i have one in route (steyr) and a few boxs of the S&B 173 gr. soft points.
what the general thought about this caliber?
favorite bullet weights?
is the 173 to much for SE whitetail?
i understand its basicly a 7mm express aka 7mm-06, aka 280 remington.
i see most 280 factory loadings in 140 grain but i have plans to use this rifle at extended distances from my normal shooting haunts.
so if velocity is dropping off at 250-350 yards is the additional mass going to help in putting down the game.
I am not really concerned with flat trajectory. the factory 173 has a BC of .460 and a MV of 2500 +/- so im looking at a 200 yard zero and only 10" at 300. thats more than flat enough for me.
when the factory fodder is gone is the 156 a better chioce to reload for deer?

For longer range on deer with that caliber, give some consideration to a Swift Scirocco II.

IIRC, those weigh 150 grains.

the only experience i have had with the Scirocco was with a 7stw and they literally exploded.
in fact i havent seen such devestation with any other caliber and bullet like that.
his tounge was even bloodshot.

The 7x64 has a longer neck and is throated deeper than a 280 Rem it handles bullets hevier than 150 better than the 280.

I like a 280 but prefer the 7x64.

Have fun and enjoy your metric.

quote:

Originally posted by KSTEPHENS:
i have one in route (steyr) and a few boxs of the S&B 173 gr. soft points.
what the general thought about this caliber?
favorite bullet weights?
is the 173 to much for SE whitetail?
i understand its basicly a 7mm express aka 7mm-06, aka 280 remington.
i see most 280 factory loadings in 140 grain but i have plans to use this rifle at extended distances from my normal shooting haunts.
so if velocity is dropping off at 250-350 yards is the additional mass going to help in putting down the game.
I am not really concerned with flat trajectory. the factory 173 has a BC of .460 and a MV of 2500 +/- so im looking at a 200 yard zero and only 10" at 300. thats more than flat enough for me.
when the factory fodder is gone is the 156 a better chioce to reload for deer?

This cartridge is an excellent one, and is very good for long-range uses. Any well-shaped 175-grain bullet such as the Sierra PSPBT will provide excellent down-range performance. I don't know the ballistic properties of your 173-grain bullet, but it should be good for such uses. The 140-grain can be launched faster, but of course sheds velocity faster as well. However, for deer shooting, I would consider the 140-grain bullet at +- 3000 FPS from that cartridge to be quite powerful enough at all ranges out to 500 yards....

I'd be willing to bet that the 173-grain bullet will damage LESS MEAT than a 140 loaded to that cartridge's potential. (I use a reduced load with the 175-grain bullet in my 7mm Rem Mag. for deer for that reason.)

I agree with the hevier bullets damaging less meat a lot of the lighter bullets were designed for the lower velocities of the 7-08 and the 7x57 in mind and the extra fps of the 7x64 and the 280 they tend to overexpand and be a little messy.

I have had great success with 140 and 150 grain NBTs. Lou

I used a Steyr in 7x64mm as my light rifle on my first Safari (2004), and it performed perfectly. That rifle has exhibited such a preference for the 173 grain S&B and the 173 grain RWS H-mantle that I quit working it and have never reloaded. The S&B ammo is inexpensive, and if it works for you, why go thru the reloading workup (unless you are a really determined handloader of course). I am playing with a .280 Remington right now, but I suspect that I will go back to the 7x64mm, as it just seems more efficient.

If I were to go to handloading the 7x64, I think I'd try the RWS H-Mantle (IF I can find them) and the 160 grain Nosler Accubond.

LLS

I've only tried the S&B so far but they shoot pretty good.

rich

I use 162grn RWS TIG bullets which are great for medium size game.
For larger game the 177grn TIG or 175grn A Frames are great.
This Boar fell to a TIG Bullet from my 7x64.

Great caliber. The only problem with it is, that the chambers have a very long throat. Therefore they usualy perform better with longer stubby bullets than with streamlined light bullets.

quote:

Originally posted by ozhunter:
I use 162grn RWS TIG bullets which are great for medium size game.
For larger game the 177grn TIG or 175grn A Frames are great.
This Boar fell to a TIG Bullet from my 7x64.

Nice boar!!

how is the tig compared to the T and H mantle bullets.
i have seen two deer shot w/ RWS loaded ammo were the bullets didnt exit.
and the deer were both less than 150# and both shots werestanding broadside.
i would like to try the Brenekee loaded ammo that uses the TIG and TOG bullets but i dont know of a domestic source.
nice pig.

The TIG is a bit softer than the H-Mantle and TUG but all work in the same fashion where the front blows up creating shrapnel for extensive damage leaving the rear end of the bullet (approx 50%) with metal shards to continue on and with the lighter TIGs, stopping under the far side skin.
The TUG and H-mantel often pass through.

Also check this thread: mantels

Interesting thread, mouse93, thanks. Now I know why I cannot find more H-Mantles for my 6.5x54mm. I'll really have to ration the H-Mantles I have left, cause they (156 grain 6.5mm) are the absolute best I have discovered for the old Mannlicher cartridge. In my experience, the H-Mantle has always blown thru on Whitetail, Fallow, and Axis deer.

Guess I need to locate some more TIGs.

LLS

I love my 280 & it runs quite nicely on 160gr bullets for anything. I use 160grNPs for elk & 160gr Speer for deer. The 145gr bullets are great for smaller deer & antelope.

quote:

the only experience i have had with the Scirocco was with a 7stw and they literally exploded.

They will behave much better at the 200 - 300 fps less velocity

I have a Steyr Model M Professinal Hunters Rifle in 7x64, and it seems to perfer 160 gr or 162 gr bullets, shoots much better thank I can, excellent cartridge, seems most people in the USA don't seem to notice older European cartridges that do as much or more than some of the "new" super mags, or some American designs such as Newton line of cartridges, but to each their own.

Amen, charcoal burner! We must have twin rifles, another Steyr M Professional here.

LLS

I think you will enjoy your 7x64 very much. I wouldn't worry about it the way I would many of the European sporters from smaller shops, because the Steyr will be meticulously made to established continent-wide specs.

On the other hand, if it was made by one of the smaller shops, I would have some concerns. I had a very fine appearing Peterlongo 7x64, beautifully stocked, tang safety, and claw-mounted Zeiss. Unfortunately, something was amiss with the chamber dimensions. Even with standard DWM or RWS ammo, it would often almost take the use of a club to open the bolt handle and remove a fired case.

I am not damning the 7 x64 itself, I guess, but really only saying to everyone, if buying a rifle from a smaller European shop, be very careful to proceed with caution.

It is my opinion after buying a lot of rifles in Europe for about 40 years, that the small shops there seem to have had much less knowledge of, or cares concerning, uniform cartridge & chamber specs and resulting overall rifle performance than do similar-sized North American shops.

YMMV...in fact, I hope it does.

/

Why so soon?
7x64ForSale

found a 338 federal steyr i have got to have.

I have a CZ in 7x64, it prefers 160/162 gr bullets. great deer rifle. - dan

quote:

Originally posted by ALF:
From whence the notion that smaller shops make the 7x64 in any dimension other than the CIP spec ? It is offered by all of the Euro gunmakers and this is the first time I have ever heard of Euro 7x64's as a rule not chambering rounds because they are "off spec"

Something to consider about the 7x64 is that the CIP spec for the bore and groove diameter differs from the American SAAMI 284 or 7mm spec in that the bore is in fact larger and Euro CIP spec bullets are also larger in diamter than SAAMI spec bullets. The bore ("zug" ) is 6.98mm with groove to groove ("feld" )of 7.24mm

Well, it comes from my experiences buying and importing for my own shooting and for sale quite a number of European rifles in the late 60's and early 70's...and the various problems I had with them.

I also did not mean for the post to refer only to the 7x64, but to European custom rifles from small shops in general. (Another example being the varieties of bore sizes in the 10.75x73.)
\
And, of course, Musgraves were NOT made in Europe generally unless the Republic of South Africa has moved considerably from where I last thought it to be.

Anyway, with older European custom sporters from small shops in particular, it often makes one feel as if there was little or no communication of standards across the industry as a whole...at least up to and through the 1960's, to the mid-1970s.

NOWADAYS they may all be made to CIP standards, but let me assure you that with the ones I received that was not always the case (please pardon pun). As some may recall from one of my earlier posts in another thread, I once bought a pair of Holland & Holland-built magazine rifles in .275 H&H, one of which was a splendid rifle, the other of which blew primers with every shot, using the same factory (Kynoch) ammo in both. So it wasn't just the tiny manufacturers who turned out non-standard chambers.

As for the European CIP dimensions being different from American 7 m/m specs for bore diameter, that does not come into play here. As I said above, I was shooting European factory-loaded DWM & RWS ammo in that Peterlongo 7x64, not american ammo or handloads.

As I thought I made clear, I was offering no criticism of the 7x64 as a cartridge. I very much LIKE the cartridge. I WAS suggesting that folks take care when buying rifles made by small, relatively unkown European makers. They sometimes were/are relatively unknown for more than one reason.