The Hidden Gems of European Rifle Cartridges

Thanks to our Second Amendment, the good old USA has the world’s largest shooting public. Which translates to the world’s greatest availability and selection of firearms, cartridges, and ammo. Smokeless powder was developed in the 1880s. Initially, we were slow on the uptake, several years behind the European powers. America’s first smokeless powder cartridge was 1892’s .30-40 Krag, suspiciously similar to the .303 British, adopted in 1888.

The .30-30, our first smokeless sporting cartridge, didn’t come along until 1895. By then, early smokeless military cartridges were already making their bones in the world’s game fields. America’s firearms industry caught up. Almost worldwide, today’s most popular sporting cartridges are usually American in origin. In any hunting camp in the world, even if no Americans are present, you’re likely to encounter .243, .270, .30-06, 7mm Remington Magnum, .300 Winchester Magnum. Still, there are excellent European hunting cartridges. Some we know about. Others are almost unheard of but still good and useful.

European cartridge nomenclature is straightforward: Nominal bullet diameter, followed by case length, both in millimeters. An “R” following the numbers means a rimmed case, intended for single-shots and double rifles. Both are popular in Europe; over/under doubles are often preferred for their traditional driven hunts. A primary exception is 8mm cartridges. In 1888, the 8x57 Mauser started with a .318-inch bullet, designated “J.” In 1905, Germany switched to a .323-inch bullet, designated “S.” So 8x75RS means .323-inch bullet, 75mm rimmed case, intended for the later bullet diameter. Wonderfully straightforward.

Dormant or Obsolete?

Altogether, there were a lot of European cartridges. Between the ravages of two world wars, older sporting rifles disappeared and many cartridges became obsolete. The most likely metrics to be encountered today are 6.5mm, 7mm, 8mm, and 9.3mm, a relatively small selection of cartridges in each.

Europeans are often limited in the number of firearms they can own. Thus, European hunters lean toward versatility, depending on what game they pursue. They also embrace switch-barrel designs more than we do because extra barrels in different cartridges often don’t count against the permit.

It’s usually not difficult to take rifles to Europe for hunting. Often, I don’t. More limited in firearms ownership, Europeans tend to buy extra-good rifles. And, since there are no “legal shooting hours” in most of Europe, they also tend to invest in extra-good scopes. So, if I’m not taking a rifle, I don’t worry too much about what I’ll be borrowing. It will be suitable, and it will be well-scoped.

6.5mm

I was hunting roebuck in Hungary in the spring of ’25. Outfitter Laszlo Albert had a Blaser R8 with a good Zeiss scope for me to use. I was surprised that the barrel was in 6.5 Creedmoor. In Europe the old 6.5x55 is more popular and available. The two are ballistically identical, and many Europeans simply don’t buy our staunch belief that the 6.5 Creedmoor is consistently more accurate. Over there, the 6.5x55 is a standard for long-range target shooting, and I’ve seen exceptional accuracy from new European 6.5x55 rifles.

I’ve seen many 6.5x55s in European hunting camps, including moose camps in Finland and Sweden. For heavier game, European hunters tend to use the original 156 or 160-grain round-nose bullets. Shots must be close, but I’ve seen several European moose taken cleanly with these long, heavy, deep-penetrating 6.5mm bullets.

There are also faster 6.5mms. The .264 Winchester Magnum, long dead over here, still has a following, especially in Spain. Ballistically much the same as the .264 (and 6.5 PRC), the 6.5x68 RWS remains common. Loaded with a 123-grain bullet at a screaming 3450 fps and a 140-grain bullet at 2920, it’s powerful enough for red deer and is near-perfect for chamois. The 6.5x68 and 8x68S were both introduced by RWS just before WWII. Both use the same fat, unbelted case, almost modern except for the long, tapered neck.

I don’t have a 6.5x68 cartridge in my collection, sorry, but I have hunted with it. On my first trip to Macedonia in 2007, my friend Saso Ivanov loaned me his Sauer switch-barrel with a 6.5x68S barrel in place. I caught a big Balkan chamois chasing a ewe a long way out. When he stopped, the fast 6.5mm did what fast 6.5mms do.

7mm

Overall, my sense is that 7mm is the most prevalent bullet diameter. European moose are smaller than our moose and their red deer are smaller than elk. For so much European game, the versatile 7mm makes sense and many 7mm cartridges are used. In Spain, I borrowed a Blaser in 7mm Rem Mag for ibex. Twice, I’ve borrowed single-shot Austrian rifles in 7mm STW, once for chamois, another time for roebuck.

More often, I’ve seen home-grown 7mms. The effective, mild-recoiling 7x57 retains a major following in Europe. On several hunts in England, I’ve been loaned 7x57s, sometimes roll-marked .275 Rigby. On a roebuck hunt in Germany, I was handed a gorgeous Krieghoff single-shot in 7x57R. Yes, there is a rimmed version of 7x57. Never loaded in the US, the 7x57R is readily available in Europe.

Europeans also appreciate faster 7mms, embracing them long before we did. Wilhelm Brenneke introduced his 7x64 Brenneke clear back in 1917. It is visually and ballistically almost identical to, but not interchangeable with, 1957’s .280 Remington. Occasionally loaded in the US, the 7x64 remains common in Europe. In 2024, Richard Saloom brought a Steyr 7x64 to our Kansas deer camp, took a nice buck. In early ’26, I took a fine red stag in Bulgaria with a 7x64 barrel on a Blaser R8, 175-grain bullet loaded to almost 2700 fps. The 7x65R is the rimmed version (don’t ask me why the one-millimeter difference), also a century-old Brenneke cartridge. In Germany, hunting partner “Sparky” Sparks used a Krieghoff over/under in 7x65R to take a fine roebuck. Several fast European 7mms are obsolete, but both the 7x64 and 7x65R are widely chambered and loaded.

8mm

Although both .308 Winchester and .30-06 are popular, domestic European cartridges didn’t adopt the British and American .30-calibers. Instead, they clung to the 8mm. The “J” diameter (.318) died away, but the “S” .323-inch bullet remains strong. The 8x57S remains popular and there is an 8x57RS, the rimmed version still loaded. 8mm fans maintain the larger frontal area hits harder than a .30-caliber. Unquestionably, 8mms hit harder than 6.5mms or 7mms.

This is important because, across continental Europe, the wild boar is the most prolific, widespread, and available game, often hunted in the driven hunt, most shots at moving animals. If a little is good, then a lot may be better. The 8x68S is still chambered and loaded in Europe. Similar in power to the 8mm Remington Magnum, it’s quoted to propel a 196-grain bullet at 2985 fps, nearly 4000 ft-lbs of energy. I’ve seen Europeans hunters using it, both on driven hunts in Europe and on African game.

Other 8mm cartridges have faded away, and there are oddities out there. I have an 8x75RS cartridge, develop by Wilhelm Brenneke around 1910. Based on the 9.3x74R case necked down, it was loaded to higher pressure and was red-hot for its day. Like many long-gone metrics, I doubt I’ll ever see a rifle so chambered.

9.3mm

There were several 9mm rifle cartridges, firing heavy bullets at moderate velocity. Also, numerous 9.3mm cartridges, .366-inch bullets. The 9mms faded away, but the 9.3mms persisted. They are the European answer to the .375. The 9.3x62 Mauser is usually the legal minimum for dangerous game in most African jurisdictions…even though we generally say “.375” is the minimum. A rimless cartridge with case dimensions suspiciously like the .30-06, the 9.3x62 was developed by Berlin gunmaker Otto Bock in 1905, quickly adopted by Mauser. The 9.3x62 was designed to offer, in bolt-actions, the same level of power that the 9.3x74R produced in single-shots and doubles.

The 9.3x74R is a long, tapered, pre-1900 cartridge of uncertain origin. It and the 9.3x62 are the most popular 9.3mm cartridges, both propelling heavy-for-caliber 286-grain bullets at 2360 fps, something over 3500 ft-lbs of energy. This level of power is not essential for most European game, but they remain popular for hunting moose, bear, and boar. Both are slightly less powerful than the .375 H&H. With a fatter case and higher velocity, the 9.3x64 Brenneke, another of Wilhelm Brenneke’s cartridges, is every bit the equal of the .375 H&H. So is the relatively new 9.3x66 (in the US, .370 Sako Magnum).

The 9.3x64 is uncommon and the .370 Sako hasn’t caught on, but the old 9.3x62 is common over there and has a growing following in the US. Because it can be housed in a trimmer action, thus less expensive platform, the 9.3x74R has likely been chambered to more double rifles than any other cartridge. I have both a Montana Rifles 9.3x62, and a Sabatti double in 9.3x74R. I’ve seen both cartridges throughout Europe, and I’ve hunted with both in North America and Africa. Mild-kicking and effective, they are unquestionably adequate for buffalo…just be careful with shot placement.

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