Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Whelen vs 9.3x62

About the only real advantage of the 9.3x62 is that it's the legal minimum for larger dangerous game in some (not all) African jurisdictions. Also, if you hunt in Africa, factory 9,3x62 ammo is fairly likely to be stocked in local stores, and .35 Whelen isn't--just in case you get separated from your handloads.

Have also generally found the 9.3x62 to be more accurate, but not enough to make any difference on big game shot at typical .35/9,3 ranges.

My experience is what Steve suggests, that if you need more power and bullet weight than the .35 Whelen and 9.3x62 provide (or think you do), then you need to step up to a .40+ caliber cartridge with quite a bit more bullet weight. The one I used for years was the .416 Rigby. But after buying and using my first 9.3x62 almost 20 years ago, it filled the "medium bore" slot so well that I rarely hunted with my .338 Winchester or .375 H&H.

As of today there is still $20/box factory ammo for sale online for the 9.3

Plain Jane 35w Corelok is listed at $56/bx but I don’t know if you can find it

Lots of great info folks, appreciate all. No doubt no 'need' for NA, but.......how many of us Loonies needed a good reason to experiment and enjoy a nice round?

Btw Jeff - curious what the configs are on those 338/06s you built.

I suppose the Whelen ammo may be more in demand and higher priced, as some states like mine use them for 'Primitive' season.....just a guess.

Thanks everyone, very good insight and field knowledge, always enjoy that in addition to paper stats alone.

I’ve never had ANY .35 Whelen misfires with tons of Remington and Federal factory ammo or my handloads. That is from a sample of several thousand dating to 1989. I do not doubt that Remington QC could be a culprit in excessive headspace. All the Remington ammo that I have fired was purchased around 1990 or so. None since Federal loaded the TBBC. HAPPY TRAILS

Not quite pure BS! I did have a box of Remington factory loaded ammo, with old style 250 gr. RN bullets that had so little shoulder and the shoulder was placed so far back that about half of cartridges in the box failed to fire in my Remington M700 .35 Whelen factory chamber. I didn't have a headspace gauge at the time but you could compare ammo form different lots and see the problem just by "eye". Simply a lack of quality control by Remington. I have never had a failure to fire or headspace issues with any other ammunition or reloads or chambers in three other .35 Whelen rifles. The shoulder dimensions / chamber design provides adequate positive headspace, if tolerances are within specifications.

Good stuff - JWP - no doubt it's too bad in LA the Regs are it must have a hammer, not sure of any 9.3 with a hammer.

Never got clarification if a TC Encore would quality, probably would need a custom barrel, but there's always the 450s....for a primitive season set up where often it's in timber.

BINGO. I waited a long time for my 700 Classic (this is before I knew better about what POS 700 actions are) and when I got it, the bolt lug slots had been over cut so the bolt would over rotate and not pull back. That's the last time I owned a Remington although we do have one up at our place in PA (a 22-250 bull barrel) for ground hog work. I loved my 35 Wheelen Ruger although I did replace that hideous boat paddle..

I didn’t read this thread very closely before I posted

Seems I duplicated many other comments LOL