rifles of the cartridge called the 6.5x63mm R Messner Magnum.
Due to the large case capacity in relation to the 6.5 mm (.264 inch) calibre bore size the 6.5 x 63 Messner Magnum is very harsh on barrels. It typically wears out a rifle barrel in 500 to 1000 rounds. A lot of thorough barrel cleaning (after every 5 shots) and carefully avoiding long strings of shots help to minimize barrel wear. This makes this cartridge unpractical for most competition shooters who tend to fire a lot of rounds in practice to acquire and maintain expert long-range marksmanship.
The German 6.5x68mm
6.5x68mm
The 6.5x68mm rimless bottlenecked rifle cartridge and its sister cartridge the 8x68mm S were developed in the 1930s by Mr...
cartridge introduced in 1939 and the American .264 Winchester Magnum
.264 Winchester Magnum
The .264 Winchester Magnum is a belted, bottlenecked rifle cartridge. Apart from the .257 Weatherby Magnum, it is the smallest caliber factory cartridge which uses the standard length Holland & Holland belted magnum case...
cartridge introduced in 1959 are probably the closest ballistic twins of the 6.5x63mm Messner Magnum.
.376 Steyr
Another commercial cartridge that uses the 9.3x64mm Brenneke as parent cartridge is the .376 Steyr.376 Steyr
The .376 Steyr cartridge is a rifle cartridge jointly developed by Hornady and Steyr for use in the Steyr Scout rifle.Introduced in 1999, it is based on the 9.3 x 64 Brenneke case, necked up to accept a diameter bullet...
. This is essentially a shortened 9.3x64mm Brenneke cartridge necked-up to 9.5 mm (.375 in) calibre developed as an evolution of Jeff Cooper's "Super Scout" medium rifle
Scout rifle
The Scout Rifle is a class of general-purpose rifles defined and promoted by Jeff Cooper in the early 1980s.These bolt action carbines are typically .308 caliber , less than 1 meter in length, and less than 3 kilograms in weight, with iron and optical sights and fitted with practical slings for...
concept, which was in turn an extension of his original scout rifle
Scout rifle
The Scout Rifle is a class of general-purpose rifles defined and promoted by Jeff Cooper in the early 1980s.These bolt action carbines are typically .308 caliber , less than 1 meter in length, and less than 3 kilograms in weight, with iron and optical sights and fitted with practical slings for...
concept. With a higher felt recoil
Recoil
Recoil is the backward momentum of a gun when it is discharged. In technical terms, the recoil caused by the gun exactly balances the forward momentum of the projectile and exhaust gasses, according to Newton's third law...
, the .376 Steyr is the largest practical cartridge for use in a short, lightweight weapon as the Steyr Scout
Steyr Scout
The Scout is a modern scoped bolt-action rifle manufactured by Steyr Mannlicher and chambered primarily for 7.62 NATO , although other chamberings are offered commercially. It is intended to fill the role of a versatile, lightweight all-around rifle as specified in Jeff Cooper's scout rifle concept...
rifle.
Wildcats
Cartridges that are not officially registered with nor sanctioned by C.I.P.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....
(Commission Internationale Permanente Pour L'Epreuve Des Armes A Feu Portative) or its American equivalent, SAAMI
Saami
Saami or SAAMI can stand for:*Sami people*Sami languages*Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers' Institute...
(Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers’ Institute) are generally known as wildcats
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...
. By blowing out standard factory cases the wildcatter generally hopes to gain extra muzzle velocity by increasing the case capacity of the factory parent cartridge case by a few percent. Practically there can be some muzzle velocity gained by this method, but the measured results between parent cartridges and their 'improved' wildcat offspring is often marginal. Besides changing the shape and internal volume of the parent cartridge case, wildcatters also can change the original caliber. A reason to change the original caliber can be to comply with a minimal permitted caliber or bullet weight for the legal hunting of certain species of game.
Wildcats are not governed by C.I.P. or SAAMI rules so wildcatters can capitalize the achievable high operating pressures. Because the 9.3x64mm Brenneke offers a pressure resistant cartridge case that can relatively easily be reloaded with primers, powder and bullets and hence be reused several times it has become quite popular amongst wildcatters.
An example of a 9.3x64mm Brenneke based wildcat is the 8 mm Mázon. This is essentially a 8 mm (.323 in) necked-down version of the 9.3x64mm Brenneke.
An example of a 6.5x63mm Messner Magnum based wildcat is the 8.5 Messner Magnum. This is essentially a 8.5 mm (.338 in) necked-up version of the 6.5x63mm Messner Magnum.
See also
- 9.3x62mm
- 9.3x74mmR9.3x74mmR9.3x74R is a European medium bore cartridge invented in Germany around 1900, and designed to be used in non-bolt action rifles, particularly double or single shot.-Design:...
- List of rifle cartridges
- 9 mm caliber9 mm caliberThis article lists firearm cartridges which have a bullet in the caliber range. The most prevalent of these rounds is the 9x19mm Parabellum.*Length refers to the cartridge case length.*OAL refers to the overall length of the cartridge....
- 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...
- 8x64mm S8x64mm SThe 8x64mm S is a rimless bottlenecked centerfire cartridge developed as a military service round for the German Army who never issued it...
External links
- Homepage of the Brenneke Company
- Lutz Möller's webpage on the 9.3 x 64 Brenneke (including images)
- Lutz Möller's webpage on the 6.5 x 63 Messner Magnum (including images)
- Website of Mr. Joseph Messner
- Lutz Möller's webpage on the 8 mm Mazón (including images)
- 9.3x64mm Brenneke reloading info at Reloader's Nest
- A Most Marvelous Metric - The 9.3mm holds the light heavyweight crown among European bore sizes and should be more popular stateside than it is. - by Craig Boddington