Just how effective are these rifles on animals such as buff and elephant?I'm thinking as a client, not a PH who obviously wouldn't find it adequate. There are some absoluteley lovely double rifles in this caliber for very reasonable prices. All you comments are most welcome.

I've used this caliber for a couple of years now, taking quite a few animals including lion and it has worked very well. However, I've not tackled buff or elephant, although I do intend it as my back up rifle for those animals should anything happen to my big bore.

Tony, 450 No.2 here on AR, has taken both buff and elephant with his. Hopefully he will respond and give account of his experience with it.

I've told this previously but will repeat it again, that upon arriving in CMS' camp last October, there was a gent from Brazil who was using the 9.3x74R. He reported taking 28 buffalo with this caliber, about 1/2 of which were Cape buffalo with the remaining being the South American Water buffalo variety. His opinion was that it is completely adequate.

Personally, I want a bit more rifle for a primary on the heavy weights such as buff or elephant.

It's identical to the 9.3x62, a caliber that has accounted for thousands of buffalo and hundreds of elephant.

The double rifles are half the price of the bigger bores and weigh 1/3 less. A 612 (o/u) is around $2250, and a Chapuis UGEX around $5000. Both under 8 lbs.

The caliber is not too much for North American game.

The action size lends itself to an extra set of 20ga barrels.

And now you can even get factory solids in this caliber (heretofore you had to load your own) ... what's not to like?

As mentioned, the 9,3 x 74R and the 9,3 x 62 mm are ballistically identical. 286 grn .366 calibre bullets at 2350 fps. This combination, with good shot placement has proved itself adequately effective on all the pachyderms for the last 100 years. My Brno ZG 47 9,3 x 62 mm now has in excess of 650 buffalo scalps to it's credit. I bought this rifle in the early 1980's from an old gentleman who was for most of his working life the crop protection officer for Triangle Sugar Estates in what was then the Rhodesian lowveld. He conservatively estimated that he had shot in excess of 600 buffalo with the rifle and claimed it was better on buffalo than the .375 H&H because side-on chest shots did not shoot through and exit. Regular Kynoch-shaped FMJ's were his bullet choice because the quality of soft points in those days was not great. Over the subsequent two and a half decades my clients and I added an additional 50 or so buff to this rifle's tally. I preferred 300 grainers for a bit better sectional density and expanding bullets soon proved themselves to be a lot more effective on buff that solids so I got Ken Stewart to make me a couple of hundred of his bonded flat nosed Hi-Performers with a nice thick jacket. They worked well on buff at 2300 fps. Swift make a 300 grain .366 A-Frame which would be my choice for buff and big antelope like eland.
In a suitably heavy 9.5 pound rifle, the 'nine-three's' recoil is about 1/2 that of a .375 H&H. Because of this, my female clients could shoot my rifle well. As a 'clients' rifle, and good quality bullets this combination is most definitely effective but there is little room for shot placement error. Modern-day flat nosed monolithic solids work really well on elephants when put in the right place, and with relatively quick-expanding soft points like Nosler Partitions or the new North Fork Percussion Point, its an OK choice for the big cats as well. And it's a legal DG caliber in Zimbabwe.

The 9,3x74R is one of my most favorite hunting calibres. I have taken more different kinds of game with it than any other calibre.

While I do consider it light for cape buff and elephant, I killed my biggest cape buff, ever, in body and horn in the SAVE, with one shot using a 286 gr Woodleigh Soft, frontal chest shot, he was down and dead in less than 40 yards.

I shot a cow elephant at five yards, side brain with a 286gr Woodleigh Solid. I got complete penetration.

Well handled the 9,3x74R double will get the job done. My loads are going around 2220fps.
On American and African plains game the 286gr Woodleigh Soft, and the 286gr Nosler Partition have performed excellent.

My longest range kills were a coyote at 283 or 287 yards cannot remember exactly, but I could look in my book, the kill was witnessed by Mac and filmed by Sonny S also an AR member, and a kudu in Zim at a little over 300 yards, also witnessed and filmed. Both shots were taken with a scope, and I will state that I shot the 9,3 double a fair amount at 200 and 300 yards in practice.

Anything I could do with a 375 H&H I have done with the 9,3x74R double. And we all know what a great calibre the 375 H&H is...

Not my choice for elephant. We are now into that debate of "can it" versus "should it". Can it be used on elephant effectively, yes. Should it be used on elephant, no. Your mileage may vary.

I've used the 9.3x74R on buffalo with good results in a Merkel 141(e) double. I used Barnes TSX bullets in 250 grains and got excellent penetration and expansion on the buffalo, zebra, kudu, etc.

Somewhat agreeing with Mike, I'd not take it as a primary elephant rifle, though.... but part of the reason for that, I reckon, is that I have various rifles from .416 Ruger to .458 Lott (with a Searcy in .450 N.E. on the way) and if I'm 10 yards from an elephant, more is better IMHO.

I've had two 9.3x74r's and both were Merkel O/U's. One was a new'ish M.2020 extractor with a single set trigger and talley mounts that I had custom made for it. I loved the gun and shot a load of North and South american game with it (the largest being moose and water buffalo). When I would fire the thing with snap caps, the second barrel would only fire some of the time (you would have to whack the end of the butt-stock to set the trigger). It never failed in the field, but the more I thought about it, the more I just didn't trust the single trigger. So it went the way of the Dodo…

My second in a Merkel 220e with ejectors and double triggers that I still own. It is a 1993 model that I picked up after I got rid of the one mentioned above. My goal is to use the gun in Australia on a buffalo cull trip that I am planning in 2014. The gun handles like a dream and is very accurate with most loads I've tried with it.

Funny fact about my 9.3's - I've never recovered a bullet (use TSX's).

JDA

I can not speak from experience since I have never been to Africa, although my gunsmith took his Buff with a Chapius 9.3. His first shot was a soft traversing from the front of the guts through the lungs clipping the top of the heart and stopping in the hide, second shot was a custom 320 grain solid breaking both shoulders dropping the bull. I will note his loads were approaching 50,000 psi which was safe in his rifle.

He has stated and I am paraphrasing the 9.3 really steps into its own for DG with the 320 bullet weight and a proper solid, and this was before CEB, he plans to take his elephant with this same load.

I would not run from either animal if that is all I had in my hands and I needed to take the shot. However, if I was going after them specifically, I would use it as an excuse/reason to buy a bigger rifle.

I have the Merkel 141E in 9.3x74R. I plan to take it with me to Namibia next year but it will just be used for plains game. The biggest thing I have shot with it so far is a fallow deer. Mine shoots every bullet well except for the Barnes TSX, but I have only fired it in factory ammo.

You may want to read C. Boddington's piece on the 9.3 in Jan. 2014 Guns & Ammo.

Shot two Buffalo with 9,3 – one with 74R version the other with regular 62 – penetration is there aplenty – especially with those FN solids – while I dug out 2 of those 320gr heavy ones, I am still looking for GS 270 grainers – even on N-S bounded buffalo I haven’t managed to catch one (no bones encountered tho...).

Using 9,3 (speaking of 62 and 74R) on “dangerous game” with all awareness of “bigger is better “ carries along that innocent sincere humble humility factor that forces you to pull your best on a given moment and you are passing that “biggest is best - should do” ...before pulling that first one that breaks all the hell loose and sometimes makes sh€t happen...

Use the best bullet at hand, shoot HONEST & FAIR only and all is well – speaking of buffalo that is...and I don’t feel any urge to use anything bigger – so far...

Our very own Ganyana of AR has a record of 38 straight one shot kill on Buffalo with 9,3x62 using RWS TUG bullet that is rather marginal one these days.

P.S. While 9,3x74R complies with 9,3 caliber requirement, 5300 kJ limit makes it one wanting for Zim...officially that is.

Gratuitous buffalo pic! Chapuis 9,3X74R 286 gr Soft PP Woodleigh Bullets

RAC
That is a great buff and a fantastic pic!

Congrats!

quote:

Originally posted by N E 450 No2:
While I do consider it light for cape buff and elephant, I killed my biggest cape buff, ever, in body and horn in the SAVE, with one shot using a 286 gr Woodleigh Soft, frontal chest shot, he was down and dead in less than 40 yards.<<snip

>>>SNIP My longest range kills were a coyote at 283 or 287 yards cannot remember exactly, but I could look in my book, the kill was witnessed by Mac and filmed by Sonny S also an AR member, and a kudu in Zim at a little over 300 yards, also witnessed and filmed. Both shots were taken with a scope, and I will state that I shot the 9,3 double a fair amount at 200 and 300 yards in practice.

..

quote:

Originally posted by MJines:
Not my choice for elephant. We are now into that debate of "can it" versus "should it". Can it be used on elephant effectively, yes. Should it be used on elephant, no. Your mileage may vary.

Like Tony the 9.3X74R double rifle is my all time favorite for most things I hunt. As Tony also says I to consider the 9.3X74R cartridge to be light for buffalo, or elephant as a choice for a primary rifle, but as a back-up in case of a broken big bore, I wouldn’t cancel a hut because that was all that was available.

On the “CAN” or “SHOULD” thought I have to agree with Mjines. It shouldn’t be taken for buffalo or elephant as the primary rifle IMO! Having said that If the hunt is conducted properly, it will do the job in a pinch!

I was present when Tony shot that Coyote at a measured 287 yds with his scoped Chapuis 9.3X74R double. From a kneeling position his first shot hit the moving coyote a little far back in the guts, stopping the coyote who started to spin in place, and the very quick second shot put him down stone dead!

That type of shooting is not a fluke where Tony is concerned; he does it all the time. So if anyone here believes a double rifle is only good for in close work, I can assure you that is not true.
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quote:

Originally posted by MacD37:


I was present when Tony shot that Coyote at a measured 287 yds with his scoped Chapuis 9.3X74R double. From a kneeling position his first shot hit the moving coyote a little far back in the guts, stopping the coyote who started to spin in place, and the very quick second shot put him down stone dead!

That type of shooting is not a fluke where Tony is concerned; he does it all the time. So if anyone here believes a double rifle is only good for in close work, I can assure you that is not true.
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I'll second that one Mac. On my recent hunt to Zim, I took an impala ram (leopard bait) with my Chapuis 9.3x74R (scoped) at 263 yards with a one shot kill. If I ever get around to it, I'll post the video of that shot. But you're correct, a properly regulated rifle, shooting ammunition that is properly matched to the gun's regulation, is NOT a short range weapon ONLY! A 500NE is not going to be ideal for shooting long range, but that is more of a limitation of the caliber, not the fact that it's a double rifle. The 9.3 can stretch its legs quite comfortably when set up properly.