Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles 9.3x57 load data?

Well, I finally got a reasonably priced set of dies for my 96 action 9.3x57...where can I get loading info for it?

From me... . I've been loading for my M96 (Husqvarna 146) for about five years. Reloder 15 is your friend, as are 270 gr Speer bullets, Woodleigh 250 gr bullets, and Norma 232 gr bullets, if you can get them. Norma 9.3x57 brass is generally available, which solves a lot of problems. I'd start around 47 or 48 gr of Re 15 and work up. I'm loading 52 gr, but caution is always in order. IMR 4895, also starting around 47 gr and working up to around 50-52, is another good powder choice.

I'm running 250 Woodleighs right at 2300 fps, with good accuracy and no pressure signs. 232 Normas I have running close to 2350 fps, also with no pressure signs. The 270 Speers run at 2200 fps, easily.

Does your rifle look something like this one?



Here is a full-length pic -- Husqvarna is the one on the bottom.



Great rifles, and a great, though sadly underappreciated, cartridge.

Dennis

I am new to the 9.3x57. I got to shoot my M 46 last weekend, using 270gr Speer and 46gr IMR 4895 got groups around 3/4" at 25 yards , open sights and my old eyes using trifocal glasses. I had glass bedded the action and this was my second time out with it. I had to adjust the sights about 1.5" to the right to center the target. Next I have to try some long range shooting with a bigger target ( was using 25 yard pistol target)

This one is mine:





Note that last pic. It is one of the reasons I bought this particular gun. I got this gun fresh off the boat from Sweden, and unlike many of the ones I saw and have continued to see, this on is MINT with NO scratches, stock dings, and safeties or bolts ground to accept the scope. that scope, BTW, is a very early Weaver K3 with brass internals at each end, and is quite nice!

I recently had a very good trade for something else, and backed out last minute. I just could not let it go. I am not sure what model it is and it is unmarked, but it appears to have a military action, as it is equipped witht the bolt stop on the follower and the thumb cut too.

Thanks for the load info. I do not want a butt-stomper load. I also own a '03 Springer in 458 win-mag for that, should I have desire for same. Just a good middle of the road load, heavier than say, 35 Remington, but not as heavy as 35 Whelen

They have to be one of the finest looking rifles around. I had always wanted a "classic" European rifle, and then I start to see Husky's popping up, PERFECT. Mine doesn't look nearly as nice as the rifles above, but is still a blast and a half. The good news is that I can refinish it without feeling like I just made the rifle completely worthless.

thank you evans, that is a very nice complement!

The beauty of this gun is also it's curse - I can't bear to take it in the woods!

Those are some beautiful rifles! Congrat's. Pretty neat cartridge also!

I bought one about 6 years ago and have never fired it refusing to pay $50 plus a box for ammo. Each year I say this is the year I will get a press and get started. Then something else takes priority.

Has anyone actually hunted with theirs yet? Successfully?

Hi!

Your rifle is a Husqvarna m/46 produced from 1927 to 1937 when it was superceded by the M/146 which was made on a Belgian M/98 mechanism.

If you have access to Norma powders they have data on their homepage: Load data for 9,3x57 . They use mag pimers in their data btw. 203-B should be the eqvivalent of Rel 15.

Do you have access to Vithavouri powders? If so I have more data back home.

Just a sideline:
For those Areican that has taken a liking to the caliber and the Swedish rifles chambered in it I think it is time to act and buy one if you haven't done it yet. The 9,3x57 is having an upswing and is becoming really popular here again. This is due to the rising populations of wild boars and bears. It is now popular enough that the Swedeish importer convinced Blaser to chamber it.... I belive that fewer 9,3x57's than before will find their way over the ocean - especially those made on M/98's as the M/96 is not as popular here anymore.

//K9

Here the barrels are chopped of with hacksaws, sights changed, and the stocks camouflage painted.... It is seen as the perfect "truck gun" / bush gun / tracking gun when modified a little bit.....
//K9

You are correct...I have an M46, not a 146, as I incorrectly stated in my original response to the original poster.

I'm sure Norma and Vithavouri powders work well, but given the success of Reloder 15 and IMR 4895 in the 9.3x57, there is no particular need to go out of the way to find rare powders in this country.

I love mine dearly; I only wish it could talk with me and tell me stories of its hunting trips in the Old Country before coming to America and ending up in Alaska .

One question, though. What is the message of the stickers on the OP's rifle's stock?

Dennis

Ahh, you mean the same reason we don't use much American powders here... The Norma link was posted as reference to N 203-B data with the conection to the Rel 15. Both are made by Bofors and are very close but not quite the same. THE powder for the 9,3x57 is VV 140 if one can get it.

The stickers are proof of the rifles owner having passed a shooting test many moose hunting teams require thet you pass before you join for that years hunt. This is especially common for teams leasing Government and lumber company land up North.

//K9

Thanks for filling in the gap on the stickers. They looked very official, so I thought it must be something on that order.

I have the sense that the 9.3x57 is pretty flexible on powders, as there are quite a few in the "medium speed" category that ought to work well. And it's not like anyone is going to try to milk the last 25 fps out of it anyway -- with 232 to 286 gr bullets, they just don't have to be going that fast to break important body parts on impact .

Dennis

I glass bedded mine and finally got a chance to shoot it last weekend. I only shot at 25 yards, adjusting windage on the open sights. My final group was 7 shots in a little over a 1/2" dead center in bullseye, using a 6 o'clock hold on a 25 yard pistol target. Load was 270 gr Speer in front of 46 gr of IMR 4895.

I believe I have to make a 9.3X57 for myself.
I own a 9.3X74R and I have a 9.3X62 in the works now. So I think I "need" one of each.

So I will be looking for a Mauser action, KAR length, in the future. Nothing special, but just a good sound action that I can customize and make my own. The .366 Bullets have impressed me with their performance on game. I think I need to soot as many big game animals as i can find the time for in the years I have left on this earth, and I think many will have to fall to 9.3S

Old thread but nice to see its resurrection because it is the one that introduced me to the 9.3x57.

If you don't know about the outfit linked below already, it is worth a look when looking for a 9.3x57 or even a FN 98 donor to make your own.

http://www.simpsonltd.com/index.php?cPath=350_370_371&osCsid=477fdfd64bba173e1d090bb2e08f7cfb

Thanks Carbon12, that's a cool site.
But I am looking for an action only, or barreled action with a bad barrel. I ordered seven 9.3MM barrels yesterday and they should be coming in within 2 weeks. 5 of the 7 are pre-sold and I kept one back for myself to make the 9.3X57. the last one will be a 9.3x62 for a friend.
I am surprised at how fast the shooters around here are waking up to the merits of the 9.3X62. Up to a few years ago most had never heard of it. Now it seems lots of hunters in Western Wyoming wants one. I understand the draw, but I wonder how the information got out so far and so fast.
The 9.3X62 seems to be the most power a hunter can get for the least cash of any heavy hitter available. You simply need to rebarrel a 30-06 length bolt action and you've got it. In some cases it's necessary to move the shoulder on the feed lips forward a bit, but it's easy to do.

The 9.3X57 is all the 358 Winchesters is and a bit more, with a better selection of good bullets for large game available. I was on Midway's site looking at .358 bullets and counting them. I then looked at 9.3MM bullet and counted them too. They have more 9.3MM to sell then .358s and the 9.3 bullets are made with thicker jackets as a rule so work better on game larger then deer.

Overall the .366 is a size that deserves to be more popular and now it seems many hunters are noticing.

Have you ever shot 95gr 9mm JHP Makarov bullets through your 9.3s? Loaded to 900-1000 FPS with Red Dot, they are a cheap thrill. Although the Mak bullet is a RCH shy of the correct bore size, loading them reversed, the HP behaves like the skirt on a airgun pellet and fills the bore upon ignition. Near MOA precision to 25 yds in my Husqvarnas. Plus, if using the Mak bullet to bag small game, the .363 diameter meplat is flat out holy.

I have about a dozen Husqvarna 9,3x57's including the M46, M46A, and M146. I like the looks of the M46A the best and find that the M46 and 46A being built on the Small Ring 96 action handle a lot better than the M146. As much as I love these rifles, shooting open sights is getting harder as I get older. So, somewhere along the line I ended up with an M46 barrel with excellent bore. I happened to have a Small Ring Mexican 98 action with a Lyman receiver sight. I did the logical thing and mated the barrel to the action and voila, sights I can see and an action that can handle a bit more pressure should I ever desire it. More importantly, it has all the gas handling qualities inherent in a 98 action.

I just need to stock it this summer and head to Texas in the Fall for some wholesale pig slaying. I have a stash of the older Prvi 285's with the rounder nose profile. these shoot and perform amazingly at the speeds the 57 is capable of.

Carbon 12 that is a wonderful idea!
I own a 9.3X74R now, and I will soon have a Mauser in 9.3X62. I am going to build it on a GEW length Steyr Mauser. I hope to acquire a KAR length Mauser to make myself a 9.3X57 in the coming year.

All could use the makarov bullets I am sure. I may even make up a gas-check mold to cast some "mak bullets"
If I can get good accuracy from these 3 rifles with love velocity loads I'd bet they would be great for pests and for filling the stew pot on hunts with small game.