just when I thought I was finished buying rifles a drilling popped up that I had to have!
16X16 over 9.3x72R, hammer gun made by Bohler Stahl with a box of Sellior &Bellot ammo .
Then a friend lucked into another 2 1/2booxes of RWS for me at a show this weekend!
I have shot pheasants and Sharptails and Ruffed grouse with the shotgun barrels but haven't had a chance to kill a deer with the 9.3 barrel yet. I have all of November to get that f]done though, and at 100 yards it is quite capable of that from what II have seen from my offhand targets.
Cat
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Nice!

Looks like a nice old gun, and it is good to see such good use being made of it.

FWIW "Böhler Stahl" on the barrels just means that they are made from steel by Böhler, a major steelmaker. It is not a reference to who made the gun itself. Böhler is still in business too.

Ah, like " Krupp" or " Solligen " stamps!
Jeepers tyete are no other markings except for proofs on who would have built it!
Guild gun of some sort?
Cat

Yes, that would be my guess. I wouldn't worry about it, just enjoy it for what it is.

What sort of chokes does it have? Tight and tighter, in typical German fashion?

A quick check with my plug gauge said Mod/full, but I have been meaning to mic them to find out. Not that it matters, both barrels have killed pheasants, sharptails and ruffed grouse on the fly, so I am happy!
Going to try and kill a white tail with it this week.
Cat

What's that roll crimp tool?

No idea, no markings , but it is old fir sure . Does a great job!
Cat

Well, the deer thing didn't happen last fall, every one I saw had antlers annd i had already cut my antlered tag, all I coould shoot were does, go figure! LOL
I have however started to get some pretty good accuracy out of thee 9.3X72R barrel using a 293 graain powder coated bullet.
At a average of 1,740FPS pout of my labbradar I am quite happy with it.
At 50 yards it is doing very well, but I have to hold a very hhiigh front sight picture or it shoots low.
The lower shots were the result of sitting the front bead into the rear.
The ones right around the bull were offhand however, so it's all good!


This target was shot yestreday, offhand shots were just right of thhe bull. the vertical string was off my ebows
Look out white tails!
Cat

Try slowing it down a little. It should print higher, and it sure should print higher with those Big 293gr bullets. The factory standard bullet is a 193gr .364" flat nose.

It sure is a nice old hammer drilling. I enjoyed seeing it.

Problem is it was printing low even with the factory 193's, I think it is my eyes that are doing that.
I will try a bit lighter load again however. >:)
Cat

The 193 should shoot a lot lower than the 293 grain ones.

I hear you about eyes!

The 9.3x72R barrel on my drilling has a .358 bore. It shoots Speer 180 flat points well. IMR3031 @ 2000fps. Killed a nice 8 point with it the only time I ever hunted it. The doe the buck was following stood under the tree I was in for 15 minutes, finally had to run her off to get down out of tree. Wish now I had shot her with a load of buckshot, but didn't want to deal with two deer late in the afternoon.

Michael

Hmm, John Barsness said his was like that as well that even came with some 9.3x72R ammo!.
He used 358 bullets in it
Cat

I have wondered if the unusual bullet profile of Norma 9.3x72R ammunition was designed to deal with widely varying bore diameters of 9.3x72R barrels. The cylindrical forward can get started into a tight bore before the larger diameter of the rear section has to swage itself down?

Michael

It certainly is possible, the bullet is very stubby fir sure, and the driving band seems to be a throwback from cast bullets . I was surprised at how long the throat is on this rifle as well, which makes me wonder if it is the reason my long ,heavy bullets work as well as they do, both cast and jacketed .
Cat

This is the bullet from Buffalo Arms. I believe the narrow front section is so it can be seated at the cannelure and still chamber in barrels with narrow bores or tall rifling. Mine has a groove diameter of .364 and bore diameter of .346. Very tall lands, most likely intended for lead bullets.

EDIT: My groove diameter is .358". I can't find the lead slug at the moment to give the bore diameter.

Going to run some paper patched 231 grain .358's today with 33 grains of IMR 4064 , they end up patched at .367 so they should work fine :>)
Cat

That's the correct bore for the 9.3X72R. The grooves are deep.

Well, today was pretty interesting to say the least!
My psper patched 358's performed pretty danged well at 50 yards , but I need to put more powder in them I think .
Group was about 5 inches. So the system has potential .:>)
Cat

Cat,

Were they printing high or low, and did you let the barrels cool for 20-30 minutes between shots?

I have a trick for cooling them that costs a bit, but it speeds up sighting in. I take the warmed barrels off and the forend off, then I spray them with starting fluid outside.

Warm/hot combo gun barrels tell you only to what extent they wander when warm, and it can be a lot.

I'm real interested in your patched bullet results and welcome more results.

Oh, this barrel is pretty thin so it heats up pretty quick but cools down really fast as well!
I did some testing with the warmer and colder shots with the heavier bullets and the difference on group size is about 2" at 50 yards, but shooting offhand I really didn't notice a point of impact shift because I was still having g some neck tension issues. That is straightened out now.
My paper patched bullet shooting today had a best group of 3 1/2 inches .
Loaded some more and going out tomorrow again :>)
Cat

Well, things are looking better again!
I went back to the big 293 grain,powder coated cast bullets, but changed up the load a bit.
I went back to 33.5 grains of powder, but used soome wasp nest as a filler!
Eniviromentlyy friendly and all that, it is light, and is easily inserted into the case.
Seems to work well for stopping the bloopers I was experiencing occasionally , and the accuracy seems better.
Velocity is down a bit again, so I will add another 1/2 grain and see whatt happens.
Hope springs Internal ! LOL
Cat

The 9.3x72R mostly had a pretty slow twist that worked well with lighter bullets. I made up a swaging die to bump 180 grain Speer 35 Remington bullets up to .366 and they shot great in my 9.3x72s. I also changed the point shape a bit . Shot a few deer & hogs with them. I Could hold under an inch at 50 with iron sights.

Well, things are getting better. I went back to the cast and powder coated 293's, offhad accuracy is acceptable at 50 yards and 100 yards now.
I neck size the brass in the 9.3X74R dies, just a very slight bell, drop in 33 grains of IMR 4895 with a strip about 1 1/2"X1/2" of wasp nest rolled up and set just on top of the powder. I then thumb seat the bullet as far as I can , then push it into the chamber and close it up. This seats the bullet hard into the lands and smooths out the expanded case mouth. I can then take the cartridge out with my ginger and store in in the ammo box. Velocity is just under 1/700 FPS
Th two low shots in the group were shot with not a high enough front sight picture, I have taken the front sight down a bit and will try again.
Cat

been looking at a single shot 9.3, where to find ammo?

Now I’m jealous…..absolutely beautiful…..

Ready to rock the white tails and birds !
I ended up with a load of 33 grains of IMR4895, a 285 grain cast and clear powder coated bullet, with a piece of wasp nest between the powder and the bullet to keep it against the primer. Works very well.
Cat

I had my doubts that the big bullets would stabilize and am glad they did. If you can get some Buffalo .365 200gr bullets grab them. They worked GREAT in 4 different X72R guns I've had, two drillings and two cape guns.

That is one beautiful rig you have! I wish I owned it, and you had a nicer one.

Well, I just bought another mold, this one is a 195 two cavity , so we will see what happens!
I would like to stay with the lighter bullets if they will group, for sure.
I agree, it is a pretty nice old gun!
Cat

Excellent!!

I'd stay away from the bigger bullets. They start to do their thing out about 120 yards in my experience. The 195s are about perfect.