Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Experience with the 9.3X57 Mauser?

Hello to all.
Who here has hunting and killed game with a 9.3X57 Mauser Cartridge?

I am looking for information and stories about the performance of the cartridge on game, and details of the shot angles, range, bullet used, velocity (barrel length may help) wound channels and bone broken and so on.

I am hoping to make one for myself this year along with a 9.3X62 I am making now.

I own and have used a 9.3X74R in my Ruger #1 quite a lot, so I have experience with the it. I will assume I will see nothing much different from the 9.3X62.

But storied about the use of the 9.3X57 are rare in the USA.
Please,,,,,do tell.

You might also pose the same question to the 9.3X57 guys on Gunboards.
http://forums.gunboards.com/showthread.php?645-Handloading-the-9-3x57

I cast a flat nose 280 bullet for a friend. Loaded to 1800fps he killed a cow elk every year for eleven years. He made sure there wasn't another elk behind as they always excited.

That sounds like a freight train.

I have no hunting experience with the 9.3x57 YET, but I do have some 232 Norma Vulkans I'd like to run into something with the old Husky.

Dons1 that's a good link. Thank you.

Moose, I also have been thinking about making a cast gun out of it. It will have a new and shiny barrel so a good cast bullet load would be a very good all-around way to go. With a 280 grain bullet (+ or - about 10 grains) going 1900 to 2000 I expect I could kill anything that walks in Wyoming, and probably most things that walks anywhere.

Well I got 3 of the new barrels into the actions today. 2 will be 9.3X57s and one will be a 9.3X62. One of the 9.3X57s is mine.
Still need to contour and polish them. But I'll chip away at them and they'll be done pretty soon.
I have 4 more 9.3X62s to get together in the coming month or so. One L.H. Ruger and 3 more Mausers. One of them is going to be mine as well.
Seems Wyoming is "discovering" the 9.3s.

First one done. Shoots well.
Simple re-barrel on a friends rifle.
Here is the very first group shot at 100 yards.

Very nice. Cannot complain about that.

Any pictures of the rifle?

No Beretzs, he took it already. Not much to look at.
Just a Standard Grade Mk10 Mauser with a shot-out 270 barrel re-barreled to the 9.3.
Other than the new barrel it's just a well used Interarms Mk10 Mauser.

I am making 2 fully custom Mausers in 9.3X62 and in 9.3X57 this year. I can post picture of them when they are done, but that's going to be a few months

My guess is you'll like both of them. I have a Husqvarna 46 in 9.3x57 and am loading some of the old Norma 286 grain round nose. I haven't had the opportunity to try it yet on game. but expect it will work fine. The load runs right at 2150-2200 and very accurate. I'll have to check when I get home from the slope to see what powder I used. It was either 4985 or 3031.

I read over on Nitro Express you're thinking of a carbine for the 57. That should make a great close cover, dark timber elk rifle. Having seen many of your finished rifles I know both your 9.3s will be spectacular.

I'll look forward to seeing them when you're done.

Thank you Mart. That was kind to say.

And I think you are right. I have fallen in love with my 9.3X74R and it's one of my all-time favorite hunting rifles now. I have also come to appreciate the 9.3 bullets. Not all, but most are quite good.
Then, due to the importation of CZ and Tikka with their 9.3X62s and the limited run Remington, Winchester and Ruger have done with their 9.3X62s I find that Wyoming hunters are becoming aware of the capabilities of the cartridge and the lack of a harsh kick. I am expecting this to take off here in Wyoming. LOTS to power and accuracy with "normal sized and normal priced" guns. The 375s are usually more expensive, hold 1-2 rounds less ammo, have longer barrels and are heavier. I am on my 2nd barrel of my 375H&H and I love the shell and I have a LOT of experience killing game with it, but if the truth is unvarnished, I have to admit, if I had been introduced to the 9.3X662 back in my 20s I may have never bought a 375. The 375is more powerful, but not enough to make a difference. If I need more I would have jumped up to the 458 or the 460 that I owned back then. I ended up selling off all my 458s and my 460 and later my 416s too because none of them were as useful to me as my 375H&H. The one I own has a 25" barrel, a Mauser 98 action that holds 3 rounds and weighs 10 pounds. The 9.3X62 I made for my friend (the one that convinced me to make one for myself) is on a 98 Mauser, has a 21" barrel, holds 5 rounds in the magazine,and weighs 8.6 pounds. His 250 gr .366' bullet shoots just as flat as my 270 grain .375 bullet. His 286 grain bullets are slower, but only 150 FPS, and weigh 16 grains more then my 375 bullets. Nothing in North American would know any real difference between the 2, I am pretty sure.

An example of what makes the 9.3X62 popular in Europe and Africa as well as Australia and Canada is probably illustrated well by what I jsut saw last week at my shop. A I know lady who owns a company in Green River which makes and sells Woman based products for the lady hunters and shooters came up to see me . She loves her guns and her hunting, but has Fibromyalgia and can't take a kick very well. She was here 2 weeks ago and fired my 9.3X74R and was amazed. The 9.3X62 can be loaded the same way and feels the same when fired. Her husband ordered one right there on the spot.

The 9.3X62 is the closest thing to the proverbial free-lunch I have seen in a long time. I will not say it is recoilless, but considering the power you get from it, it just seems t have about 1/2 the kick you'd expect it to. What I don't understand is how it can feel less abusive than the 35 Whelen. All in my mind? No. I let 4 others fire the rifles and didn't tell them what they are chambered in, and so far, all have said the 9.3 kicks less then the 35 Whelen. If it was imagination you'd have to know which one was which. The 9.3X62 I used for the test was loaded with 286 grain Hornady bullets at 2500 FPS. the 35 Whelen was loaded with 250 grain Speer bullets at 2500 FPS. Both rifles weigh within 2 oz of each other. So mathematically the 9.3 should kick harder. Same speed but heavier bullet. But no one so far says it does. Weird. In a good way....but weird. I confess I can't understand this, but that what i have seen.

Now the 9.3X57 is a real pussycat. I really like how they feel from the shoulder. Just a real "lady" but with 250gr Bonded bullets or 232 grain Norma bullets I expect they will kill like mad. I have feelers out in the USA and over the world now asking for feedback on kills made with the 9.3X57. I fully expect to hear good things only, but I still ask and I am willing to listen to the stories and the advice I get from those that have some experience with the shell. The old loads were around 2200 FPS but one man wrote to me from Finland and says he has one on a 98 Mauser and loads it to 8X57 military pressures and is getting 2600 FPS with no problems with the Norma 232 Grain.
If that makes the little carbine kick, I may just load it back to the old pressures however. If I want more power I have the 9.3X62 and the 9.3X74R. In fact, I have a 375H&H and a 404 Jeffery, so I see no need or reason to hot-rod the 9.3X57. A 250 grain bonded bullet at 2000 fps should be good for about any animal in North American that I can fire at from 300 yards or closer. I hope to put that theory to the test.

I have now made eight 9.3X62s for Wyoming hunters and two 9.3X57s. I decided I had to have one of each myself. By the time I use up these 7 barrels I just got in, I will have made eighteen 9.3s. ( I think that the right count) Most have been 9.3X62s with 2 being 9.3X57s and one re-barrel of a 9.3X72R.

The ballistics of the 9.3X62 are very close to the 35 Whelen and the ballistics of the 9.3X57 are close to the 358 Winchester. This depends on how the cartridges are loaded of course. With proper bullets I doubt there is enough difference between the 35s and the 36s to matter. But I just have come to like the 36s. Today you can buy .358 bullets that are the full equal to the .366 bullets. I have made a few 358s in the past and a lot of 35 Whelens too, so I know what to expect from them. 30 years ago there were not many .358" bullets that were worthy of the 35 Whelen but today there are many. Nosler, Barnes, Swift, Norma and Woodleigh all make them.

I hope I have many more good healthy years left to hunt. I feel it's just the "right thing to do" to fill my freezer with meat using all 3 of the 9.3s in the future.

Steve,

I have two of the 9.3x62's American cousins, the 35 and 400 Whelen and for a while had a 375 Whelen. All wonderful rounds, easy on the shoulder and terrific game killers. I also have the 9.3x57 and its big brother the 10.75x57 though I've not had the opportunity to use either on game. I would imagine the 232 grain Norma in the 9.3x57 would be a spectacular deer bullet. It would probably make elk and moose surrender with little trouble, though I tend to prefer the heavier bullets in any caliber.

I've used the 400 Whelen with 300-400 grain bullets on two caribou and one moose and never felt hampered by the pedestrian velocity. One caribou at 250 yards with a 400 grain Woodleigh, one at 200 yards with a 300 grain Barnes TSX and a cow moose with a 400 grain Hawk at 75 yards. I think the 9.3x57 in a carbine at standard velocity would be a sweet shooter and a solid killer. Like you said, if you need more horse power you can always use the 62.

On a side note, are you still building those beautiful muzzleloaders? I still dream of having a custom 62 caliber, left handed, half stock flintlock. Few are as nice as yours.

Mart

Yeah mart, I am still building them. In fact, that's still about 90% of my work.

If you want, PM me and we'll talk.

Well I just bought a new action to start a custom and really the only thing I just don't have in my cabinet is an over 30 cal. I was thinking an express sighted 358 Win, but the dang 9.3x57 or x62 will have to get a good look!

Both of these calibers sound like they will handle anything in North America and anything I could afford to hunt in Africa.

So far I have been very impressed with the 9.3s

I have killed over a dozen animals with my #1 Ruger so far. It's a 9.3X74R.
I have made eight 9.3X62s for Wyoming hunters and three 9.3X57s too. The performance on game is wonderful with all 3 cartridges so far, except for those I killed with the 270 Gr Speer bullets. All have died and all have been one shot kills, but the Speer bullets always blew up, even when they only hit small deer and doe antelope.
But all other bullets in all 3 cartridges have done the job from" good to extremely good". My personal kills have been made with the Speer 270 grain (as stated) the RWS 225 grain, the Hornady 286 gr, and the Nosler 286 gr. I have seen animals killed by friends using the Barnes 250 grain bullets and the PPU 285 grain bullets and the

I am looking for feedback as often and as detailed as I can get it. One friend is using the 9.3X57 (not from a gun I made) on Moose and caribou and he's using the Norma 232grain bullet. He loves it.

Now I have been seduced. I am in the process of making myself a 9.3X62 and a 9.3X57, both on Mausers. Just in the last 2 years the 9.3X62 is catching on like a wildfire in Wyoming. Maybe other places too. I hear about men and a few women having them made or buying the Tikka, CZ and the Rugers in Montana, Idaho and a few in Utah too. The 9.3X57 has not caught on as much, but enough to get my attention. I may even buy my own chamber reamer for it soon. So far, the ones I have made were done with rented reamers, but if I get a few more asking for that shell I will simply buy my own reamer. I already have reamers for the 9.3X74R and the 9.3X62