Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles 9.3x62 or 30/06 ?

Getting ready to buy my first Zastava. Although Zastavas seem to have a better selection of left handed calibers than a lot of other manufacturers the only calibers available right now that interest me are the 9.3 and 30/06. The 6.5 swede is available as well but I have no experience with the 6.5s. Rifle will be used for general purpose hunting here in the Yukon....moose, caribou, sheep, bears. Which caliber would you choose and why??

Another question is how does the swede stack up against the creed ?

Anyone have an opinion on the best pivot mount for the Zastavas?

Thanks

.30/06 it will handle anything you want to hunt in the Yukon.

I have both and either will work for you but I've come to prefer my CZ 9.3x62 when in the deep bush for moose and bear.
The cartridge seems very friendly to load for and I have a surplus of new brass should you go that way. I'd be glad to share
my load with you.

Your awful close to the 9.3 X 62 guru Ted ! He will probably sway you to the 9.3 ! But for all around use tough to best the 06. Either will do just fine. I would have the 6.5 and the 9.3 ! You could load the 9.3 250 gr for long range and 286 for Bear and Moose and Bison.

I would buy a LH Ruger American Predator in 6.5 Creedmoor and the LH Zastava in 9.3 X 62 if I was in your shoes. Wish it was easier to sell a LH rifle to our neighbors in the Yukon have several you would love. Kurt

Just saw Stockys will finally ship stocks to Canada!

How do you handle Recoil?
I didn’t think I was sensitive as I could shoot my 06 what seems like all day, until I shot my 9.3.
06 for the win.

FWIW, I have owned rifles chambered in 9.3x62, 9.3x64 and 9.3x74R. I used them almost exclusively for hunting elk, both here in New Mexico and in Colorado. I have let them all go on down the road, and I am once again hunting just about everything with a revitalized pre-64 Model 70 .30-06 that I bought new when I graduated high school in 1961.

If you hand load, the venerable '06 can handle anything in North America. I have used it to take "big game" ranging from pronghorns and Coues whitetails up to elk and bison. You can also find factory ammo for the '06 in just about every venue that sells ammunition.

I have a 338 RCM that I shoot well, not sure how the 9.3 stacks up in recoil to that? I had a 375 Ruger and the recoil was enough that I didnt enjoy shooting it. Have a 444 that doesn't bother me at all....

Im going to order the rifle tomorrow, think you guys have convinced me to get the old 06. Havent had one in years, but my wife does so I already have everything I need to reload for it.

Anyone know where a guy could get a good aperture sight for a left hand zastava? Good to know about Stockys Kurt. I want a short forearm stock. This style used to be pretty popular with European hunters back when I first started guiding. Dont see them much anymore.

These fellas may be able to help you.
https://www.newenglandcustomgun.com/products.php?cat=338

Would be interested where you net out on the aperture. Working on same/similar for a LH Win M70...

Tough decision but in the end I went with the 9.3 . Thanks for all the input.

I think you will enjoy that rifle. Lefty '06's are pretty easy to find relatively speaking.

yukon254,

GOOD CHOICE imo, though there are "no flies on" the venerable 30.06 for Western Hemisphere game.
(I own/shoot/hunt with both calibers in the Remington Model 760. - The circa 1968 Model 760 was reformatted by Jessie at JES.)

Additionally, BOTH calibers are EASY to reload & both are great for hunting with JHP/solids/GCCB. - Fwiw, I use no other brass for loading both calibers other than M2 LAKE CITY "once fired cases" that I get free from a local Garand match shooter, who doesn't reload.
(9.3x62mm is easily formed from surplus Garand brass.)

just my opinions, tex

Nice! I hope you like it and that it's a shooter!

Hard to beat the versatility of the '06. Tons of factory ammo options and even more if you hand load. No flies on the 9.3 though. Load the 286grn Partition for the big stuff and the 250grn Accubond for the smaller critters. My brother has a LH Zastava in 9.3, the stock is a bit clunky and could use some work, but otherwise it's a decent gun. Go forth and fill an ark!

ryoushi,

The ONLY real advantage (IMO) of the .30-06 Springfield over the old-school 9.3x62mm is that the "Ought Six" factory ammo is available in almost every city/town (and even at some very small stores at rural crossroads) all over the Western Hemisphere.

Btw, as NO nation ever used the 9.3x62mm as a "service rifle cartridge", the 9.3x62 is LAWFUL in virtually every Worldwide locale that allows hunting with rifles.

yours, tex

Tex,
Respectfully, I disagree that the ONLY advantage of the '06 is ammo availability. Less recoil and flatter trajectory factor in as well. And the non-military chambering issue, isn't, for the majority of hunters. I own both and the '06 goes hunting more often than not.

Cheers!

Yukon,
Congrats on your upcoming 9.3. There are many, many hunters in the Yukon and Alaska, who made the switch from a heavy 375 H&H, down to an equally effective chambering in a lighter rifle. With PRVI brass and PRVI 286 grain bullets, it makes for a very affordable cartridge to handload for. This brass is cheaper than domestic brass, and the bullets cheaper than speers or horndadys, with jackets that are twice as thick.

I too have owned a 375 Ruger. Though I respect the cartridge and rifle combo, the recoil was far more than a 9.3x62. The rifle was also heavy. I didn't keep it.

Keep in mind though, a full power 300 grain 9.3 load will still be quite healthy and require a scope with sufficient eye relief. During prone shots, the ocular lense ever so slightly reminds me it's there, if I my cheek creeps too far forward on the stock.

Alot of rifleman and gun writers get into this habit to romanticize and sensationalize the 30-06. It's some sort of brown-nosing, group thing. Irregardless of who's in that group, I'd never be without a 9.3, no matter how many boxes of 30-06 ammo are on the shelves. The 30-06 is one boring cartridge. Great for deer and humans, but marginal for everything else.

You lost all credibility your last sentence