9,3x62 modern action reloading advice please

[RichieG]

Cheers AZDAVE appreciate that very much and may well be in touch once I have myself organised.

 

[WAB]

I was on my range ringing steel with the 9.3x62 yesterday. What a wonderful cartridge!

 

[bowjijohn]

As was I today. Love my 9.3

gives me a warm glow when I pick it up

Don’t shoot gongs though - round is too hard on them.

A4 paper with black dot for me

 

[WAB]

As was I today. Love my 9.3

gives me a warm glow when I pick it up

Don’t shoot gongs though - round is too hard on them.

A4 paper with black dot for me

Well it doesn’t wear my steel out as bad as the Lott does! That rascal leaves a dimple on every shot!

 

[shootist~]

As was I today. Love my 9.3

gives me a warm glow when I pick it up

Don’t shoot gongs though - round is too hard on them.

A4 paper with black dot for me

As was I on Tuesday!
The club's 1" thick armor plate holds up very well (and I dont shoot up close).

 

[RichieG]

Hello fellas

Thanks again for all the advice. Been learning a lot along the way.

Some interesting developments that may be useful to others.

The Norma Oryx 286 factory load has performed well on Zebra and BWB. All one shot kills. Expensive though around $6 a cartridge for range work.
Swift AF 286s struggling to get them to group well with Norma 203B. Will persevere. Noticeably sharper though not bad, felt recoil than the Norma factory load even at lower velocity.
Swift AF 300gr don’t chamber well at all in my rifle (M12) Ogive seems odd even at 80mm OAL and I it gets jammed even with new brass.
Norma oryx 325gr factory load is cheap (1/2 the price of the 286), pretty accurate (sub moa) incredibly consistent sd of <5fps. Velocity average 667m/s vs advertised 670.

Love this caliber. Will be using on an eland shortly. Should do the business.

 

[sgt_zim]

I've had terrific accuracy with Alliant Power Pro 2000 MR and Ramshot Big Game with NP 286, Hornady 286, and Sierra 270

Just took delivery on some Oryx 285, haven't loaded them up yet.

 

[RichieG]

I've had terrific accuracy with Alliant Power Pro 2000 MR and Ramshot Big Game with NP 286, Hornady 286, and Sierra 270

Just took delivery on some Oryx 285, haven't loaded them up yet.

Thanks appreciate the advice . We don’t get Big Game in SA unfortunately and while we get a number of Alliant powders it’s seems we don’t get 2000MR!

Damn I may have to shoot some more!

 

[RichieG]

I bought Pierre van der Walt’s African Dangerous Game Cartridges. Fantastic book if you can get it. Longest list of loads I’ve seen for 9,3.

 

[RichieG]

 

[RichieG]

I hope he doesn’t mind me posting an example of his 286 loads. Obviously apply normal cautions. I would strongly recommend this book if you can get your hands on it. Been a real education for me.

 

[sgt_zim]

The heavier bullets seem to do better with small, spherical powder. My only experience with extruded powder and hand loading 9.3x62 was Varget, and while it works well with 250 gr NAB, the case gets kinda crowded as you approach max load for the longer 286 gr bullets. You need a drop tube, and even then, still may end up being a compressed load at the top

H380 and N140 are very close to both 2000 MR and Big Game.

 

[bowjijohn]

I get good precise groups and reasonable velocity with 62 grains of RL 17

I can see it is not mentioned in that list above

 

[RichieG]

The heavier bullets seem to do better with small, spherical powder. My only experience with extruded powder and hand loading 9.3x62 was Varget, and while it works well with 250 gr NAB, the case gets kinda crowded as you approach max load for the longer 286 gr bullets. You need a drop tube, and even then, still may end up being a compressed load at the top

H380 and N140 are very close to both 2000 MR and Big Game.

Thanks PvdW says out an out H380 was the best powder for 9,3 in his (considerable) experience.

Thanks i think we can get R17 and N140 here so i will give that a go. Appreciate the advice

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

The heavier bullets seem to do better with small, spherical powder. My only experience with extruded powder and hand loading 9.3x62 was Varget, and while it works well with 250 gr NAB, the case gets kinda crowded as you approach max load for the longer 286 gr bullets. You need a drop tube, and even then, still may end up being a compressed load at the top

H380 and N140 are very close to both 2000 MR and Big Game.

@sgt zim
That's why I like cfe223.
Bob

 

[sgt_zim]

@sgt zim
That's why I like cfe223.
Bob

That's a handy powder, LOL.

 

[Christot]

If you're unsure about the burn rate of different powders the following link might help you:

Reload Swiss RS® - Relative burn-off velocity

Reload Swiss RS® - Relative burn-off velocity

www.reload-swiss.com

For heavier bullets (286gr and above) something like N550, Norma URP, RS60, H414, RL17.. gives you better velocities at lower pressures than the faster burning powders. CFE223 is in the N540 category but depending on cartridge design it can surprise with higher velocities than predicted at lower pressures. Seems to be a very special brew.

The 300gr Swift A-frame is a bit odd. Don't know what Swift had in mind when designing this bullet but it doesn't match with the usual 9,3's throat = OAL much shorter than usual, see for example

Rifle reloading data | Handloading | Rifle calibers | Centerfire Rifle bullets | Reload your own ammo - Vihtavuori

Vihtavuori offers rifle reloading data for numerous calibers and bullets for match and hunting purposes. Never exceed maximum loads.

www.vihtavuori.com

The 286gr version is much better. OAL can be (much) longer than standard OAL.

Hint: Reload Swiss and Vihtavouri have only load data for different cartridges, powders and bullets. Might give you some guidance.

 

[Dr Lott]

I reload my 9,3x62 Blaser R8 with 325 Oryx and 250 Naturalis. Load little over max with 203-B according to Normas table and 87 mm COL (1 mm freebore, +5 mm from Norma recommended COL) and get 2300 fps with 325. It shoots one hole in the paper. Its ridiculous. 58 cm barrel length + silencer. Have yet to see the effect on a large animal.

 

[sgt_zim]

I reload my 9,3x62 Blaser R8 with 325 Oryx and 250 Naturalis. Load little over max with 203-B according to Normas table and 87 mm COL (1 mm freebore, +5 mm from Norma recommended COL) and get 2300 fps with 325. It shoots one hole in the paper. Its ridiculous. 58 cm barrel length + silencer. Have yet to see the effect on a large animal.

what does "a little over max" come out to? Their max load for 203-B shows MV of 2100 fps.

 

[baxterb]

I shoot Ramshot big game 63-64 gr with a 286 north fork at 2500fps. Easy peasy. 25.5” barrel.