Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa 9.3x62 mauser

Hi,i need some reloading data for the 9.3 and figured Africa would be the place to look. Any help appreciated.

Hunt up the thread from ask the gunwriters on the 9.3, it has what you seek.

www.hodgdonreloading.com is typically a good place to start.

True. Alternatively, you could simply put 61.0 gr. of RL-15 under a 250 gr. TSX and call it good.

RS

Do you have a good supply of Sonchem powder?

I wonder what the availability and shipping time would be on that.

RS

I use RL-17 powder to get 2400 fps with 320gr Woodleigh PP Weldcores in my 25 inch barreled Heym Mauser, the same powder charge powers the 280gr BBW #13 solids to a bit over 2500 fps, they're filed dead on a 50 yards with the quarter rib express, and small gold bead front sight.

Before I start I want to say I'm no expert on loads for the 9.3. I have one and the only load I've shot in it is a Speer 270 grain Hot Core over some IMR 4895. I never went any farther than that. It grouped so well and I didn't see any need for improvement. All I can say is that load in MY RIFLE is very accurate and is deadly on white tail deer and wild hogs. It sounds like you plan on shooting game where you are. If you are in the lower 48 of the U.S. that load will kill anything there is out there. Hell, even in Canada or Alaska. It's not a 300 yard rifle but it's definitely a dangerous game rifle at reasonable ranges. What you deem as reasonable ranges is your call. For me with my 9.3 and this load I'll call that inside 200 yards. But then I'm on the conservative side.

RipSnort,

I asked whether he has Somchem powders because they''re what are generally used in Africa for handloading--in countries that allow handloading. Which means that posing his assumption that "Africa would be the place to look" is not a good one.

Which is what a few other people have essentially been posting here as well, though in different ways.

I took it as “Africa” as in the Africa Forum

Maybe he did, but that still assumes that hunters living in or going to Africa are far more likely to handload the 9.3x62 than North American (or European) hunters--which in my experience is far from true.

"Africa" I took to be shorthand for The 24 Hour Campfire Africa forum. Though other countries handload I'm fairly certain that the USA has more handloaders and availability of components than anywhere else. But I liked your joke and went with it.

Cheers, RS

Gunwriters' or reloading forums might be good. Be Well, Rustyzipper.

Most American loading manuals today have 9.3X62 and 9.3X74R data in them.
I have been loading a lot of 9.3X62 in the last few years for the rifles I made (or re-barreled to that caliber) for various customers and I made one for myself a while back. My experience in the field with that cartridge is nearly all from watching it used, in the hands of those I made the gun for. However I have been using a 9.3X74R for several years and I fire the same bullets at the same speeds, so I know from personal experience mostly what to expect as far as performance goes with the bullets I have used and seen used. The following are what I have personally killed game with.
:
225 grain RWS. Very rapid expander. Dramatic kills with a lot of bloodshot, but gives better penetration that I expect for something that opens up as violently as it did.

250 Grain Nosler Accu-Bond. Kills were close, but expansion was good for a bullet with a heavy jacket. Expensive, but excellent.

270 grain Speer. Most accurate bullet I have fired in this bore size in 4 different guns, one 9.3X74R Ruger. One M46 Husky 9.3X57 with open sights. One 9,3X57 in a 98 Mauser with a 5X scope. One M98 in 9.3X62 also with a 5X scope BUT it also is the worst big game bullet I have used in any caliber larger then .308" in my life. One whitetail was shot from above in the spine. and the actual measured penetration (using a leatherman tool) was 5 inches. Yes FIVE. Bullets often come totally apart at impacts of 2100 FPS and faster on deer and antelope both. I have well over a dozen kills with this bullet and so it's not a few isolated incidents. The only shot I have made with the Speer bullet that seemed to be perfectly satisfactory was at about 275 yards from a 9.3X57 with an average Muzzle velocity of 2206FPS so the impact velocity was only about 1650 FPS as near as I can figure. When it's going in the mid teens on impact it may be OK.

286 Grain Hornady. I have had good results with this bullet and seen it used a lot too, but I have read some complaints about it also breaking up badly. But for my own use so far (and all those I have personally seen) it's been good.

286Gr Nosler Partition. The Gold Standard. Opens well on antelope does at 250 to 400 yards and yet doesn't break up and fail to exit on bull elk shoulders at 45 yards, and it shoots as accurately as any other 9.3 bullet I have used except the Speer. (As I said the Speer is the most accurate bullet I have used in any 9.3 rifle.) Costly enough that it makes practice too expensive, but shoots nearly to the same point of aim as the Hornady above(about 1/2" to 3/4" away on paper) so you can buy Horandy's to have fun with and if you want to, shoot the Nosler partition with the same load and in 3 guns I have tried, they shoot to the same point of impact.

285 grain PPU. Round nosed and looks "ho-hum" but works very well. Not a lot of experience with this bullet yet, but I have seen it used on 3 elk and 2 deer from 9.3X62s, and I personally killed 2 deer and 2 antelope with it fired from my two 9.3X57s. It is accurate and does expand at the lower velocity of my 9.3X57s. (2185 FPS to 2210 FPS at the muzzle) All game, from antelope does to a 5X5 bull had exits, so I assume it's holding weight well. I'd expect as good or better results when you run it 200-300 FPS faster from the 9.3X62


Powders I have used have been 4064, 4895 and RL15 in the 6.3X62s.

I have used 4895, 4064 and BallC2 in my two 9.3X57s.

I use 4064 in my Ruger #1 9,3X74R.

All 4 of these powders and all the bullet listed above shot well, some very well, and the Speer SUPER well, even impressing me with the open sighted Husky. All my 9.3MMs seem to shoot well with most anything I try. All seem forgiving to load for. The worse groups from the 3 scoped rifles I have shot so far were still under 2MOA and most go about 1-1/4" at 100. Some under MOA and in the Ruger with the Speer 270 grain bullet, penny size is not uncommon.

In the 98 Mauser Carbine in 9.3X57 Ball C2 is the most accurate. ER Shaw barrel
In my Mauser in 9.3X62 the best so far is RL15. Also an ER Shaw barrel
My Ruger shoot under MOA with 4064 so I just stopped right there and never tried anything else.
My Husky has it's original barrel and the bore is shiny. Because it's just got an original open sight (and I am an old man,) I don't know how accurate it is, but what I can say is that at 100 to 200 yards any target large enough for me to see I can hit, from a solid shooting position. So how good is it? Good enough.

What not 250 grain TSX ?

Good write up though thanks... I never tried RWS bullets in mine.

szihn,

Excellent write-up.

Thanks, RS

Why not the TSX?

Well..................no reason. I just have not bought any of those yet.

I really wish someone would come out with a .366 in the 235 grain range here in the USA, but I have a selfish reason. I own two 9.3X57s.
Still the 232 grain Norma gets a LOT of good reviews in the 9.3X62, so if Horandy Speer or Nosler would bring one out with a shank thickness of .062 and a tapered jacket in the ogive going to a thickness of about .008" at thge tip. I think it would cover a lot of the bases in in the US market for all the 9.3s., from 9.3X57 to 9.3X64 and all those in-between. We have excellent bullets now for game of 500 pounds up to 3000 pounds now, but what is lacking is a bullet made for 100 to 400 pound game. Sure the big ones kill smaller game ok, but the lower end of the spectrum is not covered my US makers. The Europeans do that, but importing them causes the taxes (duties) to jack up the price and for that additional money we are not getting much except enriching the government.

My idea of a 235 grain 9.3MM made with the 1/16" strip to draw into a jacket, with it thinning to only.008 which would make a bullet that could be driven fast enough to flatten out the trajectory a bit, have a shank strong enough to take hits to bone, and a nose thin enough to expand well out to about 450-500 yards. The truth is that the largest numbers of game kills with any bullets or diameters, from the hunters of American game are counted in the white-tail deer and mule deer categories, and having a bullet that is made for deer that will cover the elk and bears too would be excellent.
Such bullets do exist now, but cost more then they need to for deer hunting and off-season practice. because of them having to be imported instead of being made in the USA. My dream is for Horandy to come out with one very much like the 286 they have now, but lighter, and with a jacket that is 2X thicker in the shank. Speer and Sierra should look at it too. Any one of them could do it, but sales may not be in numbers large enough to get them to jump, so I don't think it will happen.

But I like to dream.

I have heard of people swaging down the 235 .375 caliber bullet but I think you would get jacket separation from spring back which could affect accuracy and performance. Like a broken record if just starting out on load work up I would use R16 over R17 for the temperature stability and anti copper agency.

Norma makes the excellent Oryx bullet in 232 grain but it might be hard to find as a component bullet.

I've had goog luck with Hawk bullets. They have a 232 grain that is a good deer bullet. Not cheap, but American made and work well.
For cheap paper punching the Speer 270, 286 PP and cast bullets are my choice. My day to day practicing is 50 and 100, so I don't need full power. 5744 and Trail boss make light shooting.
Bfly

OK, I'll play, since evidently this thread is going on and on and on....

Have been handloading and hunting with the 9.3x62 for just about 20 years, and a little later with the 9.3x74R in a German double rifle, and shortly afterward with the wildcat 9.3 Barsness-Sisk developed by me and then-Texas gunsmith Charlie Sisk, the .350 Remington Magnum necked up, which duplicates the case capacity of the 9,3x62 in a short action, and hence the balliistics. Have generally loaded 250s to around 2600-2650, and 286s to 2450-2500.

Have used them on North American game from Texas to Alaska, ranging in size from mule deer does to a 7-1/2 foot Alaskan interior grizzly to a big bull moose from northern British Columbia. The powders used have ranged from such similar medium burn-rate powders as Ramshot TAC, Reloder 15 and Varget to medium-slow powders including Ramshot Big Game and H4350. Mostly have used Nosler bullets--the 250-grain AccuBond, and 286 Partition--but also the 235-grain Norma Oryx, 250 Barnes TSX and 286-grain Hornady Interlock. (Have shot the 270-grain Speer some as well, but only into targets. It's a fine practice bullet, but after my dry-newspaper penetration tests have never used it on game.) Was not impressed with the TSX's killing compared to the other bullets, but in general have been unimpressed with monolithics at modest velocities--except for penetration.

Have used the 9.3x62 more extensively in Africa, on game from under 100 pounds (springbok and young warthogs, on a month-long cull hunt in South Africa) to a wide variety of "large plains game." Over there the only bullets used have been the 250 AccuBond, and 286 Nosler Partition and Solid.

Have recovered three bullets: one 250-grain AccuBond from an angling-away shot on the grizzly, which at around 50 yards entered the rear of the right ribs and was found under the hide of the left size neck, retaining 81% of its weight. Recovered two 286 Partitions, one from the BC bull moose at around 175 yards, which went through the meat just behind the big joint of both shoulders, ending up under the hide on the other side. The second recovered 286 broke the big shoulder joint of a blue wildebeest in Tanzania, as the bull quartered toward me at around 200 yards. Found it under the hide at the rear of the ribs on the other side. They averaged 82% weight retention. (Apparently a lot of people don't know that heavier AccuBonds and Partitions are designed to retain more weight. The 400-grain .416 Partition has retained an average of around 90% on the few I've recovered.)

In general, I don't think it matters much which powders are used in 9.3mm rounds of about that size. If somewhere in a burn-rate range that will give decent velocities, all powders and bullets have shot well in both the 9.3 B-S and 9.3x63. (I use H4350 in the 9,3x74R double because that's what regulates best.) They all knock the snot out of big game, but I would limit the 232 Oryx to "deer-sized" animals because it opens very widely, so doesn't penetrate nearly as deeply as the others.

My favorite all-around bullet is the 250 AccuBond at 2600-2650, which because of its high BC shoots as flat as the typical 180-grain .30-06 load, so is quite capable out to 400+ yards. Started out with RL-15, but then there was a shortage and I started using Varget, which is less temp-sensitive, and while 3-shot groups are slightly larger than with RL-15, they're still well under an inch. The temp-resistance counts more for my hunting (which has taken place from under zero to +100 degrees) than a fraction of an inch in group size.