Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Looking for good 9.3x62 elk hunting loads

Where you saying the 12ga slug will out penetrate the 9.3??



I have found the 286r Nosler Partition to be THE bullet for my 9.3x62. I�m running it right at 2460fps and it has proven very effective out to 300 yards on moose. Good expansion and complete penetration. I see it as the perfect 9.3 bullet.

The 270gr speer is far to soft for use on big game. It would probably work fine for whitetails or smaller bears but when used on moose it failed miserably. I shot a small bull in the neck at 15 yards, the bullet completely came apart. Penetration was only 3-4� and the bullet fragmented to pieces like a varmint bullet.

I�m sure the 250 accubond and TSX are fine bullets but I don�t see much need for them. If I wanted to run a 250gr bullet I would have built a 338/06 or 35 whelen. The 286gr bullet will easily reach out as far as I need it to.

Josh,

Pay no attention to 7x64FN. He's a notorious troll who's one of the few who's been banned from the Campfire, but keeps trying under different user names. This must be number 17.

57 gr RL-17 runs a very accurate 2400 fps with 320 gr Woodleigh PP bullets in my 25" barreled Heym 98 Mauser, I love this round and would handily hunt elk, moose or big bears in the brush or out to 250 long yards with this setup.

I'm going to have to agree with Josh on this one. I love the 286gr Nosler partition. My 9.3 loves them even more than I do and the elk hate the hell out of them. A damn good winning combination!!! I have a load I use in my CZ 550 somewhere around here. I'll post it, but pay no attention to the 9.3 caliber holes in the target . I use a cheap (by some of these guys' standards) Burris FFII 3-9x40 with ballistic plex reticle scope on this rifle and the ballistic plex reticle works great out to 400 yards. After that, it drops off too much to use the 5th hash mark. I've shot pop cans out to 400 yards, but not big game (at that range) with this rifle. However, I know it would whack the hell out of anything at that range and further...




Sorry for the "cherry picked" group in the above pic. Here are some 5 shot groups instead :





Keep an eye on SPS to have some good deals on the 286 gr. Nosler partitons (blemished/factory seconds). I think I paid $16.99/50 for the last few hundred I bought. Damn good place to buy bullets. The groups above and elk were all shot with the "blemished" bullets...

BSA,

The only reservation I have about using the 286 at longer ranges is the velocity drops below 1800 fps shortly beyond 400, even when the bullet's started at 2500 fps. 1800's the minimum velocity level recommended by Nosler for sure expansion.

The 250 AccuBond has a slightly higher BC than the 286 Partition, and can be started around 150 fps faster, which is why I tend to use it when ranges can be longer. Nosler also recommends 1800 fps as a minimum expansion velocity for AccuBonds.

Good post John. I agree. I'm thinking the Op was talking about dark timber hunting elk, where ranges wouldn't be over 200 yards probably. I can relate to this scenerio as most of my elk have been in timber where shots haven't been over 100 yards. Honestly (I hate to say it), I'd have to draw a line at 400 yards with the 286gr partition and 9.3x62mm as the ethical hunter in me totally agrees with you... Will it kill past that range, of course, but I won't be the one pulling that trigger...

John,s loads have been great in my 9.3 X 62 I use Ram Shot Big Game with 286 Gr bullets and RL 15 with 250 gr.

Interesting. I have not found the 250 gr X lacking in penetration. Even on eland at 30 yards.

Thanks to everyone for their input on good elk rounds for the 9.3x62...It looks like it's going to be fun.
I've picked up both some 286gr and some 250 TTSX. I'm going to try them out working up toward the loads that were recommended and we'll see which one my gun likes.
Just for clarification (sorry for being the stimuli for such confusing conversation) but when I meant black timber, I meant that it would be a relatively short range shot (up to 150 yds). I wasn't intending for a round that would "penetrate" brush better than another.
Thanks again for all the help.

Late to this discussion, but I have some opinions on 9,3mm bullets at their usual velocities.

I have used the 9,3 in two forms quite a bit, the 9,3X74R and 9,3X62. They shoot at similar velocities, 2,300 to 2,450.

I have found that the inexpensive Previ cup&core bullets work about as well as anything else, and they have been the most accurate bullets out a dozen 9,3s I've had. Speer 270s are also fine at the 9,3X62 velocities. I never shot a Swift A-frame in 9,3 I liked.

I did load 250 Ballistic tips for PG hunting, but I never attained stellar accuracy, and the 9,3X62 is known to shoot the same spot; the 9,3X74R not so much but still pretty well for break open guns.

The 286 Nosler didn't shoot as well, and it is a bit tough for low 9,3 velocities, IMO. It is a great 9,3 bullet for a first shot on buffalo, followed by 286gr solids. It's a narrow niche bullet.

The 9,3X62 is a thump'em-dump'em round and should make you an excellent elk killer. I'm now using Speer 270s if that means anything (besides I'm cheap, that is).

Bruce,

My experience with the 286 Partition on smaller big game is the opposite of yours. I've used them at 2400-2500 fps on numerous animals from 50 to 250 pounds in both North America and Africa, and can't recall any of the animals going much more than 25 yards after being hit, with a very high percentage dropping right there. (Have had similar results on animals from 350 to over 1000 pounds as well.)

Maybe 2400 fps isn't "low 9.3 velocities"?

John, perhaps you can recall that artical in one of the Wolfe magazines about the PH
who shot a ton of Elephants with the 9.3x62 and did not feel undergunned at all ?

I know it's some where in my "pile" of saved back issues, but that could take a day to find.

His photos sure proved that the 9.3 kills like the hammer of Thor and is easier for the average guy to shoot than a 45-50 caliber magnum.

Thanks!

Is any one using a 285gr Lapua Mega and VV N-550 powder? I've used the 250gr NAB and like it but availability has been sketchy to non-existent.

I sold my 9.3x62 because I'd shot enough Asian Water Buffalo, some as close as 25 feet in thick scrub I tried both 250 and 286gn Woodleigh Protected Point bullets and found my load at 57.5gn Varget with 286gn. I used Norma and Selier and Belliot cases, and Redding dies.