9.3x62 Noob

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Good choice of cartridge. Since you handload, I'll note I load all manner of 250 grain bullets to ~2,550+ fps MV. Very effective.

I suggest you locate a copy of the 9.3x62 Mauser Journal if you don't yet have one. There's a whole lotta learning condensed in there.

@Puddle
I have a copy of that book and it's damn fine reading with more information than you can use in one lifetime.
Bob

 

[SafariSniper]

I really like the 9,3x62 - mine is a rebarrelled Ruger M77

I have a vortex 1-8x24 scope on it and has always worked well. I think a 2-10x would be the highest magnification I would go- it’s not particularly fast and with heavy bullets it’s not a long range cartridge. Especially if dangerous game is a possibility the low end Magnification is more important.

I hope you enjoy it

Actually, this makes more sense. I was sold on the firedot but 3-15 is prob overkill.
I’ve been hunting with my long range 30 cals with the 5-25 scopes on and the idea was to have a light weight hunting rifle for everything.
I should prob look at a 1-8 LPVO since I use one on my AR and anything within 300m where it’s zeroed is quite easy to hit.

 

[Enrico Andreoli]

9.3×62 Unbeatable Work Horse.

Burdensome task, writing an article about this sacred monster. For over a century it has been carrying out his work silently, with a consistency and effectiveness that is almost impossible to match…

mauserfanatic.com

 

[Puddle]

@Puddle
I have a copy of that book and it's damn fine reading with more information than you can use in one lifetime.
Bob

@Bob Nelson 35Whelen,
I totally agree. My copy is getting a bit dog-eared and with post-its scattered all through it.

@SafariSniper, I'll point out the Journal includes a fair amount of Somchem load data.

 

[SafariSniper]

@Bob Nelson 35Whelen,
I totally agree. My copy is getting a bit dog-eared and with post-its scattered all through it.

@SafariSniper, I'll point out the Journal includes a fair amount of Somchem load data.

Thanks for that, would be useful since somchem only has one powder listed in their manual so I could part with some old powder I’ve got, but moving forward from that I’m not sure about buying somchem since stock is sometimes problematic and the price is on the heels of the import powders. I stand under correction though.

 

[SmokyHill]

Actually, this makes more sense. I was sold on the firedot but 3-15 is prob overkill.
I’ve been hunting with my long range 30 cals with the 5-25 scopes on and the idea was to have a light weight hunting rifle for everything.
I should prob look at a 1-8 LPVO since I use one on my AR and anything within 300m where it’s zeroed is quite easy to hit.

I just put a Nightforce NX8 1-8 on my 9.3 and like it a lot. It can easily get me to my max range with this rifle.

 

[Ruraldoc]

My Steyr SM 12 in 9.3x62 wears a Ziess 3-12x42.
I shot a big wild boar with it yesterday at about 5 yards with a 286 grain Hornady.

I think I’m going to a smaller scope, with 2x or less on the low end.

I think a good 1-6 is probably ideal.

 

[Ruraldoc]

This is the second big boar that I’ve taken with the 286 Hornady factory load and it did not quickly kill or incapacitate either time.

These appear to be pretty tough bullets and the relatively low velocity does not appear to create a significantly large wound channel. They just sort of drill through and exit, even lengthwise.

I am going to test the 250 grain TSX next. If my experience with TSXs of 235 grain and 300 grains are any indication, I expect quick and humane kills.

 

[SmokyHill]

Looking at 250 accubonds and 285 Lapua Mega for my 9.3x62. Heard good things on the 250 accubond.

 

[Fryeguy]

The last I looked euro-optic had the lapua mega 285 in stock. Pretty sure it was boxes of 100 too. I have used those in a 9.3x74r, and they were accurate. The only thing I shot with them was a coyote, so I cannot comment on how they would do in larger game

 

[SmokyHill]

Any other mega reports on game would be interesting. I'll check euro for those.

 

[AZDAVE]

I forgot to answer your question. I have shot woodleigh 286 and 320's I was only able to do shortened load development as I only had a box of each bullet. Both shot well but to date haven't killed anything but steel with them. Have shot norma and laupua bullets. They shot well but again suffered from not having but a box of each. Use the PPU 285's for my practice as the load I developed hits the same POI as my Aframes.

 

[Kootenay Hunter]

Any other mega reports on game would be interesting. I'll check euro for those.

I have used the mega in a 9.3x74r Ruger no.1
It worked for me on a few deer, and the bullet held together with launch velocities of 2500fps. No recovered bullets on any of them (as you would expect), and the bored a hole through about the diameter of a red bull can.
They were reasonably economical compared to the premium bonded bullets, so I think they are a great choice if you are locally hunting for deer/elk/bear and that kind of thing. I might want to step up to a northfork or oryx or something if I were in Africa paying for game.

 

[MS 9x56]

I forgot to answer your question. I have shot woodleigh 286 and 320's I was only able to do shortened load development as I only had a box of each bullet. Both shot well but to date haven't killed anything but steel with them. Have shot norma and laupua bullets. They shot well but again suffered from not having but a box of each. Use the PPU 285's for my practice as the load I developed hits the same POI as my Aframes.

I use the PPU 285’s on both deer and hogs and have never recovered one or had to shoot more than once.

 

[alby]

Good choice of cartridge. Since you handload, I'll note I load all manner of 250 grain bullets to ~2,550+ fps MV. Very effective.

I suggest you locate a copy of the 9.3x62 Mauser Journal if you don't yet have one. There's a whole lotta learning condensed in there.

Many thanks for posting link Puddle, I ordered this book last night. Should be great reading!

 

[Longwalker]

Great rifle, great cartridge, but for hunting you're handicapping yourself with too much scope. There is a good reason 3-9x or 2-10x or something similar has traditionally been the best selling hunting scope magnification. The modern trend to very high magnification scopes is based on marketing, and bench rest/range results, not hunting results.

 

[sgt_zim]

@Bob Nelson 35Whelen turned me on to Meopta's Optika 5 in 2-10x42. It certainly isn't a Zeiss or Swaro in glass quality, but at about 500 USD, the glass is still pretty good. They're Czech-made and will withstand the recoil of your 9.3x62. That's what my 9.3 was wearing last year in Limpopo when I got a cape buffalo, bwb, and zebra. Bob has insanely hot loads for his 35 Whelen and is as happy as any Ozzie with his morning Bundy and milk.

On reloading, I've found that mostly you're just better off sticking with 18.5 gram pills.

The "secret" for those of us who've discovered you can get 2450 - 2500 fps out of that weight bullet is that the SAAMI-spec cartridge overall length of 3.291" leaves A LOT of freebore unused - you'll probably end up at around 0.09" of jump. Measure the firing chamber in your Tikka, then measure the magazine length.

I'm not certain why, but most publishers of load data for 9.3x62 specify COAL well under even SAAMI-spec: Hornady shows 3.125, Nosler shows 3.22, Norma 3.150, Barnes 3.205, Rhino 3.242. Swift just publishes the SAAMI length of 3.291, and North Fork is 3.30.

I have a pair of 9.3x62 - a Zastava and a JP Sauer. With any of the 18.5 gram Spitzer bullets and in both rifles, firing chamber dimensions are such that at about 3.38", the ogive is sitting on the lands. Common practice is to back off by about 0.02" from that, putting you at 3.36" for COAL. I'd guess, however, that the mag in your Tikka won't accommodate any longer than about 3.34" or so. A COAL of about 3.325 or 3.33" is a good length for every 9.3x62 I've ever heard of; and that's what will allow you to get in the 2500 fps neighborhood with 18.5 gram bullets.

Seat whichever bullet you choose at about 3.325 or 3.33, start at the bottom on your powder, then create a ladder up in 0.5 grain increments until you see pressure signs, then back off a grain. I got to 2475 fps with Swift A Frame 286 gr without seeing any signs of pressure. It wasn't worth it to me to try and go any faster, so I stopped there. Even if I could have gotten to 2550, that isn't appreciably better than 2475 in the killing business; it's just more chamber pressure.

Ramshot Big Game and Alliant PowerPro 2000MR have given me the best results, though they are less temp-stable than extruded powders like Varget and IMR 4895. As reported above, CFE223 seems to be a good choice as well.

Nosler Accubond 250 gr has a BC of just under 0.5, the highest of any 9.3 bullet I know of. Even at 2600 fps, it isn't appreciably flatter at 300 yards than 286 gr bullets in the high 0.3X BC. IMO, if you could get 2700 or 2750 out of a 250 gr, it would probably be worth it to go down in weight.

 

[John Wasmuth]

Not sure anything over 2500 for the 285/286 class of projectiles necessary.

 

[PARA45]

Man, I don't know how I missed this thread. I am also new to the 9.3, and was lucky to purchase an R8 from @TOBY458 in this wonderful caliber. Thank you for the Journal suggestion, I'm going to get it.

 

[John Wasmuth]

Man, I don't know how I missed this thread. I am also new to the 9.3, and was lucky to purchase an R8 from @TOBY458 in this wonderful caliber. Thank you for the Journal suggestion, I'm going to get it.

Best book ever written on the subject. You will quickly find that the 9,3 will become your favorite cartridge afield…..