Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Choosing Between 9.3x62 and .35 Whelen Ackley Improved

LMAO

I bought a bunch of those bullets from powder valley shoot very well. Also at the time nosler was selling 250 a-bombs seconds dirt cheap. The 9.3x62 is the easy answer especially the rebore from JES.

I would bet you shoot 100 animals with each and you couldn’t tell the difference

I see some touting the Whelen as a plinker and small game round with pistol bullets, saying that the 9.3X62 isn't, no pistol bullets for it.

Do your homework, Whelenuts.

https://www.grafs.com/retail/catalog/product/productId/29128

9.3x62mm.



Why reinvent the wheel?




GR

I believe the best all-around bullet for the 9.3 x 62 could well be the 250gr AccuBond with a .493 BC. It shoots flat and retains enough energy for a bull moose at 500 yds.

Here is the data from my Tikka T3 Lite with a 570mm barrel (22.44"): +2700 fps from 70 grs of RL-17, Hornady brass, WLRM primers, 3.37" COL (restrained to that by the clip regardless of bullet used). 109% load density at ~64,000 psi (same as a .338 Win Mag. Tikka also makes a .338 Win Mag identical to mine in 9.3 x 62 except with a 24" barrel). That load consistently shoots into sub-1/2 moa. At 83 yds that bullet took out heart and lungs of a 6' bear with a blood trail a 2yr old could follow - for 20 yds.

Here's some data for that load: MV = 2714 fps/4090 ft-lbs// 100 yds = 2540 fps/3582 ft-lbs/+3.1"// 200 yds = 2373 fps = 3127 ft-lbs/+2.55"// 300 yds = 2212 fps/2717 ft-lbs/-4"// 400 yds = 2058 fps/2352 ft-lbs/-18"// 500 yds = 1910 fps/2026 ft-lbs./ -40" ( OVER a TON of energy at 500 yds!)

That's not a 300 yd rifle! And the 286gr Partition shows better results than that using 68 grs in Lapua cases at +2600 fps!

Bob
www.bigbores.ca

My comment on AI'ing (which appeared in at least one of my books) did NOT say there wasn't enough shoulder. Instead there's so little shoulder in the standard .35 Whelen that "blowing it out" doesn't result in any meaningful gain in powder room. And yes, I've owned both the standard and AI .35 Whelens. Give me the standard any time....

I went with the Whelen because ever since I was a little boy I read about Col. T. Whelen and I dreamed of one day having use for a classic American beauty and an original “wildcat”. I’m a sentimental fool so it was easy for me. I don’t have any affinity for Europe so I’ll stay close to home with my Whelen. 😉

In keeping with the patriotic sentiments....if the donor is a Ruger, Winchester, Remington, etc. - make mine a Whelen

If you find a nice Mauser donor - 9.3x62

I also second the standard over the A.I. I have owned both. The A.I. gives a little more shoulder for positive headspace but the standard headspaces just fine and feeds like a greased trout.

I had a 700 cdl Whelen that show great but at some point I decided I didn't need anything between 30 cal and 375 and sold off my mid bores in an effort to simplify a bit. I also sold anything 270 or 25 cal. Since then I've picked up another 358 in a blr because I'm casting again and had another 270 wsm montana follow me home because you can't have too many montanas.

One day I'll probably end up with a 9,3x62 because I've liked them ever since I saw my first one in South Africa in 1993. Plus 9,3 bullets tend to have a better BC than 35s. I wanted a cz 550fs in 9,3 but didn't get around to it until they dried up. I have a 24" fluted stainless rem 700 30-06 barrel that came off a 700 Alaskan ti that I've thought about having rebored to 9,3 but I'd like it shorter and the flutes go out too far to cut much off. I could dig a 20" 9,3x62 with open sights in stainless synthetic.

Bb

Love the Whelen and the 9.3. I'd leave the 35 as is. If I really needed to step up I think I'd have to move to the 375 h&h or 375 ruger. However, nothing I currently hunt requires it. In our short lifespan, get what moves you! America!

I may take my .35 Whelen on my elk hunt this year. There are some areas where shots generally are inside 300, so I may take it on the days that I hunt those areas. A couple of areas can present longer shots, so I’ll likely take my .300 Wby those days.

I’d go whelen, improved ain’t worth the squeeze…

Go Whelen, about all you need is a 225 gr TSX some RL-15 and Remington cases.

I don’t feel under-gunned with these backing me up..

200gr Fusion, 250PSP Corelokt 250RNSP Corelokt and 280 Swift A-Frame

I don’t need my Whelen to have high BC’s or blazing speeds since it’s sole life is dedicated to doing the vast majority of its work under 100 yards and in reality more like under 50 yards…

Up close, down and dirty…

I also like to shoot a 200 to 250 gr in the Whelen. However, check out the ballistics of the Whelen with 180 gr at 2900fps......no slouch at range.

That's about my favorite load these days, the 200 TTSX at 2900 from my little Ruger.

I still haven't seen a huge difference in powder capacity at the same COALs but I have less experience loading for the 9.3 than the Whelen.

The 9.3's bullet selection under 250 grains is pretty limited and all the lighter 9.3 bullets are as aerodynamic as bricks, but from 250 up it's great and all factory rifles will stabilize the bullets.

The .35's bullet selection over 250 grains is pretty limited and if you have a Remington it probably won't stabilize them anyway, but the 35 has a great selection of fairly slick (for hunting bullets) under 250grains.

At the moment, you can find 9.3 brass (PPU, Norma, and Lapua all seem to be around) cheaper and more easily than Whelen brass but that might change in 6 months.

Talk to cz550 on the458 thread. He has worked up 250s over 2700 without undue pressure and that load bests the 338 Win Mag out to any sane distance. What’s not to love about that?