I recently bought a BD-14 from @mikesheree in 9.3x74r w/ 22 hornet and finally got around to shooting it a bunch.
I think this is one of if not the last one made in 9.3 before they discontinued that caliber in the BD-14.
The gun is an engineering marvel in both weight reduction (7 pounds 7 ounces w/o scope) while retaining maximum practical accuracy. Finding a load I liked for the 9.3 was challenging though. Because this was the largest bore diameter offered, the barrel profile is the thinnest I've ever seen on a rifle. After 2 shots with my pet load, it's nearly too hot to touch a few inches in front of the throat of the chamber. I eventually used a battery powered mini blower/vac to cool between shots. The shape of the forend is also not conducive to bench rest, nor the light muzzle and 9.3 recoil, and I found the best results by wrapping my thumb and finger around it while gripping the front bag. I could get around 2 MOA with the 250gr nosler accubond and RL-17, but wasn't happy with that. 286 A-frame shot pretty good but I needed them for my double rifle and they've been out of stock for a while. The hammer hunter tipped 242 was interesting. Shot tiny groups but I was getting barrel fouling that eventually changed POI. If I cleaned the barrel it would shift back abruptly.
Then I tried the Cutting Edge 200gr FB Raptor. There's no load data that I could find for anything like this so I went to QuicklLoad to see what I had that could work. Couldn't get enough W748 or CFE223 in the case, but the ancient IMR 3031 seemed to be the winner. Just over 2800 fps with very consistent velocity. The brass bullets leave almost no fouling. Seating depth appears to matter a lot and the bullet wants to be close to the lands (0.010" or so). Anything 20 thou or more and accuracy suffered. Shot several 10 shot groups at 100 and 200m all sub MOA. shot a 1.2 MOA 10-shot group at 350m attempting to determine the unpublished ballistic coefficient, and based on drops i came up with ~0.27 G1. Kinda dismal but should be good for most stuff inside 300.
The 22 hornet barrel was thankfully super easy. It shoots the identical load i use in my D99 Duo of 50gr hornady spire point over 12gr Hodgdon Lil'gun into small groups. Regulation was straightforward once I figured it out.
I did have one interesting incident - the front sight assembly departed under recoil from the 9.3. Looked like it was glued on so I emailed Blaser for a DIY solution to avoid sending it in. They suggested epoxy so that's what I did.
Taking it to RSA in June for PG/birds and targets of opportunity!
I think this is one of if not the last one made in 9.3 before they discontinued that caliber in the BD-14.
The gun is an engineering marvel in both weight reduction (7 pounds 7 ounces w/o scope) while retaining maximum practical accuracy. Finding a load I liked for the 9.3 was challenging though. Because this was the largest bore diameter offered, the barrel profile is the thinnest I've ever seen on a rifle. After 2 shots with my pet load, it's nearly too hot to touch a few inches in front of the throat of the chamber. I eventually used a battery powered mini blower/vac to cool between shots. The shape of the forend is also not conducive to bench rest, nor the light muzzle and 9.3 recoil, and I found the best results by wrapping my thumb and finger around it while gripping the front bag. I could get around 2 MOA with the 250gr nosler accubond and RL-17, but wasn't happy with that. 286 A-frame shot pretty good but I needed them for my double rifle and they've been out of stock for a while. The hammer hunter tipped 242 was interesting. Shot tiny groups but I was getting barrel fouling that eventually changed POI. If I cleaned the barrel it would shift back abruptly.
Then I tried the Cutting Edge 200gr FB Raptor. There's no load data that I could find for anything like this so I went to QuicklLoad to see what I had that could work. Couldn't get enough W748 or CFE223 in the case, but the ancient IMR 3031 seemed to be the winner. Just over 2800 fps with very consistent velocity. The brass bullets leave almost no fouling. Seating depth appears to matter a lot and the bullet wants to be close to the lands (0.010" or so). Anything 20 thou or more and accuracy suffered. Shot several 10 shot groups at 100 and 200m all sub MOA. shot a 1.2 MOA 10-shot group at 350m attempting to determine the unpublished ballistic coefficient, and based on drops i came up with ~0.27 G1. Kinda dismal but should be good for most stuff inside 300.
The 22 hornet barrel was thankfully super easy. It shoots the identical load i use in my D99 Duo of 50gr hornady spire point over 12gr Hodgdon Lil'gun into small groups. Regulation was straightforward once I figured it out.
I did have one interesting incident - the front sight assembly departed under recoil from the 9.3. Looked like it was glued on so I emailed Blaser for a DIY solution to avoid sending it in. They suggested epoxy so that's what I did.
Taking it to RSA in June for PG/birds and targets of opportunity!
