Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Express Rifles and Big Bores Only Finally, a 9.3 rifle in hand

So I haven't been on the site in a long time. Going back about 5 years, I had bought an Interarms Mauser in .243 as a base for a 9.3x62 build.

After many years of the project getting off the ground, I decided to sell the Mark X and scrap the idea.

Things have a funny way of working themselves out though. I had posted the Mark X for sale on a local forum and had a buyer before the end of the day. Later that week, I stopped by a friends shop. He and I had plans of building up a couple 9.3's together. So we chatted a bit and I told him I was selling my .243. He says to me "Oh, I should have told you, there a gun shop just past your house and he has a 9.3x62 for $450. I don't know why I didn't think to tell you!"

So, next day I go by the shop and ask the owner if he has a Mauser for sale. He says, Uh, no. I says You don't have a 9.3x62? He says, well, I do have this CZ a guy sold me. It's in some weird caliber. It might be 9.3. So I follow him to the gun rack and he picks up a CA 550 American in 9.3. We chatted a bit about the gun and the caliber. He said a guy sold it to him with some ammo. The guy was gonna go on a hunt that never came about (much like my 9.3 build). So the tag has a 450 on it, so I ask him if he'd do $450 out the door. He says "Uh. No, that's about what I have in it. What's the price on it. Turns out 450 was a stock number, but it's priced $675. He says I'll do $650 out the doors and I'll throw in all the ammo. I say fine. He gets the ammo, and I'm figuring a couple boxes of Privi or such. Turns out it's a box of Nosler Custom 286gr Partitions, a box of Norma 232gr Vulkan and two boxes of Superior Ammo made up of 10 each 286gr Woodleigh SP's, 286gr Barnes TSX, 250gr Woodleighs, and 250gr Barnes TSX.

I knew that made the price of the gun worthwhile. I figured at least $30/box.

So I out money down on the package.

I priced the ammo online yesterday, and it's nearly $300 retail. So <$400 for a like new 550 in 9.3.

Made my week. Can't wait for squirrel season. Ya'll suppose those 286 gr Woodleigh will stop a gray squirrel?

No pics just yet, but I took it shooting this weekend (sans scope) to see what the recoil was like. It shoots like a dream. The recoil is about equal to the Remington 600 in .308 that my son shoots. It's hard to believe that a rifle capable of dropping a grizzly could shoot so mildly. I'll get a scope on it and post some pics.

My interest in the 9.3 goes back at least five years, so I have an idea of it's usefulness. It's unlikely that I will ever hunt in Africa, but the big game in North America are not out of the realm of possibility. I wanted a 9.3 more because I "just did" than for any actual need. I will hunt whitetail with it this year. I'm thinking I'll stick with a Norma 232 Vulkan for them, over the 286gr bullets. The only detractor I've noticed is the lack of lighter bullets for less big game. Maybe they're out there but I haven't found them. A friend just bought a CNC turning center and is planning to turn some solid copper bullets for his 338 Lapua. I'm considering working on a solid around 200-225 grain for the 9.3 if we can keep the dimensions right. I'm a long range shooter, so it's hard to not want to do the same with the 9.3. I see that with 250gr Accubonds, the rounds is still supersonic at 1,200 yards (and has the energy at 800 yds that a 5.56 does at the muzzle). I know that's not the typical application of the bullet, but if it'll do it, I'll try it.