The big-game shotgun slug was invented by Wilhelm Brenneke in 1898. It still comes out of the same house, now in Langenhagen.
Image: Brenneke Ammunition GmbH
- Founded 1 April 1895, Leipzig
- Factory Langenhagen, Germany
- Founder Wilhelm Brenneke (1865-1951)
- What we carry Shotgun slugs · centrefire · bullets
- Categories Ammunition
History
From an 1898 patent to half of Europe
Wilhelm Brenneke was born in Hanover in 1865 and founded the house in Leipzig, on 1 April 1895. That first year he registered two patents for safety drillings; in 1897, an 8 mm alloyed-lead projectile with a copper base. And in 1898 came the first smoothbore Original Brenneke, with a steel tip: the big-game shotgun slug as it is still understood today.
What came next was not just slugs. The 8x64 and 8x65 R cartridges (1912), the 7x64 and 7x65 R (1917) and the 9,3x64 (1927) are house designs, and half of Europe still hunts with them. In 1919 the Torpedo-Ideal (TIG) appeared and in 1935 the Torpedo-Universal (TUG), the two-core, partially fragmenting bullet Brenneke invented and which remains the centre of its programme.
Management stayed in the family: his daughter Elsa Brenneke ran it from 1943 to 1974, his granddaughter Waltraud Mank until 1980 and, from that year on, his great-grandson Peter Mank. Wilhelm died in 1951, the same year the factory moved to West Berlin; in 1971 it moved to Langenhagen, next to Hanover, where it remains.
The lead-free range is no recent add-on: TAG in 2007, TIG nature in 2009, TUG nature in 2010, RubinSabot nature in 2012 and TUG nature + in 2014. In 2006 the house also set up its own rifle-cartridge programme as a manufactory, which is where the factory-loaded TIG, TUG, TOG and TAG come from.
Product families
What we distribute
The shotgun slug the house invented, the rifle-cartridge programme, those same bullets sold loose for reloading, and the police-programme loads.
Shotgun slugs
A lead or tin head with angled ribs to pass through the choke. It is the invention of 1898 and still the most asked-for item.
Classic
The Brenneke of always: a lead head with right-hand ribs and a felt wad between two plastic discs, which cushions the pressure rise and stabilises flight. It has existed since 1898 and the current load is the 2005 revision. The manufacturer quotes 5 cm at 50 metres over five shots, and offers it for all guns, choked or not.
Calibres
Classic Magnum
The same 31.5-gram slug in 12/70, loaded hotter: 460 m/s and 3,335 J at the muzzle, against the 430 m/s and 2,912 J of the Classic.
Calibre
Camou
The house budget load, for range shooting and for driven hunts or stalking out to about 40 metres. It carries a coating that reduces bore leading and the patented base cup, which tucks into the head on impact.
Calibres
SuperMagnum
A specially alloyed, heavy lead head, for maximum penetration. It is the one the manufacturer rates useful out to about 100 metres: 39 grams and 3,947 J in 12/76, 28.4 grams and 2,874 J in 20/76.
Calibres
Opal Magnum
A 43-gram projectile — 666 grains — at 491 m/s: 5,184 J at the muzzle and still 2,173 J at 100 metres. The ribs run left-handed to take the rifling. Not to be fired through a choke.
Calibre
TOPAS Sabot
A sub-calibre projectile with a carrier: 20 grams of lead head at 510 m/s, little recoil and less punishment of the bore. It is the house’s way of pairing the sabot with the shotgun slug of always.
Calibre
TOPAS Sabot nature
The same carrier with the head in tin, lead-free, for the grounds where nothing else is allowed: 17 grams at 561 m/s in 16/70.
Calibre
RubinSabot
The cage opens from air resistance right out of the muzzle and falls to the ground at about 15 metres; the projectile flies on alone. Twelve angled ribs to pass any choke. The manufacturer points to it for combination guns.
Calibre
RubinSabot nature
The same cage with a food-safe tin head, lead-free. With 19 grams at 610 m/s it delivers 10% more energy at 50 metres than a 31.5-gram Classic 12/70.
Calibre
SuperSabot
An aluminium tip with a brass jacket and core: it was the house’s first lead-free shotgun slug. Its opening depends on the resistance of the target. In smoothbores only without a choke; the manufacturer prefers it in a rifled barrel.
Calibres
Magnum .410
The Silver slug for the three-inch chamber: 7.4 grams at 535 m/s and 1,059 J. Flat trajectory and little recoil, for small game and varmints out to about 30 metres.
Calibre
K.O. CleanSpeed Plus
A dynamic-shooting load for semi-automatic shotguns: 28.4 grams at 425 m/s, short recoil and a box of 100. The CleanSpeed coating reduces bore leading by 99.83% according to the TÜV report the manufacturer cites.
Calibre
Centrefire hunting ammunition
The house’s own rifle-cartridge programme, run as a manufactory since 2006. Every bullet carries the Scharfrand, the cutting edge the house invented.
TIG — Torpedo Ideal Geschoss
From 1919. A two-core bullet with partial fragmentation and a copper-nickel plated jacket, which glides better and fouls the bore less. The front core, softer, fragments; the rear one, harder, gives depth and an exit. The manufacturer places it on light and medium game.
TUG — Torpedo Universal Geschoss
From 1935. The same two-core construction, but with a torpedo base: it opens less and therefore penetrates more. It is the one the manufacturer puts on medium and heavy game when the exit is what is wanted.
TUG nature +
The lead-free version, with food-safe tin cores and a truncated tip that delivers the energy sooner. The manufacturer presents it as the world’s first lead-free jacketed bullet.
TOG — Torpedo Optimal Geschoss
From 2003, and here there is no fragmentation: a reinforced jacket and a lead core bonded to it, so the bullet opens without shedding mass and keeps residual weight. A hollow point to start deformation early, and little meat damage.
TAG — Torpedo Alternativ Geschoss
From 2007, lead-free. High-purity copper with a friction lacquer and guide bands, an aluminium tip that starts fragmentation instantly and three break points that release three large shards; the remaining body ensures the exit even on strong game.
BASIC
The entry range: a tombac jacket and the house’s own lead alloy, with the same Scharfrand as the rest. The manufacturer rates it dependable on game up to 50 kilos.
Teilmantel
The soft point of always, with a specific lead alloy and the Scharfrand. Same span of use as the BASIC — light and medium game up to 50 kilos — and available in the 7 mms.
Reloading bullets
The same bullets from the cartridge programme, loose and in boxes of 25. The ballistic coefficients are those the manufacturer publishes.
TIG
The Torpedo-Ideal, loose. Ballistic coefficients from 0.302 in .308 to 0.361 in .323.
Calibres
TUG
The Torpedo-Universal, loose. The .366 of 293 grains, at 0.465, has the highest ballistic coefficient of the whole programme.
Calibres
TUG nature +
The lead-free jacketed bullet, with a tin core, loose. Coefficients from 0.233 to 0.286.
Calibres
TOG
The Torpedo-Optimal, loose, and the one with the most calibres in the reloading catalogue: from .243 to .375. Highest coefficient, 0.428 in .284.
TAG
The solid-copper lead-free one, with guide bands and an aluminium tip, loose.
Slugs for shotgun cartridges
The shotgun projectile, loose, in boxes of 25, for those who load their own slug cartridges.
Police programme
Shotgun loads Brenneke develops for police and special units. They are catalogued because we distribute them; their acquisition and use follow the applicable regulations.
ATS — Anti Terror Slug
A 27.5-gram slug in a very hard alloy in 12/70: 3,578 J at the muzzle at 512 m/s. It can be fired from any type of shotgun bore.
Calibre
SFSM — Special Forces Short Magnum
A 34-gram projectile with a solid front and the weight forward, in 12/70: 3,443 J at 450 m/s.
Calibre
EDP — Extra Deep Penetration Magnum
The deepest-penetrating load in the programme: 38 grams of extra-hard alloy in 12/76, 4,197 J at 470 m/s.
Calibre
THD — Tactical Home Defense
28.4 grams and 2,505 J in 12/70, with reduced recoil for follow-up shots. The wad is built not to separate from the projectile.
Calibre
To read
Brenneke catalogue
This catalogue is published in Spanish.
Brenneke at the shop
Shotgun slugs, centrefire ammunition and reloading bullets.
Firearms and ammunition subject to regulatory control are purchased and processed under the applicable rules through an authorised gun dealer.
The shop is available in Spanish.