9.3x64 Brenneke on safari...

[bwanamrm]

Does anyone have any experience with it? I used a 9.3x62 in Benin as my primary rifle and had no issues on game up to and including Western Savanna buffalo. I leave for Tanzania late September to hunt the Moyowosi for buff, hippo, croc and assorted plains game. Thinking I will just take one rifle and toying with my Lon Paul 9.3x64 shooting 286 grain Barnes TSX. Has anyone used this caliber and load? Thanks...

 

[Antho9364]

I haven't used it on big African game yet.
But it's an excellent caliber, and I'm sure you'll have excellent results with it.
The 286g Barnes TSX should work well.
For large animals, I would have preferred the 320g, but it's true that you lose versatility.
Have a good safari!

 

[shootist~]

A European hunter in our camp killed a big cape buffalo with a 9.3x64 and 300 grain A-Frame reloads. Broke his bull's shoulder on the inital shot and needed one follow up shot, IIRC.

It worked better than my 9.3x62 with the same bullet.

I think the 286 gr Barnes would be an excellent choice.

 

[Hunter-Habib]

My dad used a Voere Model 2165 chambered in 9.3x64mm Brenneke (belonging to our white hunter) on one Safari, along with the 293Gr Brenneke TUG soft point cartridge. He shot his life’s only lion (so far) with it, along with an eland & a score of other plains game. He was most impressed with the caliber. I had the good fortune to fire that rifle in camp, albeit not at African game. It’s a very solid performing caliber.

I’ve hunted European red stag & wild boar with the 9.3x64mm Brenneke (a Steyr Mannlicher Model S) and always found it to be excellent for European game.

I’ve always considered this to be a very criminally underrated caliber which deserves far more widespread use. But simply a victim of very unfortunate circumstances (what with Germany losing World War II, most African countries declaring .375 bore to be the legally minimal caliber usable on dangerous game and all).

 

[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

I would used Swift ,Rhino , NF also as a option for Barnes and Woodleigh . Rhino make a 320 grain that would be hard to beat as heaviest .
But 286-300 of them would be Exellent also

 

[Lance Hopper]

I am going to have a different opinion about this than most others. Haven’t shot Game in Africa with this caliber yet, but I have loaded Cutting Edge Raptors, and solids for a friend of mine who has taken four Buffalo and an elephant with it. I would suggest going a little lighter for the caliber and juicing the speed up a little bit. Devastating Performing bullet.

 

[sgt_zim]

Unless you're rolling your own ammo, the juice ain't worth the squeeze.

John McAdams of Big Game Hunting Blog did a SxS with factory x62 v x64. The factory ammo for the x64 was around 2425 or 2450 as I recall.

Even at 2600 fps, all that really gets you is more recoil and a bit more range for PG.

Kevin Robertson mentioned in one of his 5 or 6 appearances on John's podcast that 2400 fps is about the ideal MV for both 9.3x62 286 gr as well as 300 gr 375 H&H for buffalo.

More is more, and better is better. More ain't necessarily better.

 

[Hunter-Habib]

Unless you're rolling your own ammo, the juice ain't worth the squeeze.

John McAdams of Big Game Hunting Blog did a SxS with factory x62 v x64. The factory ammo for the x64 was around 2425 or 2450 as I recall.

Even at 2600 fps, all that really gets you is more recoil and a bit more range for PG.

Kevin Robertson mentioned in one of his 5 or 6 appearances on John's podcast that 2400 fps is about the ideal MV for both 9.3x62 286 gr as well as 300 gr 375 H&H for buffalo.

More is more, and better is better. More ain't necessarily better.

That would explain why Federal Premium now loads their .375 Holland & Holland Magnum factory loads to 2450 FPS (Swift A Frames) and 2400 FPS (Trophy Bonded Bear Claws).

 

[sgt_zim]

That would explain why Federal Premium now loads their .375 Holland & Holland Magnum factory loads to 2450 FPS (Swift A Frames) and 2400 FPS (Trophy Bonded Bear Claws).

Possibly. Don't know if Doktari is consulting for Federal or not or if they listen to/watch John's podcast.

In another episode, John did a SxS (factory ammo, seems like it was TSX or AF, can't remember now, but definitely an apples-to-apples on the bullets) with 300 gr 375 at about 2475, and for 9.3x62 286 gr at about 2350.

In that gel test, the 9.3 out-penetrated the 375 by 3 or 4 inches, though the permanent wound cavity was slightly bigger for the 375. I mentioned this in another thread - I certainly don't believe 9.3 is a better DG cartridge than 375, but whatever advantages 375 have, they're pretty small.

Just spit-balling here - higher impact velocity probably causes softs to open faster and wider, and we want that magical sweet spot between expansion and penetration. Can't interpolate a lot from a single gel test, but John's results line up with my understanding of terminal ballistics.

 

[V.Veritas]

I think that 9.3x64 is surpassing the 62 performance with 300gr and 320gr loads.
A 320gr at the correct velocity for the bullet design is double in 64 and not so much in 62.
With 286gr the advantage is somehow limited.

 

[sgt_zim]

I think that 9.3x64 is surpassing the 62 performance with 300gr and 320gr loads.
A 320gr at the correct velocity for the bullet design is double in 64 and not so much in 62.
With 286gr the advantage is somehow limited.

On paper, certainly. IRL? Meh, not so much. Would you rather put a 286 gr A Frame at 2400 fps in a buffalo, or a 320 gr Woodleigh at 2200 into a buffalo? I think at the end of the day, they're both going to do the exact same thing.

I like the odds of a hunter who's confident in his loads and rifle. That could be me with my 286 gr A Frames, or you with 320 gr Woodleighs. I think we both end up getting what we're after.,