Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Express Rifles and Big Bores Only What's a good, low-recoil DG Cartridge?

Some great advice to try from some folks in the know...

But if it still hurts your shoulder TOO much think about trying this... Big Challenge!!! and you can still fulfill that dream!

Another way to do it!...

Scroll down and check out the pics.

Certainly not for everyone but a lot of folks have done it and it doesn't touch your shoulder!

Just a thought...

Thanks for the suggestion. I appreciate it very much. However, I failed to mention I'm about 60% deaf in my left ear. If I were to lose the hearing in my right ear, I'd be up a creek.

Also, I had a nimrod launch a braked .338 Win Mag right over my head at a range of about 15' while elk hunting in WA state. After I recovered (it took about 12 hours for my hearing to come back to normal), I swore then and there I would never do that to another human being.

These two things mean muzzle brakes are out for me, even if it means giving up what I love most.

How about considering a 416Taylor with 400gr backed off to 2150fps, or with a 325gr at 2400fps for plains game? Likewise the 9.3x62 at its original Kynoch ballistics of 2150fps with 285gr would be relatively mild, but so would a 35Whelen with a premium 225gr at 2500fps. A 404Jeffery at its Kynoch 2150 fps would also be relatively mild ... plus allow you to shoot a Woodleigh 347gr soft/solid combination at 2200fps (ie 10.75x68 ballistics). If correct bullet placement is 99% of the game, the lightest calibre legal in a rifle with perhaps one or two mercury reducers to add weight seems the best way to handle your problem.
Cheers...
Con

I didn't read where both your shoulders were AFU. What about learning to shoot off the other shoulder? You could still use the cartridges listed above but with no pain. I learned to use the other side after breaking a scapula just prior to hunting season. It took some practice with a 243 and light loads but I eventually mastered it. Over the years, I have learned to be just as deadly from either side.

RH

If you are thinking a double is possible, a cartridge that is the rimmed ballistic equivalent of te 9.3x62 is the 9.3x74R (rimmed). It is available in many brands of doubles at about half the price of the big boys (470 NE, etc.). It is not over-powered for buff; in fact it is perhaps on the line between marginal and not though it has been used very successfully over the years. It is growing in popularity and Hornady offers loads and brass along with Norma and others.

None of us know the extent of your injury, and the 9.3x62 is probably the best option if you can handle it...but it still generates a bit of recoil by some folks standards...

Try it, but if you cannot shoot it comfortably and pain free, then I would suggest a 30-06 or a handloaded 7x57 for even less recoil..

Proper bullet placement and a proper bullet with either will kill any animal on this planet, even elephant..Not my choice but I have not had two surgerys on my shoulder as you have and I am not too recoil sensitive. I have killed buffalo with both the 06 and 7x57, and both did very well for me.

I would rather a hunter shot a 7x57 well than a 470 poorly on all DG...

If you can shoot a 30-06 and tolerate the recoil you should have no problem with a 9.3 X 62. I dislike muzzle brakes.

Check the laws of the country in which you think you might wish to hunt DG. In some, if not most, the 375 is the minimum legal caliber.

Firstly, I have to say that I like my .470 NE and the .476 Westley Richards and although thumpers, in a properly set up rifle the recoil isn't that bad...

The only ways that you can reduce felt recoil is by redirection (stock design), mass (weight), interruption (recoil pad) or delay (porting and/or brakes)...

As Mr. Shoemaker pointed out, most guides will not allow braked rifles--which is why the are made removable--on the hunt but they are certainly nice to have when sighting in�

I have had major back surgery and am also recoil shy and as such, equipped one of my rifles with both a brake and Mag-na-porting, 2 Mercury tubes, LimbSaver recoil pad and put on a padded strap-on comb to the butt...I can now shoot my favourite .340 Weatherby all day long and have done so at various competitions...Granted that's overkill but not really...

You can add a couple of 6 oz tubes and install a LimbSaver pad for under $100 and just those will make a huge difference...

One thing that I've always noticed, that at the time of the hunt, at the moment of the kill, when you squeeze that trigger, most people didn't even realize that they just got smacked by their rifle butt...something about an adrenalin/endorphin (or maybe its testosterone) rush...

I've come back from a day of intense goose shooting--when only the air was in danger and when undressing for bed noticed that I've now got a bruise from the top of my shoulder to below my rib cage...I didn't think those 3�" magnums kicked that much when I was shooting at something edible!

In many countries in Africa the minimum allowed for dangerous game is the lovely .375 H&H and lots of them won�t allow the 9.3mm whether as a x62, x64 or x72 because they are .366 and insist on at least a 10mm of some kind�then again, others will, so check with your PH�I�d take the 9.3x64 as a direct competitor to the .375 H&H (295 gr bullet at 2,570 fps vs. 300 gr at 2,600 fps)

There are the mid-ranges of .450/400 3��, .416s by Rigby, Hoffman (Necked up .375 H&H), Taylor (necked down .458 Win) or Weatherby, .425 Westley Richards (my personal favourite) and the new/old ones put out by Hornady the .404 (10.75x73) and .400 (.450/400 3�) Jeffery and then there is the oft overlooked .405 Win which Teddy R. said was the best lion medicine out there!

For mid bores that are easy on the shoulder I'd go for the Jeffrey--.400 for a break action or the .404 for a bolt or the old .405 Win which in the Winchester 1895 lever gun wasn't that hard to endure but only with the shotgun butt not that curved monstrosity and in a safari weight bolt action was actually a pleasure to shoot!

That I can do.

I can handle standard-weight rifles that generate around the same recoil as the .30-06/7mm Rem Mag class. My most recent purchase was a Sako 85 in .338 Federal because I wanted something that tosses a bit bigger bullet with more frontal area but doesn't kick like a mule. I haven't shot it yet, but will after I decide which scope it'll get.

I'm also not a huge fan of long-range shooting, unless it's at targets. I had a .270 Wby Mag that was so accurate I could hit anything with it out to 600+ yards. Even though I was supremely confident in it, I could just never bring myself to shoot at a live animal that far. I did take a couple of pokes at deer at 400 yards (give or take) with good results, but I'm just more comfortable getting closer and taking shots on game of 300 yards or less. I think my .338 Federal is perfect for this...a good balance of knockdown power and low recoil. It seems the 9.3x62 is right in line with this thinking.

I'm just worried about its legality for DG. If my only safari options don't take me to Zimbabwe, would I be able to use it for DG in Namibia or the RSA?

I would go with a 375 H&H. While I think the 9.3x62 is a fine choice--and may build one someday--the 375 has some advantages. First, I think it is legal in more countries for DG. Second, it can be easily loaded down using 235 gr bullets to provide a rolling push recoil. I am just not sure what is available in terms of light .368 bullets. The 235 gr Barnes loaded quickly still does not have the recoil of the 270 and 300 gr bullets in the 375, and is versatile on plains game (at least as far a the experiences from my single trip indicate.) You could make a 10# 375 H&H that would not be overly burdensome and was also managable from a recoil perspective.

You know, thinking about your shoulder, if the screw in the front creates a very specific point of pain, have you ever played around with relieving the front surface of the recoil pad to make a pocket where the recoil pressure would be lessened? Might be worth a try--only cost you the price of a pad.

Ixna on the rakeba.

As I was scrolling down reading through these posts I was thinking the same thing..."Dead Simple Idea"...

Have you ever looked at Ken Howell's line of wildcats based on .404 Jeffery brass? I have one barreled to his .416 Howell. I haven't as yet played with a lot of loads yet. But so far, it's a pussy cat.

It works well with a standard length Mauser action, the case length is right at 2.5", it didn't take a lot to make it work from the box magazine.

This rifle will finish up under ten pounds. No scope on it yet (not sure I want a scope on it).

Something to think about.

See if you can locate an A-Square based on the 1917 Enfield action. These are extremely ugly and rather heavy but they are designed to minimize recoil in any of the calibres they are available in. Alternatively there is a sort of piston arrangement where the back end of the buttstock slides forward, I don't know who makes them but they do work. Short of all those suggestions, you might emulate Bell with a 6.5x54 Mannlicher, take only standing shots and practice an awful lot.

Have you looked into a CompStock or other recoil absorbing stock?

I was going to suggest doing the paperwork with the Feds and getting a silencer for range work, as they reduce recoil without muzzle blast, but it looks like you might be in WA (IIRC not a silencer friendly state).

Neck a 9.3X62 up to .375? What would that be? Then add a good pad with a mercury recoil reducer. All in a 9.5-10lb. gun.

That would be a 375 Hawk/Schoville.

That would ver nearly be a 375 Scoville(30-06 necked to 375). .009" diameter change is all you gain. 9.3x62 is not wildcat.

I was sitting around the campfire in RSA this March talking rifle choices for buffalo with Kevin Robertson ("The Perfect Shot"). He asked me what I thought I would use, to which I replied a 404 Jeffry. He said it was an excellent choice, but had I ever considered a 9.3x62? By the time we left for our beds, I was convinced the 9.3 was a far better choice than I had first imagined. Felt recoil, energy levels at top end meet the 4000ft/lb requirement, weight of rifle to ease recoil, effeciency of round, historical performance in Africa etc etc.

Phil Shoemaker has been a reliable source of info on this campfire for a long while, and his endorsement adds to my personal respect for the round, so much so that I have placed an order for a CZ 550 so chambered. I have to await back order, but will post results as soon as I get the rifle. I also have a bum right shoulder, and so far am too spastic to shoot well left handed.( that is an excellent hint though if you can swing it.)

My limit right now with my shoulder is a 338 win mag 250 gr TSX at 2500 ft/sec and I shoot two groups of 3 shots off the sticks. I stop then so I do not develop a flinch. Rifle is 9 lbs with scope and three rounds. Not light, but not too heavy to carry either. Take Phil's advice, I have.
Randy

Aren't 9.3s illegal for buff in the RSA?

I'm just worried about its legality for DG. If my only safari options don't take me to Zimbabwe, would I be able to use it for DG in Namibia or the RSA? [/quote]

The 9.3x62 will probably be OK in Namibia but not in RSA. RSA has a minimum caliber requirement of .375 for DG. (I do not know if this is enforced very stringently though.) I say "probably" for Namibia as they have a minimum energy requirement for DG - 5400 Joules, which translates to just under 4000 ft. lbs. (The exceptions to this would be the cats.) You shouldn't have a problem tailoring a x62 load to meet that, although, personally, I wouldn't go lighter than a 286-gr. bullet for Buff. (FWIW, .375 is also the minimum DG caliber in Mozambique, Botswana, Zambia, and Tanzania. Again, I am not certain as to what degree this is adhered too.)