Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles 9.3x62's disappearing

I can only find two gun makers chambering this cartridge anymore; Ruger for Lipsey's and Cooper. While never tremendously popular like a 30-06, for what it is is its popularity waning?

Tikka/Sako, Sauer, blaser, mauser, and zastava are still making them. Plus there are CZ and huskies on the used market. I think the best thing it has going for it is the easy conversion from a 30-06 with just a new tube.

It will never be really common here, but I think it's going to be around a while yet. My SIG and huskies sure aren't going anywhere

Why wouldn't it disappear?

Well, certainly the BEST thing it has going for it is what an outstanding medium to heavy big game cartridge it is, but I know what you mean. And a "new tube" isn't even necessary. JES Reboring will make a 30-06 into a 9.3x62 for $250 all in cost. Jesse's cut rifled rebores have a great reputation.
Cheers,
Rex

'cause it's too good to die!
In fact, the title of this thread kind of surprised me as my impression has been that the Nine-Three has never been as popular in the USA as it is these days. I might be wrong, but there seems to be a pretty strong low-level buzz online about it. I've had my 35 Whelen AI for almost 30 years but I am super stoked about getting my rebored '03 Springfield back from JES any day now! [EDIT - rebored to 9.3x62. I should have said that as it might not be obvious.]
Cheers,
Rex

That’s what I did. Sent a MarkX Mauser in 30-06 to Jesse. It had already been to Africa as an 06, now it’s ready to go back with a little more bullet weight. And it shoots most excellent!
Les

Les, are you a Tanker Jockey as in KC-10 or KC-135? If that's so we might have unknowingly "hooked up" some time.
Cheers,
Rex

Nope sorry Rex.
I used to drive fuel tanker “trucks”. Although sometimes we were almost flying.
Les

Exactly.

Fine in Africa perhaps, but for 99.9 % of what is hunted here by 99.9% of hunters it’s pointless. But then, so are most Medium Bores.

It seems to me that the 9.3x62 is a small niche cartridge, such a small niche that few manufacturers would find it profitable to catalog it as a regular production item or for most dealers to keep them in inventory.

For the fun of the hobby? I mean, I really have zero interest in what you choose to shoot, your choice, right?

Americans love their magnums and don’t know metric.
Because 23/64 is easier than dealing in 10ths.
Anyways Maybe it needs to be remade in imperial with a modern twist
36 Nosler or 36 magnum ?

In the current day of reboring and rebarreling I doubt the 9.3x62 will die.

I also doubt it will ever be a cartridge with mass market popularity, but it will be there.

If I didn't have my Whelen I may have looked at one..

The 9.3x62 IS a cartridge with mass market popularity, just not in the USA. It is popular in Europe, Scandinavia, nearly all of Africa, much of South America, and is reasonably popular in Canada and Australia.

I just checked last night and mine was still in the safe. It only disappears when I shut the safe door but it's there when I open it again. They never have been a main line cartridge in this country and they're more of a heavy game rifle. And also the Whelen is the sweet heart in its class here in the U.S. However, it has a following here of which I am a member. I don't think it's going anywhere anytime soon. And BTW, it kills game with aplumb or an apple or whatever you've got in your pocket when you pull the trigger. It kills real good.

Heck, my local Bass Pro Shops quit carrying ammo for any rifle over .30 cal. Seems like they're all fading away. Except for the 45-70 that is.

I thought that the 35 REM was still a popular cartridge for shooting deer in PA?

Is that anything like aplomb? 😉

Somewhat. But Bass Pro doesn't care. They're the first store I've seen have a cutoff at .30 caliber.

The only rifle cartridge I have that I know can be bought more or less "over the counter" is the 22LR. A few can be ordered from some specialty dealers but I don't go in any "sporting goods" store and look for them I have a few 9.3's but the 62 isn't among them....yet.

I just got my first one back from JES. Buddy shot it when we were out test firing and now we both planning on building another one. My first is on an FN Mauser,22” with peep sights in a laminate. Next will be a 23” fluted SS on a 700 in a McMillan, parts have already already begun arriving😉. Might just be a passing thing but so far it’s a pile of fun.

YMMV
David

I talked to szihn about the 9.3. He said he has barreled it a lot in the last few years. So people still want it, but maybe only those who will be going after animals bigger than deer. Kind of like the .338 WM.

I think Mule Deer's statement that since he got his Nine-Three he hasn't hunted his .375H&H or his .338WM in the last decade, is a pretty strong endorsement. They sometimes go to the range, but the Nine-Three goes hunting.
I can't wait to get mine. Just wish I could find some 286 Nosler Partitions - they are out of stock most places. Waiting for SPS to get some more blems back. So let's talk up the Nine-Three, so more people buy them, and Nosler makes more 286 Partitions, and some of them are inexplicably designated as "blems" and I get to buy them for less than half price. Yeah, that's the plan...
Rex

Educate me.

Does the 9.3 not also require re-chambering, as well as new bore size?

Looks like it from my quick and dirty wikipedia look.

Yes las it does. The shoulder is a little farther forward of the 06 case and of course the neck is larger to accommodate the larger diameter bullet.
If you go the reboring route with JES, he does the rechambering as part of the rebore. Various case dimensions are slightly different from the 06 case but that’s the basics. It also predates the 30-06 by a year or so.
Les

With all this talk about reboring to heavy calibers, especially the 9.3x62, I'll be more than happy to help someone wanting to turn their 84L into a light weight 9.3 hammer (or 33/06 or 35/06). Have a 24" matte blue 30-06 barrel in great condition pulled off a 84L wood stock that should be an easy drop in to your existing Kimber stock. $100 shipped CONUS. Keep your factory barrel intact just in case.

I have a 9.3 in a Blaser rifle. Loaded with a sling it's 8 lbs.

I wouldn't want it any lighter. Factory loads are medium/mild but with heavier loads it has pretty good recoil.

I have routinely shot mine out to 400 & 500 yards with 250 AB So it's not really a short range round

Going spring bear hunting in BC this coming May.



Lefty C

I think Americans long ago got used to metric cartridge sizes, so that isn't it (if it is disappearing). There just isn't much need for a middle bore in North America and most people, I suspect, fill that need with the .338 WM, .338-06, or .35 Whelen.

CZ 550 American, 9.3 x 62.
It followed someone else home, once upon a time!



Got this Sako 75 Hunter from Handwerk, who posts here. It started life as a 30-06 Springfield. IIRC he shipped it to JES to be reborn as a 9.3 x 62.



Perhaps I should never have let it slip away.



However, I've managed to console myself!




Blaser R93, 9.3 x 62








ya!

GWB

GW, great mass on that Aoudad. Ya!

Then in reality I can't disappear.
Someone will make custom barrels, someone with make brass, dies, bullets.
Just because noone cooks factory ready to shoot doesn't mean chit.

I run a dead caliber 376 Steyr.
Plenty of brass, plenty of bullets , dies are showing no sign of rot.

We definitely need a like button.

gw, is that aoudad in Tejas?

Ya!

taken near Reagan Wells, Tx. in Uvalde County.

GWB

Geedubya,

It’s easier if you just swap out the barrel...

I.e. - My Sako 85 has a 280AI Krieger barrel on it,... but in the safe is a 9.3x62 barrel in case I get all excited about it again.

Not dead to me!

I got lucky and got the last Steyr Pro Hunter that EuroOptics had.



Seems it liked the 235 Gr. Barnes TSX



100 yds.



200 yds.

Its a thumper!











This was on the occasion of the first 24hr campfire hog hunt. Usually I only get one shot, so I only took six rounds with me for the Steyr. I ended up shooting four in about 1-1/2 hours. I shot two, then shot at one on the run and missed once. One I ended up shooting twice.
It was a good thing as I found out later we could only shoot 4 hogs apiece.



Pretty good pile-o-pigs

ya!

GWB

10/4




Over the last few years I've managed to forage two wood and one synthetic receiver and barrels chambered for the 243 Win., 7mm-08 Rem., 300 WSM, and the 9.3 x 62 and bolt heads to run them along with saddle mounts for each barrel.






ya!

GWB

The 9.3x62 is quite popular here in Australia mainly as a sambar rifle. Tikkas probably make up over 90% of 9.3 sales. Mine's a Ruger 1S with 4x Leupold. I have shot fallow deer, pigs and foxes with mine with Norma 232gn Oryx and Vulcan bullets. I had some 250gn Accubonds but just sold them to a mate last week as he just bought a Tikka 9.3. The 9.3x62 is more popular at the moment than the .35 Whelen as just about nobody chambers the .35W anymore. I have a Ruger Hawkeye.35w with HS Precision stock that I use on sambar, but the 9.3x62 is the new go to non magnum sambar round these days.

There's a company here in Canada that has sold hundreds of 9.3s over the years with lots of loading kit support. They are a very good dealer overall and have done much to ignite 9.3 interest here in Canada. https://www.tradeexcanada.com/

They supply in-the-white Zastava M98 bbls for 9.3x62 for $169 CDN which is a mere $123 US

https://www.tradeexcanada.com/content/mauser-m98-barrel-zastava-93x62

.

What's not to like? 375 lite. Penetrates from here to Sunday. Moderate recoil. My rifle is 9lbs in a laminate stock and thinking of a synthetic for another 1/2 lb savings. It's hell on everything.

Why WOULD it disappear?

Supply and demand. That's why.

No,the 9.3x62 won't disappear because of supply and demand. Lead times may get longer but I don't see a caliber that's been successful for over 100 years going away due to lack of interest.

I have been "gunny" ever since I was a kid (over 70 years) and to this day I have never seen a 9.3x62. The only awareness I had of them was an occasional reference to them in some magazine article about Africa, it seems that the only place I still seen some mention of them is on the 'campfire. I am not so sure that they are disappearing but more like they were never made much of a dent in the U.S.

drover

Well, drover they sure are gunny for it in Europe where everyone chambers for it and a ton of hunters swear by it like many Americans swear by the 06 for many of the same reason; it gets the job done in a steady workmanlike manner just with a lot more oommmppphhhh than the 06.

I can't remember ever seeing one either but when you read here you think it's the rage.

Did you happen to miss this recent thread where scores of hunters have had jess rebore guns to 9.3, bought used, or new guns? I and others have put away thousands of lbs of big game meat in the food cache usising the ole nine three.

Enjoy (especially Ted's posts!):


https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/14577770/1

Because it has been one of the best calibers in the world for over 100 years. Very popular in both Europe and Africa. I got a CZ 550 American in 9.3x62 nearly 20 years ago and it is a fantastic caliber. Let me guess, you've never tried it right?

Ted has done much with his many postings here and on CGN to spread the 9.3 virus here in Canada.

Zastava still offers their LK M70 CRF bolt action rifle in 9.3X62mm, but it's not on the current list of the current US importer, Zastava Arms USA.

Manufacturer's site link

https://www.zastava-arms.rs/en/sporting-rifle-m70/

Current importers site link

https://zastavaarmsusa.com/product/sporting-rifle-lk-m70/

The CZ 550 was also available in 9.3X62mm, but I understand as secondhand info the CZ 550 is being dropped from routine manufacture, though it may be available through custom orders.

One of the things we here in the US should keep in mind is that the cartridge and firearm development sun does not set in the butt of American developers....and it never did. We're pretty doggone good at it but in a lot of instances what we "discovered" recently the Europeans had known for 100+ years. Doesn't mean a lot in the long run. 6.5 and 7mm's are no better in reality than our 270, 280 and other American cartridges in that class. 8mm is for all intents and purposes matched by any of several 30 cal. cartridges. Our 35 Whelen for all practical purposes is the equal of the 9.3 X 62. The Germans and Austrians just got there a generation ahead of us. That's all true and coming from a fan of European cartridges. I hope they're ALL around at least til the good Lord calls me home!

Well, I like my rifles chambered for 7X64mm Brenneke because the cartridge was developed for bolt action rifles from its genesis in 1917, and the factory barrel twist rate of 1:8.7 inches. It doesn't make it "better" nor "worse" than .280 Remington but it's better suited for my uses of a 7mm cartridge with a 63-64mm (standard long action) case length.

It's opposite directionally for me, liking my 7mm-08 rifles more than 7X57mm. There's a wider array of factory ammunition and their 1:10 inches rifling twist rate is fine for projectiles as long as the 160 grain Accubond which is reasonable to load without excessive intrusion into the powder column section of the X51mm case. That's where I see my 7X64mm rifles showing their differentiation: 160+ grain projectiles which are longer as well as heavier. But I don't see 7mm-08 as either "better" or "worse" than 7X57. It's a better "fit" for me in my philosophy on how I developed my personal accumulation of rifles.

I've heard tales of hunters who had BAR's converted to use 9.3X62mm cartridges. Certainly not for wide use outside the USA with semiautomatic rifles not being allowed for hunting in many other countries. I haven't personally met anyone who did that yet.

My sole 7mm rifle is an authentic, Wilhelm Brenneke on a 98 with a 28 in. barrel and chambered for the 7 X 64 Brenneke. My latest double rifle, a Vierordt, was apparently re-chambered from the 8 X 62R Vierordt to the 8 X 65R Brenneke in Prague in 1941. Then when it came to the US as a war trophy some ham handed individual screwed with the chambers and I had to use 30R Blaser cases as the donor. It shoots quite well now....finally.

There seems like plenty of choice here to me. The Sauer 100 has a list price of only $800.

https://www.eurooptic.com/93x62-rifles.aspx

I am with you Sharps4590. I too have an affinity for older obscure cartridges that have gone right on filling the larder for over a 100 years. Newer and faster dont mean better. A hunter doesnt need to shoot 500 yards. A shooter maybe, but not a hunter.

I love my Sako black bear in 9.3

Nice guns, great round. I especially like geedubya's continual parade of very nice toys...

This one was traded in, traded out. It's about too nice to take hunting.

A full house AHR 9.3x62 CZ; shot about as good as it looked..

DF

Speak for yourself Brad,, a medium is perfect in Alaska!

That is ONE nice rifle right there!

Thanks, Supercub.

You are rght. Besides being too nice to drag thru the woods, the LOP was a tad long for me and it was a bit on the heavy side.

But, with JB's famous loads, it was a tack driver.

The new owner is a Fire contributor and he really likes it.

I would not pay was AHR charges for that level of work today. I was into it for about half that.

DF

What was the LOP? I'm a six footer and 13.5" always seems right for me but lots of custom guns are up to 1" longer. Strange to me.

Don’t remember LOP, just that it was sorta long for me. I like 13 1/2”. This one probably 14” or so.

I’ve noticed custom guns sometimes having longer LOP.

And it was a tad heavy as CZ’s often are. And super dense, fancy walnut tends to be heavy.

But, being slightly heavy, it sure was a sweet shooting 9.3. Recoil was very manageable. And it liked to stack bullets. The 260 NAB with JB’s load worked very well, sub MOA.

DF

Disappearing? I was shooting mine tonight and I knew right where she was the whole time.

Any chance anyone following this has any 9.3 core lokt factory ammo? Been hunting around for a round.

Guess mine”disappeared” when I traded it, but I do know where it is.

Don’t think the chambering is going anywhere.

Too good to die.

DF

Disappearing due being “raptured”.

GWB’s - Blaser R93, 9.3 x 62
A modern art masterpiece of the finest quality!

Yep.

That GWB's gptta be one cool, suave dude...

Nice selection of fine toys.

And he seems to be able to shoot'em, based on his portfolio of dead critters...

DF

I just did one yesterday on a stainless Model 70

You did one for me a few years ago, blued Shilen on a 98 Mauser. I later got you to swap it out for a blued Shilen 6.5x55, sold the 9.3 barrel to another customer. I had picked up the AHR CZ 9.3 posted earlier, didn’t want two. Still have the Swede.

DF

I talked to a CZ manufactures rep at Pheasant Fest in Feb who said they would be available for special order only.

Yep, mine kept "disappearing" into the same hole...

Tend to agree, the best of the bunch is the 338 Win Mag, most useful of all pushing 160 gr at 3,325 fps - 300 gr loads at 2,500 fps. There’s nothing the 35 Whelen and 9.3x62 can do that even comes close to the 338 Win Mag’s versatility and horsepower.

No matter what you choose, there is always something bigger, faster, more better. ........... Lots of folks fall into that trap.

99.9% of hunters could hunt with a 30-06 and not want for anything.

Not going away here in Wyoming. It's become the single most popular job for a re-barrel for me in my shop in the last 2 years or so.
One little niche is the LH market. Left handed shooters have discovered that any 30-06 LH gun can be re-barreled to the 9.3X62 easily and fairly inexpensively and they end up with a shell that come very close to a 375H&H in it's abilities to kill game, but is a long way from the cost of a LH 375.

My 9.3X62 reamer gets a lot of use here.

I made myself a 9.3X57 and I also traded for another one. I have shown my 2 rifles to several hunters and I was surprised that 3 of them so far decided to have me make them rifles in that caliber too. Loaded in a strong action it will beat the 358 Winchester in every way, and again is fairly inexpensive to make. I form my brass from 8X57 in one pass and it works perfectly.

While true the 338 Win Mag with various comparative loadings to the 06 has more delivered energy at 200-300 yards down range than the 06 has at the muzzle. Again quite versatile from very light to very heavy game. In the field the 9.3x62 and Whelen are simply handicapped in comparison to the 338 Win Mag. It truly is a one gun does it all chamber.

The advantage the 9.3x62mm has over the .338 Win Mag is in bullet weight. Also the 9.3 can be used on dangerous game in Africa in quite a few countries while the .338 can't

I’d hate to guess how many lion and cape buffalo have been killed with a 338 Win Mag. The 9.3 isn’t exactly a legal caliber in most African countries either with .375” being the stated minimum. Show me where a 9.3x62 hurls a 300 gr load faster than a 338 Win Mag.

The 9.3 has been the go to gun for so long in Africa, I don’t think that are many African countries that are stupid enough not to grandfather it in to its “legal” big game list.

Not knocking the 9.3x62 at all. The 338 Win Mag has pretty good track record in Africa as well. I’m quite sure driving a 300 gr solid with a .375 SD at 2,450 fps will result in lights out for most recipients. Just pointing out that overall it is a more effective medium bore for versatility under most, if not all field conditions. Not to mention the use of heavy for caliber .338 VLD bullets in the .675-.750 BC range.

Not trying to argue but the 9.3 can use a 325 gr bullet also. I am just saying the 9.3x62mm can do it with less recoil at moderate velocities with bullets designed to take down heavy game. The heavy bullets I see for the .338 are VLD like you said which I don't think are designed for deep penetration in heavy game. That is where the round or blunt nose bullets shine

Not trying to be antagonistic at all, just stating facts. Swift makes 275 A-Frames and Woodleigh among others makes 300 FMJ and 300 RN SP for extreme penetration with the 338 Win Mag. It can achieve higher velocities and more energy down range with those weights than the 9.3x62 can.

The .338 is a great round but just doesn't have the nostalgia of the Mauser round. I really don't think the game will know the difference but if I were going to go after Elephant I would go with the proven 9.3, not that I am going Elephant hunting any time soon). The new Rigby Highland Stalker in 9.3x62mm would be the perfect "one rifle" to hunt Africa. I like the idea of a lighter rifle that has the proven power to just plain work and not beat the crap out of you. For just plains games I might go with a .338 but it would probably be a .338-06

So! And with a whole lot more recoil too.

I don’t know what a whole lot more is but in a 7.25 lbs rifle with 300 gr loads below are some approximates:

338 Win Mag
Recoil Impulse: about 4.7 lbs-sec
Recoil Velocity: about 21 fps
Recoil Energy: about 49 ft-lbs

9.3x62
Recoil Impulse: about 4.3 lbs-sec
Recoil Velocity: about 19 fps
Recoil Energy: about 42 ft-lbs

While the 338 Win Mag shows a bit more, both are fairly stout in a 7.25 lbs rifle setup. Both being close to what a 375 H&H yields in a 8.5 lbs rifle with 300 grain loads.

Super cub,

Stop that damn logic. This is no place for logic and common sense.

-Bisley

I have owned a 338 Win mag and also a 375H&H as well as a 9.3X74R and now a 9.3X62 The 9.3X74R and 9.3X62 are both loaded with the same bullets at the same speed as measured over my Chronograph (ok . almost the same speed, within about 20 FPS)

My 338 was used with 22 grain Horandys, 250 grain Hornady RN and 250 grain Nosler Partitions. The 225 grain Hornadys broke up badly and penetration was poor, but the 250s were good and the 250 Gr Noslers were perfect.

But I sold my 338 after several kills and went back to my 375H&H. The 338 always worked well with good bullets, but to be honest, it didn't seem to kill elk any better then my 3006 or 270. No worse, but no better or faster.
My 375 does hit harder. Why?.................well I have my theory but I won't go into it now. It's just what I have seen, and I have seen a LOT of elk killed in over 50 years of hunting and guiding for them.

In the last 10 years I have been getting familiar with the performance of the .366" 286 grain bullets and I have to say, I can't see ANY difference between the 9.3X74R and 9.3X62 loaded with good 286 grain bullets and the 375H&H loaded with good 270 grain bullets.

I don't say that the 9.3s make hits at 400 and longer distance as easy as my 338 did, because the 338 is flatter shooting. But when it come to killing elk and a few bison I have seen killed in the last 10-15 years, the 9.3 does average a better showing then my old 338 did. Again the 338 was not bad in any way, but the 9.3 is doing better.
So when comparing the 9.3X62 and 9.3X74R to the 338 we have to define what's being compared. The 338 is easier to make longer range hits with, and it works very well, but at the distances I have killed ALL my elk at, and seen about 98% of the elk I have guided for( 400 yards and closer) the 9.3X62 does seem to put them down faster.

So everyone can make their own choices, but I made mine already and mine was made based on actual use and eye witness kills.
I have the 9.3s now but sold my 338

szihn, Thanks for sharing your experience. I came to the same conclusion, with less real data to back my opinion up. For medium bore rifles, I now have settled on a couple of .375's, a 9.3x62 and a 9.3x74R. I skipped over the .338 because its "extended range" abilities are of no interest to me since I have no desire to shoot an unwounded big game animal that is over 300 Meters away. I am perfectly satisfied.

Well perhaps not perfectly, I do still fool around with a .35 Whelen and a .450-400 Nitro Express 3".... :-)

I appreciate your insight. Mine was always a comparison of 338 Win Mag with 9.3x62 as which is a more versatile chamber as a medium bore. A 9.3 with 286s at 2,450 fps and a 338 Win Mag with 275 A-Frames at 2,550 fps are fairly comparable on large game. At 500 yards with various 160gr - 225 gr loads the 338 Win Mag will hang with 300 magnums at that distance. Again I like the 9.3, my point was simply the 338 Win Mag is by far a much more versatile medium bore chamber providing use on a multitude of game under a multitude of field conditions.

Rossimp makes some points that are worth consideration. The truth is that the 338 flies flatter but makes a smaller diameter hole, so the effect of tissue displaced may favor the 9.3 but the ease of hitting may favor the 338 and a hit in the middle with the smaller bullet is going to beat a hit on the outside of the boiler room with the larger bullet. In 100% honesty the ability to hit (for example) a 12" target 100% of the time at X range is not about either gun but more about who is doing the shooting. I missed my 2019 elk with my 9.3X62. I missed the elk, My rifle put that round right where I aimed it. Not where I wanted to aim it.................but where I aimed it. Why? I didn't practice with that round enough, and I guessed at it's point of impact and I guessed wrong. The bull did NOT give me a 2nd chance.
So if I had been using my old 338 would I have killed that bull? Probably because I used to shoot my 338 out to 1000 yards for fun and I knew where to hold. BUT that is NOT a "plus-point' for the 338 over the 9.3. It's simply proof that I need to practice what I preach and shoot a rifle enough to know where to hold and have the skills to do it. That was not the fault of the round or the rifle or the scope or anything else other then....ME! So if I could have snapped my fingers for that one shot and made any rifle I wanted appear in my hands at that moment, would I have chosen my old 338?
No, I would have chosen my old 270 or maybe my 300H&H. Why? Because at that range I KNOW where to hold with either one of them especially the 270, which I have shot so much it's on it's 3rd barrel.

But the argument is that the 9.3 works well with a shorter barrel and holds 2 more rounds in the mag. Does that matter? Not really. Not to me anyway, but if it matters to another man then it matters and his desires are just as important as mine. That's why he can choose.

The 9.3 does put elk on the ground faster then my old 338 did. Again...is that important? Well not really
It the 338 drops them in 5 seconds and the 9.3 does it in 2-3 seconds most hunters would ask the real world question................."So what"? Simplistic to be sure, but also the essence of truth. 2 more seconds of running is not going to make a lot of difference. A downed elk in 15 -20 seconds compared to a downed elk in 2 seconds is a big deal to anyone who has ever seen how far an elk can get in 20 seconds. But a 2-3 second difference is not truly important.

So the real truth is that we should all carry what we like and learn to use them well.

Ross, szihn,

The ole nine three is a cartridge that should be exempt from over thinking, ballistic one upsmanship and hypothetical thinking out loud.

There is no real world reduction in recoil over a 338 mag. Mild loads like a standard 286 grainer at 2300-2350 are enjoyable to target practice with.

My full power 300 grain/2400 fps loads from a 7 lb 4 oz rifle recoil severely. 10-20 rounds and I'm done.

Regarding round count:
If you hunt treeless areas at below zero weather with five caribou a day bag limits, I say nay to a three down gun. 30 mph winds, heavy winter clothing, longish shots, you will miss. Pulling up on a herd, 3 caribou for 5 bullets was my best.

Regarding longer shots. I rarely shoot too far. But here are three animals taken at longish shots. The ole nine-three, with big flat based bullets was not a handicap:

Bull caribou 350 yds open sights
Cow caribou 400 yds 1.5-5 power scope
Bull moose 500 yds 1.5-5 power scope

Very nice. 350 yards with open sights is some kind of awesome shooting. You surely know your weapon well. I’m betting you’re one helluva of a chef too.

Brad, I'll hang up my ole nine three if you take me elk hunting. That's some dmn good eatin food. A buddy from Utah brought me 1lb of elk back strap. I ate the whole package in one setting. Good variation from the doldrums of caribou.

For my .1%, I'd probably borrow a 308 winchester carbine for that steep stuff. Load me up some swift or nosler 200 grainers over Mr 2000 please.

In trade, I'd put yah on a moose. I'd loan you an ole nine three. I'd ask yah to take out the front quarter bones, so we don't have to quarter him in a swamp hole. No romanticized one shot one kill bullsht. Keep hitting that front end.

A Koyukon Athabascan Indian who puts away 60-70 inchers his whole life, swears by his 375.

The one time he used a 308 Winchester/180 grainers on a massive bull, he shot it five times square in the front end and lungs. It kept moving. Even after the fifth round.

Not disappearing in my house. I have a CZ 550 FS and a Tikka Forester in the same caliber. Hard to beat for Alaska big game.
270 for sheep and caribou 9.3 for everything else.
Erich