Being a hopeless sap for the ambience of African hunting at the turn of the past century, the idea of taking one of the new Ruger No. 1s in 9.3X74R for plains game is very appealing to me. I realize this round packs plenty of punch, although not terribly flat shooting. Would this caliber be a reasonable choice for, say, a hunt for kudu and oryx in Namibia?

It's equivalent to a .35 Whelen, so it should be good enough for kudu and oryx. You'll have to gauge whether its trajectory is suitable for the long shots that are sometimes encountered in Namibia.

George

Just get the rifle, a set of dies, and 100 rds of componants, and shoot it all up, stump shooting. The judgeing of distance in the field is the only way to become profecient with a cartridge like the 9.3X74R in it's double rifle form. With the Ruger No1, however, you can get a little flatter trejectory from that chambering, and a little more energy as well.I will not hesitate to take Cape Buffalo with a 9.3X74R double rifle, so with a scoped Ruger No1, I see no down side in useing it for ANY plains game!

I'm going to buy one as soon as I find one available. In my case, however, I will use the loads I use in my 9.3X74R double rifles for it, so it will be a scoped companion to my main hunting 9.3s, which are a pair of 9.3X74R double rifles!

The 9.3x74R can be thought of as the rimmed equivalent of the 9.3x62. (Different cases but basically the same ballistics.) It would be a great choice for plains game. I used my 9.3x62 on plains game in South Africa last August and its performance was excellent. But, as George mentioned, you'll need to decide whether you can live with the trajectory for the long shots that you may (or may not) encounter in Namibia.

I used my 9.3x62 in bushveld country where ranges are usually around 50 to 150 yards. My load was a 286 gr Woodleigh RN at 2390 fps. To flatten the trajectory a little, you could use a good 250 gr bullet handloaded to around 2550-2600 fps in the 9.3x74R. I know those ballistics are possible in the 9.3x62 but I've never loaded for the 9.3x74R.

My two cents worth....
-Bob F.

I have owned several 9.3x 74R's and reloaded extensively. Only real problem I have had is I used mostly Norma brass and life was terribly short. RWS was better by a long shot. I had some Sellier & Bellot and it was pretty good also. The only animal in Africa I would be at all reluctant to use the 9.3 x 74R on would be Elephant and then only if I didn't have adequate backup. I will definitely buy one of the No 1's when they are available.

I used a 9.3X62 and it worked great up to 250 yards. Namibia will offer you shots abit further but I think much over 250 you are stretching the limits of this cartrige. I also thing much over 250 comes into the realm of animal sniping and not hunting. A hunter worth his salt should be able to get you closer. Just my 2 cents.
Aaron

GS Custom bullets has a wonderful MonoMetal 230gnHV pill that noticably improves the downrange ballistics of the 9.3x62/x74r.
Price of these is not a big issue if you can afford to go to Africa, more to the point, can you afford not to use them??!

quote:

Originally posted by Woodjack:
GS Custom bullets has a wonderful MonoMetal 230gnHV pill that noticably improves the downrange ballistics of the 9.3x62/x74r.
Price of these is not a big issue if you can afford to go to Africa, more to the point, can you afford not to use them??!

here we are basicly talking about the 9.3X74R in a Ruger No1, but I must offer a word of CAUTION here! In MOST double rifles chambered for this round, especially old ones may be damaged by the use of most mono-metal bullets. In bolt rifles, or single shots there seems to be no problem. The damage on double rifles seems to be they cause seperation of the barrels from the ribs, in some cases, breaking the solder bond as the hard bullet passes through the barrel. It seems the barrel metal can flex as the bullets passes through, but the solder cannot react quick enough, and breaks loose!

Actually the 286 gr Nosler partition, or the "ONE" mono-metal bullet that is safe for all doubles, the North Fork cup point, are all the bullet needed for hunting anything in the plains game group! Nitro 450 No2,(TONY) used the Nosler Partition to killa Kudu out at the 300 yd mark with a Chapuis double rifle last spring, and I was witness to his hiting a Coyote with one shot from each barrel at 270 yds! This tells me range is not a problem with this cartridge, especially in the scoped No1. The Ruger No1 should be able to do at least that well, with the 9.3X74R/ 286 gr bullet! Practice! Know your rifle!

All right, if this is a new factory chambering, whereinhell did you see it? It's not on the Ruger website and I can't find any other references. C'mon, 'fess up!

quote:

Originally posted by Oldsarge:
All right, if this is a new factory chambering, whereinhell did you see it? It's not on the Ruger website and I can't find any other references. C'mon, 'fess up!

You don't get to surf as much now that school's in It's apparently in the new cataloge but not on the website yet. See the URL below.

https://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/9421043/m/978101183

Happy New Year

quote:

Originally posted by Oldsarge:
All right, if this is a new factory chambering, whereinhell did you see it? It's not on the Ruger website and I can't find any other references. C'mon, 'fess up!

It's evidently in the 2006 catalog! I haven't seen it either, and as soon as I can get one, it will be getting wrung out by me as soon as I can get a scope mounted on it! Man it would make a neat Leopard rifle with a good lighted scope!

quote:

Originally posted by MacD37:

quote:

Originally posted by Woodjack:
GS Custom bullets has a wonderful MonoMetal 230gnHV pill that noticably improves the downrange ballistics of the 9.3x62/x74r.
Price of these is not a big issue if you can afford to go to Africa, more to the point, can you afford not to use them??!

here we are basicly talking about the 9.3X74R in a Ruger No1, but I must offer a word of CAUTION here! In MOST double rifles chambered for this round, especially old ones may be damaged by the use of most mono-metal bullets. In bolt rifles, or single shots there seems to be no problem. The damage on double rifles seems to be they cause seperation of the barrels from the ribs, in some cases, breaking the solder bond as the hard bullet passes through the barrel. It seems the barrel metal can flex as the bullets passes through, but the solder cannot react quick enough, and breaks loose!

Actually the 286 gr Nosler partition, or the "ONE" mono-metal bullet that is safe for all doubles, the North Fork cup point, are all the bullet needed for hunting anything in the plains game group! Nitro 450 No2,(TONY) used the Nosler Partition to killa Kudu out at the 300 yd mark with a Chapuis double rifle last spring, and I was witness to his hiting a Coyote with one shot from each barrel at 270 yds! This tells me range is not a problem with this cartridge, especially in the scoped No1. The Ruger No1 should be able to do at least that well, with the 9.3X74R/ 286 gr bullet! Practice! Know your rifle!

NOTICEI recieved a PM from Gerard, who makes the GS CUSTOM momo-metal bullets in South Africa, takeing issue with my post above where I reccomended ONLY North Fork soilds for use in double rifle, especially old ones.

That opinion was given then with the added word MOST double rifles. First the opinion is based only on bullets I have experience with, anfd the "MOST" in regard to double rifles means only those with proper bore diameters. Double rifles, or, in fact, all old British rifles have been known to have no "ONE STANDARD" Bore size for any caliber, but may be different according the what the maker decided at the time he was boreing the barrels. Because of this, one must certainly slugg a barrel before loading for it, no matter what bullet you intend useing. In the case of a bore size being a little small, the mono-metal bullets will be a bigger risk than standard jacketed bullets. As long as the bore size is correct, then a properly designed mono-metal bullet will be fine. Where double rifles are concerened, I still do not reccomend any Mono-metal bullet untill the barrel is slugged, and found to be proper. Then only the NF design is safe in a double IMO. The GS Custom MAY be OK as well, but I haven't personally used them, so can't say! The GSC is a copper bullet, and the examples I've seen seem to be almost duplicates of the NFs, which are copper as well, and the pressure rings are the only thing that are engraved, with the rifleing not touching the main body of the bullet. If the GSC is measured the same, it should be OK as well. Not haveing ever measured one of the GSCs I can't say from personal experience!

I've got a 9.3x74R single shot with two barrels and I think it would do fine as a plains game rifle especially if scoped, but taking into consideration its curved trajectory.

I see reference to the North Fork solids as being OK in double rifles due to the driving bands being the only thing engraved by the rifling. Would this apply to the new Barnes banded solids?

quote:

Originally posted by Masterifleman:
I see reference to the North Fork solids as being OK in double rifles due to the driving bands being the only thing engraved by the rifling. Would this apply to the new Barnes banded solids?

The Barnes new banded solids are deffinately better than the old one with a solid grouve diameter for the bareing surface. The Barnes are made of bronze, and the bands are very wide, compaired to the very narrow pressure grouves onf the NF, and the NF is made of copper, which is very much softer. I personally would not use the Barnes super solids, nor the new banded bronze solid,in "MY" double rifles, new, or old! Others may do as it suits them.