I acquired a Tikka in 9.3x62 and besides the normal reloading books, I was wondering if anyone out there had particular loads that worked best for them.
I'm just starting to acquire the components for the this caliber so I'm not steadfast on bullet weight. The tikka has a 22.5" barrel and I plan on having this as a black timber elk gun.
Any thoughts or help is appreciated.
MTSmith

A very flexible load that will work both in timber and at somewhat longer ranges is a 250-grain spitzer at 2600+ fps. In my rifle (a CZ with a 23.6") barrel either 62.0 grains of RL-15 or 60.5 grains of Varget gets about 2650 with either the 250 AccuBond or Tipped TSX. Both penetrate very well, and have pretty high BC's so trajectory is very similar to the standard 180-grain load in the .30-06. I've had these loads pressure-tested and they're right around the standard .30-06 pressure of 60,000 psi.

Any of the good 286's will get 2450-2500 fps, at the same basic pressure level. I like 66 grains of Ramshot Big Game, but RL-15 and Varget also work. The 286's aren't as good beyond 250 yards as the 250-grain bullet, but shoot flatter than most people would guess.

For pure timber shooting the 320 Woodleigh can be pushed to 2350-2400 with either RL-17 or Big Game. I use 61.5 grains of Big Game as it's been more cold-resistant than 17 in my rifle, but at close ranges it really doesn't make much difference. Dunno if the 320 actually gains anything in penetration over the 286 Partition, Barnes TSX,or Norma Oryx, though, because it tends to open more widely. Have been meaning to do some media tests with the 320 but haven't gotten around to it.

Was also impressed with the Hornady Interlock 286 in one use on a nilgai in Texas with Hornady factory ammo. The mzuzle velocity was less than my handloads, probably at least 100 fps, which may have helped, but the Hornady penetrated completely on a frontal angling shot at around 200 yards.

Thanks for your informative response John. I appreciate the starting point.
Sounds like you were the right informed person to respond.
Thanks.
MTSmith
ps. we sure do live in a great state...

Yes, we do!

You'll find a lot of powders work in the 9.3x62. In most rifles it's apparently one of the cartridges some people call "inherently accurate."

Why do you choose a different bullet for timber vs. non-timber hunting?

Nobody knows, it's a 19th century myth. God knows enough tests have been done of various bullets shooting in brush and they all get deflected. If you don't have a clear shot at a vital area the bullet is immaterial.

If you want to shoot through brush in black timber get yourself a rifled 12 bore semi-auto and shoot 3" Brenekke Magnum Crush slugs. A fair chance of connecting, pokes a big hole and will break down any NA big game at black timber distances. Something to be said for "five shots quick".

Otherwise a 250 gr TSX @ 2500 fps will kill anything in North America with a proper shot and if you practice will be effective to 300 yards. Merkel even make a semi-auto in 9.3x62.

Gee, thanks for your "help," but no, I don't use heavier bullets when strictly timber (or brush) hunting because of hoping to get them through vegetation. Have known that's a myth for decades. Instead I tend to use them because they penetrate deeper, which can make a difference on the severely angling shots often encountered in thick cover, especially on elk.

Either the 286 Partition or TSX will out-penetrate the 250 TSX. I've seen it in two kinds of media, and on plenty of game. But the 286's aren't as good for hunting in mixed country, where you might get a shot at 400 yards.

John, I am about to take delivery of a shiny new 9.3X62. I am going to try the Matrix 270 grain bonded bullet, virtually the same bullet used by Yukoner 2-3 years back on that nice grizzly written about on here.

What is your powder of choice for the 270 grainers? Thanks.

Varget or RL-15 work well. Probably Big Game would too, but I haven't tried it.

It's a bigass 308!

As opposed to a .308 with a big ass!

Sorry, couldn't help it....

I started out with JB's suggestion for the 250gr TSX and it shot so well that I tried nothing else. It seems to be a very friendly round for reloading.

I had opportunity to put down a wounded 60" bull this past September and the short barreled CZ did very well at 380 yards.
WITH 3X SCOPE!

Varget under a 250 TTSX works well for me.

The topic was hunting in brush not bullet penetration. In that arena the semi-auto 12 bore wins every time.
Never shot the heavy 9.3 on game, no need to as we have no Cape Buffalo or Elephants here. The 250 will penetrate plenty far enough on any side, front or quartering shot on anything in the lower 48.
Based on media tests the 250 TSX will well outpenetrate the 270 Speer as well as being faster and flatter.
The joke we have is that recovering a Barnes TSX is as easy as getting Obama to tell the truth. Almost always 2 holes with wreckage between.

BTW John, I wasn't "helping" you, I was responding to the OP.

Faithful subscriber to all the Wolfe publications and enjoy them a lot. But, even authors there don't know everything. When do you suppose we could see an article on current non AR sem-automatic hunting rifles ? We have Browning, Benelli, Remington and Merkel all of which shoot cartridges suitable for any N/A big game, are accurate enough for shots to at least 300 yards, all have detachable magazines and are so much faster for followup shots, it's no contest.

It was Askins the elder who predicted in the 20s-30s that semi-autos would replace all other forms of hunting rifles. A man ahead of his time and would have been correct had the "establishment" embraced progress. We "won" WWII with the M-1 but everyone came home and bought bolt and lever guns .... go figure.

I like $3-5000 hunting rifles as well as the next guy but a Savage or Marlin bolt gun will match or outshoot most of them and us average folks can afford them.

Keep up the good work here and at Wolfe.

Sorry for the misunderstanding--but your post was the first one to mention shooting through brush, so no, it wasn't part of the subject until you brought it up. And I have found the extra penetration of the 286's helpful from time to time, even in the lower 48.

I've done a couple of articles over the years on modern autoloaders. You must have missed the one on the Sauer 303 that appeared in RIFLE in 2011. VERY accurate, with a fine trigger. Have had experiences with other modern autoloaders that weren't worth writing up, including a couple on your list. One of the hard decisions that many magazines make these days is whether to waste space on something that doesn't work as well as it's competition.

John, here's what he said: " I plan on having this as a black timber elk gun. "

Outside of Europe where the forests are managed like a garden, Black Timber in the West is a mix of old and young conifer trees, lots of Aspens and buckbrush. That frequently means slipping a bullet through a hole in the woods. My assumption was that hunting there might involve the obsolete concept of "Brush bucking" bullets.

Insofar as semi-autos go, Merkel, Browning, Benelli and Remington all make semi autos that will hold 1 MOA or better not to mention all the so called MSRs (clubs).

The Sauer you mentioned is long gone and betcha a steak dinner that for ever SIG MSR sold Remington sells 20 M-750s, not to mention the tens of thousands out and about that may be called M-4s, 740s, 742s or 7400s but are all about the same.

IMO the ultimate Black Timber rifle is the Merkel SR1 9.3x62, IF you could ever find one.

Amusing to see all the hype over the 26 Nosler which, in the tested rifle, hardly shot bug holes, has an estimated barrel life of 1000 rounds, in the real world won't do a thing a 700 7mm RemMag can't. The rifle tested cost 2-3 times as much as 700ADL/BDLs 7 Mags filling used gun racks. Nosler didn't even spend the extra $350 to get the barrel Nirtided which would have extended the barrel life at least 400%.

I wish you would suck start one Larry..You bag of wind

I'll agree with John on this one. My rifle really likes the 286gr, bullets so that's what I use. I've tried the 270gr. Speer, the 285gr. factory norma oryx and some others, but settled on the 286:



I also do a little bit of the type of hunting the op was asking about...

7x64FN,

Yeah, I figured as much. And you're FOS as usual:

1) Once again, you brought up the brush-bucking bullets.

2) It depends on what you mean by "hold MOA." If you mean the typical 3 shots in an inch at 100, yeah, some of them will, though in my experience rarely, and then only with selected ammo. Brownings are more accurate than Remingtons, and in fact Brownings were to most consistently accurate non-AR autoloaders I ever shot before the Sauer 303. I've fooled around with three Benellis, and out of the box none of them would do better than 2", and all were very ammo-sensitive, which generally translates to varying accuracy at different temperatures.

3) Dunno what you mean about the Sauer 303 being long gone. Sauer still lists it on their website, in fact 9 model variations, and Euro Optics in Pennsylvania has them in stock.

Dunno which review you saw on the 26 Nosler, but in both the handloading article and the test I did of factory ammo, the test rifle would do better than an inch for groups of MORE than 3 shots. The best handloads I've found for it will average .5 for 3-shot groups at 100 yards. That won't win any benchrest shoots, but it will kill animals quite a ways away.

Good hunting, and GFY!

Where you saying the 12ga slug will out penetrate the 9.3??



I have found the 286r Nosler Partition to be THE bullet for my 9.3x62. I�m running it right at 2460fps and it has proven very effective out to 300 yards on moose. Good expansion and complete penetration. I see it as the perfect 9.3 bullet.

The 270gr speer is far to soft for use on big game. It would probably work fine for whitetails or smaller bears but when used on moose it failed miserably. I shot a small bull in the neck at 15 yards, the bullet completely came apart. Penetration was only 3-4� and the bullet fragmented to pieces like a varmint bullet.

I�m sure the 250 accubond and TSX are fine bullets but I don�t see much need for them. If I wanted to run a 250gr bullet I would have built a 338/06 or 35 whelen. The 286gr bullet will easily reach out as far as I need it to.

Josh,

Pay no attention to 7x64FN. He's a notorious troll who's one of the few who's been banned from the Campfire, but keeps trying under different user names. This must be number 17.

57 gr RL-17 runs a very accurate 2400 fps with 320 gr Woodleigh PP bullets in my 25" barreled Heym 98 Mauser, I love this round and would handily hunt elk, moose or big bears in the brush or out to 250 long yards with this setup.

I'm going to have to agree with Josh on this one. I love the 286gr Nosler partition. My 9.3 loves them even more than I do and the elk hate the hell out of them. A damn good winning combination!!! I have a load I use in my CZ 550 somewhere around here. I'll post it, but pay no attention to the 9.3 caliber holes in the target . I use a cheap (by some of these guys' standards) Burris FFII 3-9x40 with ballistic plex reticle scope on this rifle and the ballistic plex reticle works great out to 400 yards. After that, it drops off too much to use the 5th hash mark. I've shot pop cans out to 400 yards, but not big game (at that range) with this rifle. However, I know it would whack the hell out of anything at that range and further...




Sorry for the "cherry picked" group in the above pic. Here are some 5 shot groups instead :





Keep an eye on SPS to have some good deals on the 286 gr. Nosler partitons (blemished/factory seconds). I think I paid $16.99/50 for the last few hundred I bought. Damn good place to buy bullets. The groups above and elk were all shot with the "blemished" bullets...

BSA,

The only reservation I have about using the 286 at longer ranges is the velocity drops below 1800 fps shortly beyond 400, even when the bullet's started at 2500 fps. 1800's the minimum velocity level recommended by Nosler for sure expansion.

The 250 AccuBond has a slightly higher BC than the 286 Partition, and can be started around 150 fps faster, which is why I tend to use it when ranges can be longer. Nosler also recommends 1800 fps as a minimum expansion velocity for AccuBonds.

Good post John. I agree. I'm thinking the Op was talking about dark timber hunting elk, where ranges wouldn't be over 200 yards probably. I can relate to this scenerio as most of my elk have been in timber where shots haven't been over 100 yards. Honestly (I hate to say it), I'd have to draw a line at 400 yards with the 286gr partition and 9.3x62mm as the ethical hunter in me totally agrees with you... Will it kill past that range, of course, but I won't be the one pulling that trigger...

John,s loads have been great in my 9.3 X 62 I use Ram Shot Big Game with 286 Gr bullets and RL 15 with 250 gr.

Interesting. I have not found the 250 gr X lacking in penetration. Even on eland at 30 yards.

Thanks to everyone for their input on good elk rounds for the 9.3x62...It looks like it's going to be fun.
I've picked up both some 286gr and some 250 TTSX. I'm going to try them out working up toward the loads that were recommended and we'll see which one my gun likes.
Just for clarification (sorry for being the stimuli for such confusing conversation) but when I meant black timber, I meant that it would be a relatively short range shot (up to 150 yds). I wasn't intending for a round that would "penetrate" brush better than another.
Thanks again for all the help.

Late to this discussion, but I have some opinions on 9,3mm bullets at their usual velocities.

I have used the 9,3 in two forms quite a bit, the 9,3X74R and 9,3X62. They shoot at similar velocities, 2,300 to 2,450.

I have found that the inexpensive Previ cup&core bullets work about as well as anything else, and they have been the most accurate bullets out a dozen 9,3s I've had. Speer 270s are also fine at the 9,3X62 velocities. I never shot a Swift A-frame in 9,3 I liked.

I did load 250 Ballistic tips for PG hunting, but I never attained stellar accuracy, and the 9,3X62 is known to shoot the same spot; the 9,3X74R not so much but still pretty well for break open guns.

The 286 Nosler didn't shoot as well, and it is a bit tough for low 9,3 velocities, IMO. It is a great 9,3 bullet for a first shot on buffalo, followed by 286gr solids. It's a narrow niche bullet.

The 9,3X62 is a thump'em-dump'em round and should make you an excellent elk killer. I'm now using Speer 270s if that means anything (besides I'm cheap, that is).

Bruce,

My experience with the 286 Partition on smaller big game is the opposite of yours. I've used them at 2400-2500 fps on numerous animals from 50 to 250 pounds in both North America and Africa, and can't recall any of the animals going much more than 25 yards after being hit, with a very high percentage dropping right there. (Have had similar results on animals from 350 to over 1000 pounds as well.)

Maybe 2400 fps isn't "low 9.3 velocities"?

John, perhaps you can recall that artical in one of the Wolfe magazines about the PH
who shot a ton of Elephants with the 9.3x62 and did not feel undergunned at all ?

I know it's some where in my "pile" of saved back issues, but that could take a day to find.

His photos sure proved that the 9.3 kills like the hammer of Thor and is easier for the average guy to shoot than a 45-50 caliber magnum.

Thanks!

Is any one using a 285gr Lapua Mega and VV N-550 powder? I've used the 250gr NAB and like it but availability has been sketchy to non-existent.

I sold my 9.3x62 because I'd shot enough Asian Water Buffalo, some as close as 25 feet in thick scrub I tried both 250 and 286gn Woodleigh Protected Point bullets and found my load at 57.5gn Varget with 286gn. I used Norma and Selier and Belliot cases, and Redding dies.