Originally Posted by smthgfshy
A few questions preceeded by my background:

background:

I'm a new handloader. Literally, just yesterday, I finished loading my first 9.3x62 loads. I've yet to shoot them. I've found throughout the last few months of researching handloading components, procedures, and recipes all to be fairly confusing and not well outlined for the noob. I persisted and here I am.

It seems to me that one of the tenants of handloading is never to exceed max published loads for fear of death and to work your way up. Yet, here in this thread, most loads are well above the MAX loads in any reloading manual. There is also talk of older pressure standards, stronger actions, and modern powders.

I'm reloading 9.3x62 mauser rounds using PPV brass, WLR primers, 286g Hornady Interlock spire point bullets, and a combination of Varget and BigGame powders for a Husqvarna 1640 rifle made in 1959 with a 19.5" barrel. I'm in Alaska and this would be used on moose and black bear.

I'm looking to achieve the most accurate load with at least 2350 ft/sec with a 286g bullet from this 19.5" barrel.

My 18 (3 of each of the below) starting loads are:

53.5g, 55.5g, & 57.5g of Varget and

56g, 58g, & 60g of BigGame.

Questions:

Am I going to die because my rifle explodes in my face?

I stuck to published charges based on the 'fear of death', however I'd like to increase charges especially in BigGame to the 64/65g range if my rifle can handle it. Does anyone see any issues with that if all pressure signs are absent and I'm still below my target velocity?

Thanks for letting me live.






I found old notes telling me I got 2285 FPS with 55.0 Varget and 2320 with 56.0 Varget and the Hornady 286 gr. That would have been a warm summer day in my Ruger No.1 with a 22” barrel.

If I wanted to up the oomph I went with Big Game or RL17 but nowadays I’m content to hang anywhere in the 2200’s with a good 286’er. (All 4 of my 9.3s are open sighted so ‘long range trajectory bothers me none).


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