9.3X74r Range Limits

[EDELWEISS]

When I had a 9.3 double I kept the shot short (under 100m); but now Im considering a Ruger No1 in 9.3x74r with a low power optic. What kind of effective ranges can I expect to use it. Is 300m reasonable? I really dont plan of shots that far. Just wondering if its a good idea to stretch it that far if the shot presents.

If 300m is asking too much, how far should I expect?

 

[Red Leg]

If you use a 284gr Oryx or something similar and sight in 3 inches high at 100 you will be 13.5 low at 300. That is stretching compensation a little. With the heavier bullets, I like to think of my 9.3's as 200 yard rifles. The 250 gr bullets will be a bit flatter.

 

[AZDAVE]

Last year hunted with a 9.3x74 in a TC encore 310 yards one shot kill on my kudu. 250 gr accubon at 2500fps

 

[tarbe]

There really is no one correct answer...it depends on so many variables.

When I went to boot camp in 1976, I never dreamed I could keep all my shots from a sloppy GI issue M-16 on a man's chest at 500 yards. With a peep and post sight arrangement no less! And we only shot from field positions, no artificial rests.

If you practice, know your trajectory, learn to compensate for wind and have a means of accurately getting your range, that rifle/cartridge combo will kill animals at ranges beyond what most of us would consider sportsmanlike.

But, those are a lot of "ifs". Leave one out and the range gets shorter. Leave two out and it is shorter yet! I guess what I am saying is, the shooter is usually the limiting factor, not the rifle/cartridge combo.

I have done a lot of shooting in my life, out to 600 yards. But I will be telling Loodt that I want to get as close as possible to every animal I pull the trigger on.

Enjoy your new rig!

Tim

 

[rnovi]

Funny you should ask this question. I just decided on a Merkel 141 in 9.3x74r (*and made an offer!). I'm going with a 250 yard "normal" range based on trajectory with a 150 yard zero. I have no doubt that on plains game under Eland (e.g.: Kudu or smaller) a 9.3x74r would be plenty good to 400 if one could manage the drop. Penetration with proper bullets won't be an issue with the 9.3 - to that end I've already stockpiled a bunch of 286 gr. Partitions.

9.3x74r hasn't been around 110+ years without reason.

 

[bebo]

Normal Range : zero @ 170 yards .

 

[Steve Steyr]

With a Ruger #1 you should be able to boost you 9.3x74R velocity a bit. No one would deny a .375 H&H will work well out to 300m. So why would a 9.3x74R (lighter bullets at nearly the same velocity as .375's) not be effective at the same ranges?
I haven't looked up the ballistics but Internet chatter suggests 286 grain 9.3's can be driven to just under 2600 fps and 250 grain 9.3's to 2700 fps. To me, I would think scope magnification and rifle accuracy, or lack thereof, would be the only limit to effective use out to 300m.

 

[Steve Steyr]

Just checked things out on JBM Ballistics.
250 gr Nosler @ 2680 fps. 100 yds + 1.7"
200 yds - 0.5"
300 tds - 9.2" 2577 fpe
286 gr Nosler PT @2520 fps. 100 yds + 2.1"
200 yds - 0.6"
300 yds -10.7" 2543 fpe
Not sure but I think this should match or beat many varieties of .375 H&H factory loads. I'll let someone else run the numbers on the .375.

 

[Steve Steyr]

Just looked at Winchester factory load with a 300 gr Nosler Partition. Same trajectory within 10th's of an inch out to 300 yards. At the muzzle, the .375 H&H has slightly more energy. At 300 yds, the 9.3x74R, as I listed it, has slightly more energy. The game shouldn't quibble with you on the slight differences.

 

[Velo Dog]

EDELWEISS,

One of my hunting pals has used the 9.3x74R on two PG safaris (once a Ruger #1 / Zeiss 4x in Ruger rings and once a Simpson & Sohn drilling 12/12 over 9.3x74R, also similarly scoped but in claw mounts).
He used the 286 gr Nosler Partition, hand loaded to original factory specs (2350 fps? but my geezer memory is not positive on the velicity any more).

On these two hunts, he shot quite a menagerie of critters, small (springbok), medium (nyala) and large, (huge old cape eland blue bull) plus many other Limpopo and Kalahari species, with great satisfaction.
Even the eland went swiftly down for keeps, upon being shot once through the heart/lung - "boiler room" with it.
He refers to that cartridge as the "big stick in a small bundle".
I have fired his Ruger and a Beretta "Sable" model O/U double he once owned, with an older (1970's vintage) 3x Leupold scope. (He sold the Beretta to buy the aforementioned Simpson drilling).

We fired them out to 300 yards, with the above mentioned N. Partition loads, on a proper rifle range and neither of us had any trouble hitting our targets that far out there.
Unfortunately, that particular range (Birchwood Range, Anchorage Alaska) only goes out to 300 yds, or I would have had a report for you on longer shots as well.

At 300 yds, the 286 gr may not have super high velocity but it evidently has plenty enough to ring the steel gong out there with a mighty sound.
As other shooters present would hit it with lesser calibers, such as the .308 and .30-06, their impacts sounded almost feeble, compared to the satisfying loud CLANG! of those 286 grainers.

I feel this cartridge loaded with sturdy 286 grain JSP bullets, is one of the very best of the best PG choices for all but the most open grassveld/treeless spaces, where one would likely be pressed into 400+ yard shots more than once in a blue moon.


Cheers,
Velo Dog.

 

[sestoppelman]

Ditto all the above. For flatter shooting go with the 250 or even the Speer 270 gr bullets. Unless you are hunting DG with it, you don't really need the 286's. Like its little brother the 62mm, its a fine round and a bit better when loaded up.

 

[AZDAVE]

I hunted with my TC encore last year and had great luck with the 250gr Accubons. I kept them at 2500fps and the gave outstanding results on everything from Diker to Blue wildebeest. I liked it so much I bought a Chapuis 9.3 double. like the rest of the folks here I did the comparison and at 300 it has more energy that my 375. Just find a load your #1 likes and go have a great time.