drducati,
The 9.3 BS is very real. The "April Fool" cartridge was the B-29, a mythical wildcat on the 7.5x55 Swiss case.
Charlie Sisk and I developed the 9.3 BS on the .350 Remington Magnum case for several reasons:
1) I was probably the only gun writer in America who hadn't developed a wildcat (well, aside from the B-29).
2) Charlie had found that the .350 Remington case fed more reliably in short actions than the WSM cases. In fact it fed VERY reliably.
3) It had just about exactly the same powder capacity as the 9.3x62, so would produce the same ballistics.
4) Rifle loonies are always building rifles on short actions, even though there isn't any real advantage, unless you're only 5'3" and a long bolt might hit you in the face when you bring it back.
Charlie built my 9.3 BS on a Remington 700 action originally barreled in 7mm SAUM, with a Bansner sythetic stock and 23" Lilja barrel, I believe a #4. It weighs 7-1/2 pounds with a 1.25-4x Trijicon in Talley steel rings. It's also extremely accurate, and shoots about everything, sort of like a big .308.
I normally use 250-grain bullets at 2650 fps, but have used 286's at 2450 or so. It's a very handy rifle for about any kind of general big game hunting.
Charlie doesn't like recoil much (too many years of testing customers' .458 Lotts) so his own 9.3 BS weighs around 9 pounds scoped. He has also built some others for customers. They don't sell like .300 Winchester Magnums but he has built around a dozen, and has the reamer. Redding will make dies, though obviously they aren't a regularly stocked item.
One of the handier things about the 9.3 BS was discovered only after making up the first couple of rifles. If loading boattail bullets (like the 250 AccuBond) you don't have to neck up the brass. Seating an AccuBond in .350 Remington cases opens up the neck automatically.
We didn't take the whole project too seriously (though some people who build short-action rifles obviously do) but the 9.3 BS is a real cartridge. I have taken several animals with it--and it works JUST like the 9.3x62!
