Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Europe PPU 285 Gr 9.3MM Bullets?

Hello all.

I am putting this request on several forums.

I am looking for details about the PPU brand 9.3MM 285 grain bullets. Specifically, how they hold together and what amount of weight they are retaining from kills in the field. Any cartridge 9.3MM gun, at any game, at any range, at any angle, I would like to hear detailed reports by anyone who has killed game with this specific bullet.

Thanks

Wish I could help but I haven't connected with them yet. I have maybe 500 at this point. I figured I could plink with them . I bought them as they went on sale in years past. Do you have photos of the gun you will use them in?. I have a Valmet system with a barrel set and Mike Dettorre's double, Saggitaire. Then some other bolt trash 9.3s. Be Well. Rusty

shot through 3 hogs with 1 ppc. worked ok for that. had to line them up just right.

Rustyzipper, my pictures are on [bleep], and they seem to have changed a bunch of things making it impossible for me to use them anymore without "signing up" for things with yahoo, and I am not wanting to sign up for anything more. The computer world is largely unknown to me, and I have learned that signing up for things results in a lot of unwanted things coming to my computer. So [bleep] has lost me as a user. Before them I used photobucket and they tried to force us all to jump through their hoops too, so I booted them from my use first. Now [bleep] is trying to force me to jump through hoops, so I will not use them either.


Anyway. I have 4 9.3s and the one I have killed a lot of game with is a Ruger #1 in 9.3X74R. I have killed a lot of game with this rifle most of which were shot with the 270 grain Speer bullets and that is how I can say I am a bit dissatisfied with them. I also have used a few Hornady 286 grain bullets and I have had good results with them, but I hear complaints from otehr shooters about them. I use 3 RWS 225 grain bullets on antelope and deer and found them to be a bit too "explosive" for my liking also. The gold standard has been the Nosler 286 grain Partition. That bullet is excellent and will exit a bull elk after hitting bone, but it still expands fine through the ribs of a doe antelope and shoots under MOA. It's only down side is it's cost, being far too expensive to practice with.

From my other 9.3s I have shot a lot less game.
My most resent one is my Mauser in 9.3X62 I made for myself and I have killed nothing with this rifle yet.
Next is a 9.3X57 Husky M46 I restocked, and I have killed only 2 animals with it.
Last is a Mauser M98 I made a while back which also has only 3 kills behind it.

The bullets I have used myself to kill game with are:
270 grain Speer.
286 Grain Hornady.
286 grain Nosler partition.
250 grain Nosler accu-bond.
225 grain RWS

In addition to those in the list above while hunting with other men and one woman who use 9.3s I have seen kills with;
Barnes TXS,
Norma Oryx and Vulcan, both in the 232 grain weight,
and the 286 grain Lapua,
but myself, I have not used any in this 2nd list.

The bullet in question, the PPU 285 grain, is one I have fired from three of the four 9.3mm caliber rifles I own, but so far I have not fired one at any game. They shoot well from all my rifles so I thought I'd try them on game, but I believe in learning from the mistakes of others if I can, which is why I posted the question.

So far, most answers I am getting are encouraging.

I killed a medium sized mule deer with a 9.3X62 using their ammo about 6-7 years ago, and I've killed two deer with my hand-crafted ammo and Speer 270 gr bullets in 9,3X74R. This is very limited experience. The PPU performed like usual cup n core bullets. The deer was 100 yards across a small canyon and facing somewhat downhill to my right. My shot hit a bit high at the top front of the shoulder and raked the ribs, and it stayed under the hide. I'd guess it had 55-60% weight retention.

That being said, the 270 Speers performed similarly if that gives you some frame of reference. The velocities were in the 2,350-2,370 FPS range for all ammo.

I shot two deer with them last season. The first was rear portion of lungs broadside. Pass through. Deer ran 75 yards in a half circle and crashed. Bullet sized entry, dollar sized exit. Range about 60 yards. Second one about 75-80 yards. Bullet entered left foreleg, went through chest wrecking all it encountered, and existed and then passed through the right foreleg. Both legs had quarter sized holes. Knocked it down and it took off after a moment with just its hind legs. Caught up to it 100 yards later as it crashed into a brook and put a finisher into it. Rather strange given the awesome damage and ruined internals. They seem fine but I generally hunt with 286 NPs at approx. 2500 fps. That combo does not disappoint.

Partitions are designed to be softer in the front. I have a huge stockpile of the PPU 286 gr RN. I figure they are a bit harder than a good whitetail bullet. AS you saw they can do well though. A better bullet for the 9.3 on hogs may not exist though. Perhaps they are designed to stop Euro boar. Be Well, Rustyzipper.

Agreed, Rusty. In fact, someone a few years back over on nitroexpress.com did some research on bullet jacket thickness and the PPU jacket was right up there I think. In addition, the factory stuff is not loaded to the potential of the round. I would love to shoot hogs with that bullet. Maybe even black bear and moose.

I started with the old roundnose version then when they ran out went to their never sptizer/pointed version. Both have been extremely accurate and have performed nicely on the numerous hogs I've shot with them.

Has anyone have pics of both the old PPU roundnose and current spitzer please?

A Spitzer?
I didn't even know they made them in spitzer form. All mine are 285 grain RN.
I got the last bunch from Graf and Sons.
Is that where you guys get them too?

I thought they were all RN until I read the following quote. I have some bullets and current factory ammo here. Both RN.

I think the round nose has more initial smack down on delivery. All mine are round nose. But I have bought in bulk several times. Be Well, Rustyzipper.

I've shot two bull caribou with the ppu bullet. One at 350 yds and the other at 25 yds. Both pass through.

If you cut one in half, you'll notice the jackets are much thicker than hotcors or interlocks. The thick jacket and two deeply swaged cannalures make for a bullet that holds together well at 2300 fps.

My standard load: ppu brass, 58 grains of RL 15 or 60 grains of Mr-2000. These are mixed together by the hundreds. Both so close in velocity and point of impact that I don't bother to segregate:

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/13539716/6

I found this picture years ago. Might be on interest to some

I own and use four 9.3 MM rifles and I have used a few different bullets. 4 in the picture above and 2 others also.

The most game harvested with any of the 4 is with my Ruger #1 in 9.3X74R.
I have killed 2 deer and 2 antelope with a light RWS bullet sent to me by a friend. They are 225 grains as I recall. (14.6 gram) Very violent expansion and break-ups and I had only 100 of them, so I did load work, and a bit of practice with them and they shot well, but if they were available here in the USA I doubt I'd buy more. Huge diameter wounds but not very deep.

I also killed 2 deer and 1 elk with the Hornady 285 Inner-lock without the plastic tip. Good performance with that one so far, breaking bone and still exiting but I have read several reports about that bullet breaking up and failing to penetrate well. At only 3 kills I have not made my mind up on this one yet.

I have killed 1 antelope and 3 elk with the Nosler Partition 286 grain from this rifle. Performance is perfect with broken bone and straight line penetrations every time and large exits.

Lastly and for the most kills so far I have used the Speer 270 grain semi-spitzer. The bullet is a love/hate relationship with me. So far in this rifle and in 2 of the 3 others too it's been the most accurate 9.3MM bullet I have ever shot. The down side is it also preforms the worst on game. Every one has broken up badly and with a few failing to exit small deer and even doe antelope. I have killed 13 deer and antelope with this bullet (must be a slow learner) from my Ruger #1

From my Husky 9.3X57 M46 I have used the above bullet for fun shooting and it is as accurate any any I have tried, but this rifle only had the issue iron sight so I can't say exactly how accurate it is. I am now 64 years old and I can't see as well as I did when I was younger but I can say with this bullet and a load of BLC-2 any object I can actually see at about 100 yards I can hit from a good rest. I can see things down to about 2" now at that range. The load and rifle may be more accurate, but there is no way I can prove it.

This M96 Husky has been used to kill game, but so far it's been use only on 1 antelope and 2 deer, all killed with PPU 285 grain RN bullets. My load drives that bullet at 2205 FPS. All 3 kills were perfect leaving exits about 2" to 2-1/2" around, but a 36 caliber 285 grain bullet exiting game of around 120 to 145 pounds is not going to surprise anyone. What is good about the PPU bullets is their consistent accuracy of around 1 MOA and the fact that (so far) I have not seen a failure to expand at the lower velocity of the 9.3X57 and from what I read, I don't expect a lack of penetration on elk or buffalo either.

My M98 full stock 9.3X57 is loaded with the Nosler Accubond 250 grain. This load shoots about 1 MOA also and I have killed only one large Buck Whitetail with it. Perfect broadside hit through the ribs at only 40 yards that left an exit that was the size and shape of a goose egg. in the middle of the chest on the other side. Oddly that deer went over 200 yards after the hit, but I can't blame the bullet judging from the wound. Just one of those odd things I guess.

The 4th rifle is my Mauser M98 classic in 9.3X62. I have it zeroed with the Hornady 286 grain and have found the Nosler Partition 286 grain bullet lands right on top of the Hornady bullet so I can swap those 2 bullet back and forth with no re-zeroing at all. Same brass, primer and powder charge with 2 bullet of the same weight that go to the exact same place. I love that. The Hornady is far lest costly so I can afford to shoot some for fun and save the partitions for hunting (in theory) but so far all kills with this rifle have been made with the Hornady bullets, not the Noslers. 286 grain over the Chronograph at 2413 FPS and the same bullets from my Ruger #1 chronograph at 2389 so in effect they are the same thing in the field. As I said in my first comments I have no issues with the Hornady bullet (yet) and until I do I think I'll give them a chance. The Partitions are the God Standard and I don't deny that, but you can't afford to pay with them much. Gold standard is seen my me in 2 ways. The best performance and the "cost of gold"
So the Hornady is appealing for those that like to shoot for fun.
In my post above I peeked interest when I saw someone say that the PPUs were being made in spitzer form now. My reason is that the PPU bullet may also shoot to the same point of impact as the Noslers and if they do at various ranges I would e very interested in buying a lot of them knowing that they do hold up well on large game from my experience so far. (That would be dependent of the RN and the Spitzer both having the thick shank section of their jackets of course)