Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles 9.3x62mm Brass. Much difference between mfgs?

triplecanopy,

Evidently it doesn't take a BIG-bore rifle for KILLING Cape Buffalo efficiently, as one Kenya Game Ranger during WWII (shooting from a Land Rover,) killed HUNDREDS "on control" to feed German/Italian POWs with a Mark I SMLE & standard British service ammo.

Otoh, the famous PH, Harry Selby, often said, "Best not wound a Cape Buff, as a railroad engine might not stop a wounded bull, when they are charging."
(Selby routinely used a DB 10 gauge, loaded with heavy shot, for turning wounded Cape Buff.)

yours, tex

Thanks to all for sharing opinions.

OT a bit but.....if you should be needing some 9.3x62 Lapua brass anytime in the future........Merry Xmas

Box of 100.....90 bucks shipped using the sale going on at Brownells after using the 10 dollar coupon in the link,

*Note* They state and do sometimes run out of stock before sales end and shipping can be later but mine's on the way.


Id have added the link to Brownells but......hmm.....its about four lines long for some reason. Easy to find though.

https://slickdeals.net/coupons/brownells/

Thanks again to all and God Bless you and yours this Christmas.

Steve

Thanks for the heads up....

I suggest you consider RWS brass. The quality is outstanding (best there is, bar none) and they come in 20 round paper boxes (very handy for taking loaded ammo with you on hunting trips). The picture below shows three cartridges loaded with RWS brass. The one to the left is 9.3X62.

Merry Christmass!
Omid

Just buy Norma and be done with it. That's all I ever used in my 9.3x62mm and it was the most uniform brass I've seen. Accuracy was phenomenal too...

New member, but have been lurking for a while, and read the REALLY long thread on the reloading for 9.3x62. I'm using Big Game with NAB, Norma Brass and WLR primers. I'm not getting the velocity I was expecting, and a pretty wide variance from bottom to top (2424 fps to 2496). I'm using Nosler's COAL of 3.223" and 62.9 gr of Big Game

My first batch of reloads was Hornady 286 with 62.0 gr 2000 MR, and am getting 2420, +/- 11 fps, seated to 3.165"

Is my velocity and consistency issue with the Big Game related to seating depth/jump?

Every step up the ladder with both Hornady and NAB has given me pretty good accuracy, the worst being about 1.5" @100 yds.

I shoot a Zastava LR Mauser. I'm a lefty and a custom gun is out of the budget. It's not a pretty rifle, but it puts the bullets where I aim them, so no complaints.

Big game seems to perform best when compressed a bit . A lot of us are using 65-66gr of it with 286 gr bullets .

I loaded up some accubonds with varget instead , haven’t tried them yet so we will see .

So far all the loads I’ve tried from John B have been practically spot on for velocity and performance .

Is there a reason you stopped at 62.9 gr of big game with that bullet? Not questioning your motives just genuinely curious

I started at the bottom and worked my way up. 63.0 is the max listed on the Western Powders data sheet. I'm planning on going higher, but I already had 6 5-shot strings to shoot. 30-40 rounds is about my daily limit with the 9.3

I had tried Varget with the Hornady 286. I got good groups with it, but with 286 gr, I start getting compressed at about 55 gr or so (and I much prefer using Lee FCD for crimping). However, Hornady does show a COAL for that load at 3.125", almost a full 0.1" shorter than what Nosler publishes for the NAB 250. So rather than being compressed, I just set the bullets to the bottom of the canelure and stretched out the COAL. I may set the NAB to 3.165" like I'm doing with the Hornady and see what happens. I really only want to get to about 2600-2625 with the accubonds anyway.

My buddy and I are planning on going to Holy Cross in September. I already have 2 great loads for my 45-70, BTB 525 and 425 gr, both at about 1625 fps. I'm still messing around with the 9.3 loads. If I have the time between now and September, I'd like to work up loads also for NP, Oryx, and A-Frame. I know those are all more pill than necessary for moose, but since we're doing DIY, I figure I need enough pill to deal with potential bear encounters. If I had a guide to back me up, I'd probably just bring my 6.5x55 Swede loaded with Oryx 156 gr.

I understand . I’m operating outside of the western power data , comfortable with it in my rifle .

I’ve read , and then personally experienced that big game performs better in the 60,000 psi area , as it was apparently designed to do so .

Thanks.

Love your sig line, BTW. I've talked my buddy out of being a Creedmoorian and into being a Swede. Every 6.5x55 I know of will fit the 155, 156, and 160s. I've heard that's hit or miss with 6.5CM and 260 Rem.

FWIW, my one experience with Hornady 9.3x62 brass was really discouraging. It was the most uneven lot of brass that I have ever measured and weighed. I switched to Norma and experienced no problems and long case life.

DanielOwnLynch,

I don't use Big Game with 250-grain bullets in the 9.3x62, as in my experience it's too slow-burning for good results. Which is probably why you're seeing such low velocity, and wide velocity spreads. Big Game and the other Ramshot spherical rifle powders tend to perform best when producing close to 60,000 PSI, the SAAMI standard for the .30-06.

The SAAMI standard for the 9.3x62 is lower than 60,000 PSI, because of possible danger in old rifles--which is why published loading data doesn't normally reach even 50,000 PSI. This is far below the pressure where Big Game starts to perform consistently.

I use either Reloder 15 or Varget with 250's, loading to 2650 fps. In my rifle RL-15 is slightly more accurate, but not as temperature resistant as Varget, and when shooting big game appropriate to the 9.3x62 the slight difference in accuracy doesn't matter in the slightest.

I use Big Game with heavier bullets, where it does reach pressures high enough to burn consistently. I normally use 66.0 grains with 286
s, which gets around 2450-2500 fps from my CZ 550's 23.6 inch barrel, depending on the bullet. Accuracy is great and velocities consistent, whether shot at 70 degrees or zero here in Montana.

I have had both my 250 and 286-grain loads lab-tested, and they average right around .30-06 pressures, 60,000 PSI. Have used the Big Game/286 load in a Africa at over 100 degrees. It worked fine there too.

Good to know. Thanks very much.

One powder I'm not short on is Varget. I assume my Zastava is safe to 60K psi since they use the same receiver for all of their non-magnum rifles.

Are you seating your Noslers to the depth that Nosler publishes in #7 and #8, or do you go a little shorter?

Also not short of NABs - midway was blowing them out about 8 or 9 months ago. Guess I'll start over with them. Also have some NPs, but haven't done anything with them yet.

I seat bullets to the max length of the magazine, about 3.4" overall, because the throats of 9.3x62's (like many cartridges of that era) are typically very long, since they were designed around heavy, round-nosed bullets. None of the spitzers I've loaded come anywhere near the lands, yet the rifle is very accurate with just about anything.

Lots of quality brass out there for the 9.x62. Have had good results with Norma, RWS, and as of late Nosler. Don't know if they actually make it, or re-brand, and really don't care; it's good brass! They were clearing it out at a very good discount, and I laid in a lifetime supply. With all the correct head stamped, ready to load brass available, I can't fathom why anyone would piss around fire forming 30-06 brass in this round, but to each his own.

+1 on Mule Deer's load info above, it's spot on. RL15/Varget with 250's and Big Game with 286's and you can't go wrong.

Jeff