My new 9.3x62 (Mauser) built by Wayne Jacobson at AHR

The thought that went into this project, in addition to the workmanship....very impressive........what a great caliber and a solid foundation for a custom gun.....................well done..............................try some Hawk 320 grain customs at about 2100 fps and you have a 200 yd hammer........................FWB
 
A beautiful rifle in a great caliber. Good luck at the range.
 
try some Hawk 320 grain customs at about 2100 fps and you have a 200 yd hammer........................FWB

no offense intended but I cringe and the thought of using a 320gr bullet at 2100fps at anything near 200 yards. the velocity at that range isn't going to open any expanding bullet, you might as well use a solid.

-matt
 
Matt, you may be right, and your experience may differ from mine, and I havent shot THIS particular bullet into anything at 200 yards.............but, I have shot a lot of other Hawk bullets into things. Many with BC's less than the 320 grain .366 bullet (about 0.3). And they have all expanded pretty well. This particular load is traveling about 1620 fps at 200 yards, and the Hawk bullet-made with a pure copper jacket "annealed to dead soft" with a pure lead core, and a thin .030" jacket has expanded in my other loads...........starting as slow as 1970 fps and killing wildebeest and zebra at nearly 200. We also shot a lot of deer meat when I was a kid with 25-35 and 30-30 carbines at well over 150 yards and got pretty fair expansion; regardless of their published velocities, these guns were in the 2100 fps or less category. Kind of makes you wonder how those long range hunters kill anything with impact velocities so low at 800-1000 yds plus.....well....In any case, it is a fun load to work up and shoot.......................all the best..............FWB
 
That is a beautiful rifle, I've just found out about AHR about a week ago, they don't seem to get much press I have to assume you'd give them a thumbs up if I were looking to have a rifle built? (Which I'm not at the moment, but one never knows.)
 
That is a beautiful rifle, I've just found out about AHR about a week ago, they don't seem to get much press I have to assume you'd give them a thumbs up if I were looking to have a rifle built? (Which I'm not at the moment, but one never knows.)

@abenson229

Sorry I am just getting back to you. I was out of town and am just getting around to catching up on emails, etc.

To your question...Absolutely I would recommend Wayne. Without hesitation. He has built 3 rifles so far for me, and is currently building a 404 Jeffery based of a CZ 550 Magnum action. There are many great gunsmiths out there, and some that frequent this forum. But as far as value and performance go, I don't think you'd find a better "smith" than Wayne at AHR. Plus he's a super nice guy to work with.

When you get ready to have a rifle built, let me know and I can answer any questions about Wayne's process, etc., or better yet, give him a call. He's great answering questions and talking you through everything....
 
Yes this is resurrecting an old thread, but.......

I finally have gotten around to some serious load development for my AHR Pre-64 Win M70 that Wayne Jacobson (American Hunting Rifles) built for me in the cartridge 9.3x62 (Mauser). I had previously been busy reloading and shooting other rifles for various other hunts, and had just not taken the time to get to know the rifle. I can happily report that it has exceeded my expectations thus far, and I am in love...

In considering various bullets that I could possibly utilize, I settled on the 9.3 mm (286 grain) Nosler Partition because of the application I intended on using it for. I wanted a bullet that would be suitable for both a wide variety of African plains game and leopard. The rifle is topped with a Leica ER5i 2.5 - 10x42 scope with the illuminated 4a reticle. I haven't taken any game with the 9.3 mm Partition, but have plenty of experience with it in other calibers/cartridges, and it has performed exactly as John Nosler intended back in 1947. It will consistently give acceptable to very good accuracy, and solid performance with around 65% weight retention. The big reason I liked the Partition versus other premium bullets, is that I wanted a bullet that would rapidly expand when used on cats. The front portion of the Partition does exactly that, but keeps the rear 2/3 of the shank to allow for acceptable penetration. Not the kind of penetration one would expect form a Barnes TSX, Swift A-frame, North Fork SS, etc., but still very acceptable. Couple that with a lot of history in Africa and positive reports of the Partition's performance there, and I felt like it would be a good candidate. In summary, just a good all-around premium bullet.

My goal was to get a accurate bullet to travel in the 2400 - 2500 fps speed range. After researching a lot of different powder options, I came upon an article by a very respectable gun writer named John Barsness. He loves the 9.3x62 cartridge, and writes very fondly of it. His go-to powder for it was Ramshot BigGame. It's a double based, spherical powder (as are all Ramshot rifle powders) that is designed for the 30-06 family of cartridges, and so with his recommendations in hand, I developed a load ladder based on the Optimal Charge Weight method.

A few weeks ago, I took the loaded rounds and my rifle out to our 100 yard range, as I figured this rifle would be used as a 200 yards and in rifle. As I went through the charge progression looking for pressure signs, it became readily apparent that this rifle was going to be a shooter. It wanted to work hard to produce good groups with any charge weight I threw at it. Not once did I have any indication of increased pressure. I finally settled on the following:

Cartridge: 9.3x62 (Mauser)
Case: Norma (fully prepped)
Bullet: 9.3 mm Nosler Partition (286 grain)
Primer: Winchester Large Rifle
Powder: Ramshot BigGame
Charge Weight: 66.0 grains (slight compression)
COAL: 3.37 inches
Crimped: Yes (Lee Factory Crimp Die)
Avg. Velocity: 2510 fps (M.E. 4001 ft/lbs)
Extreme Spread: 17 fps
Standard Deviation: 7.4


The final target at the settled on charge weight of 66.0 grains of Ramshot BigGame is as follows:

IMG_3077.jpg


The round in the upper left corner (at the extreme edge of the group) was a called "flyer", as I jerked the trigger when another shooter shot his rifle as I was pressing my trigger. From edge to edge, the 3-shot group (minus the flyer) measured around 0.85 inches. Even with the flyer included, it measured at slightly over an inch. Needless to say I am very happy that I could get this rifle to deliver this kind of accuracy and with 4000 ft/lbs of energy at the muzzle to boot. In the OCW method, after a powder charge is settled on, the next variable to play with is seating depth, and often one can get the groups to tighten somewhat. But after thinking about this rifle, and what it's intended purpose is, I didn't think it necessary. If it was a long range sheep rifle, of course, but not for this rifle......

Pretty good for a cartridge designed in 1905.....

As a side note, I took the scope off and shot the rifle with some fouling rounds that were slightly below the charge weight I settled on. At 100 yds, the bullets were consistently impacting a little low and left of my POA, but still way within acceptable limits of what irons should do. With the full house loads, I bet the bullets would strike close to where the scope is printing the bullets at. It would be a dead animal for sure.

After settling on this load for my rifle, I went ahead and loaded up 100 rounds to do some shooting off sticks with.....

IMG_3076.jpg


Anyway, many months ago, several posters had requested an update once I did some shooting with the rifle. Needless to say, I am very pleased with the results. Furthermore, I think the results are testament to what kind rifle Wayne Jacobson builds at AHR. Not only do they look damn good, but they shoot damn fine as well. I've said that about all the rifles he's built for me however....


*** As a disclaimer, I published my load data to show what worked in MY rifle. This is a "hot" load, but I never once noticed any pressure signs, and feel that I could have pushed it a little more but why risk it.....Incidentally, this was the charge weight Mr. Barsness settled on as well in his article. Use the above data at your own risk.
 
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Its a great round and hits hard for sure, used one in Africa on two trips. Did you chrono that load? Its stepping right out!
 
As I have alluded to in previous threads, I purchased a Winchester M70 (Pre-64) barreled action in 270 WCF (Win) with the express purpose of having it re-barreled and stocked in caliber 9.3x62 (Mauser). According to the factory records, it was made around 1947, and featured the transitional style safety, and the curved tang. Not a "pre-war", but being without the original stock anyway, it has very little, if any collectors value. Having said that, I got a good deal on it, and I have always wanted a "Pre-64" Win M70, and I thought what the heck.

I have few rifles by Wayne, and I feel that his craftsmanship is superb for the money paid by the buyer. So I contacted him, and we set out to build a rifle in this vintage, workhorse of a caliber.

The rifle itself features the original action, that was stripped down to all its bare components for cleaning by myself and re-assembled. I installed a Timney aftermarket trigger (made for the Pre-64) rifles, and set the pull weight to around 2.5 lbs. Wayne then took the rifle and completely reworked/trued the action. He then installed a Kreiger barrel cut and crowned to 24 inches. The bolt stop was removed, and replaced by a Wisner checkered bolt stop. The bolt body was jeweled. As the extractor was an aftermarket extractor, it wouldn't hold the Nitre bluing like I wanted, so we elected to go with a jeweled extractor instead. NECG rear and front sights were installed, along with a barrel band front swivel. The metal was finished in a matte, hot-blued finish. Finally the rifle was stocked in a AAA piece of English walnut with 24 lpi wrap-around checkering and Fleur-de-Lis accents. It was cut to my LOP, and finished with a red Pachmayr Decelerator recoil pad, and has a blued and inletted rear sling swivel. Overall, the rifle feels trim and svelte in my hands, and point well. Unloaded and un-scoped, it weighs in around 9 lbs. I plan to install an Leica ERi 2.5-10 x 42 scope with the 4a reticle in detachable Talley rings.

I received the rifle today, and needless to say, I am beyond thrilled with the way the rifle turned out. I plan to hand-load it with 286 grain Nosler Partitions for heavy plains game, leopard, etc. , and I am targeting a velocity of around 2400 fps. Anyway, I thought I would share the pictures as many on here (myself more than any) love to gawk at others rifles. My next rifle that I am going to have Mr. Jacobson build me is a 404 Jeffrey based on a CZ 550 Magnum action (AHR Dangerous Game).

View attachment 160209 View attachment 160211 View attachment 160212 View attachment 160213 View attachment 160214

Very nice. It sort of reminds me of a Kimber Caprivi - just a little.
Congratulations on such a fine rifle.
 
That is a beautiful rifle, I've just found out about AHR about a week ago, they don't seem to get much press I have to assume you'd give them a thumbs up if I were looking to have a rifle built? (Which I'm not at the moment, but one never knows.)
Wayne is doing a stock for me for a 550 CZ. I hope to see him and his shop my next visit to the states. I have no doubt that I will be 101% satisfied. Not cheap, but quality never is!
 
Did you chrono that load?

@sestoppelman

Yes. Chrono'd using my Lab Radar.

In the past, I have verified the accuracy of the Lab Radar in comparison against an Ohler 35 , which has always been considered a very accurate chrono, and the velocities were always within 1-2% of each other. After a few rounds of comparison, I called it good and now always use the Lab radar because it's so much easier to set up and use on a busy range....
 
Hi sandman,

Good load!! I also used Barsness data in my 9,3x62 with NORMA or Remington (very good cases by the way, with same volume as the NORMA ones) cases with the same results he published.
 
I am suprized I haven’t seen this thread before. Simply gorgeous rifle in an under appreciated caliber by all but those that actually use it. I have yet to find a load that my CZ 550 FS does not shoot well. The 9.3x62 is another of what are known as inherently accurate rounds. It’s performance on game is perfect for a meat hunter such as me. Eat right up to the hole and very little tracking involved. Great choice and great rifle.
 

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