I bought four boxes of the 285 grain SP's from Natchez for $18.95 a box. Couldn't pass them up at that price BUT does anyone have any experience with them on medium to large plains game like zebra, wildebeest or eland? It would be great to shoot factory loads if they perform, they look kinda like Rem CoreLokts. Or should I just save the brass and reload?

In Europe they´re mostly used as practise rounds, people don´t even save the brass.

HAHAHAHAHA!!!! That's what I get for going cheap. Well there goes a hundred bucks!

I chronographed some of the S&B 9.3x62 ammo out of my CZ 550 (23.6" barrel) and they averaged about 2245 fps. I have not hunted with this load, but I think the S&B bullet would probably be fine for our Texas feral hogs and deer but for Africa I'd want something better.

I'm taking my 9.3x62 to South Africa in August for a plains game hunt and I'll be using the 286gr Woodleigh round nose at about 2300 fps or so. (I'm still tinkering with loads.)

Just my two cents....
-Bob F.

[edited to correct a typo]

Bob,
Have you reloaded the brass?

I also bought 4 boxes. Haven't shot any game with them, but they sure grouped well in my CZ. I ran 2 boxes through my rifle and they grouped about 1 1/4 inch at 100 yards. Not the best the rifle can do, but not bad for the price you pay. I've used the 131 gr S&B's in my 6.5x55 on deer and antelope and they worked great. I think the 9.3's will be a good deer/elk load, but I'd probably want a better bullet for anything serious.

As to the above comment on brass, I've reloaded the aforementioned 6.5 brass and didn't have any problems. I've re-sized, trimmed and primed 2 boxes of S&B 9.3 brass and will load some Woodlieghs and Noslers and give them a try. I don't see where the brass will be any better or worse than any other brand. I've also laid in 200 Norma brass in 9.3x62, so if the S&B's aren't any good, no problem.

Mac

quote:

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Originally posted by bwanamrm:
Bob,
Have you reloaded the brass?

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No, I haven't reloaded the S&B brass. I've been using the Graf's brass for my handloads. The Graf's brass seems to be pretty good by the way.

-Bob F.

While living in Belgium, had a chance to reload a lot of the brass in different calibers. Didn't have any problems.
Max

It might be that we Europeans generally hold anything coming out Eatsern Europe as low quality trash -I´m glad if I can be proven wrong on this!

I´ll stay away from S&B on a hunt, both reloaded cases and new rounds!

We have seen some horrible cases of overloaded 6,5X55 and 30-06 practise ammo here in Sweden from S&B

A buddie of mine blow a case in 6,5X55 with S&B factory rounds He was ok but reported about a "windy" experience. The extractor on his HVA 1900 (Sako type ext.) was blown out of the rifle........

I´ll never put a S&B factory round in any of my rifles............

Stefan

Hi,
I agree with Stefan and CEWE!
I use S&B bullets for "plinking" and practise only.

But they are cheap and you will get lot of shooting at the range per Dollar.

Husky

Unfortunately my post from last year is gone, but I used S&B 9.3 in namibia last year on kudu, gemsbok, duiker, steenbok and springbok, all with excellent results. I also killed 3 deer this year with S&B 30.06 150 gr. SPCE. I have had no problems with S&B ammo and feel the price is low due to a lower advertising budget here in the U.S. and lower production (read labor) costs. I would not hesitate to use S&B again in Africa.

bwanamrm,

S&B does not enjoy the same reputation in Europe compared with other readily available high and premium end ammunition such as Norma, Lapua, RWS, Winchester, Remington, Federal and others. S&B, is pretty much considered vanilla flavored although they have recently started producing and marketing some ammo calibers with Sierra and other premium bullets.

To qualify this though there are plenty of hunters and shooters who use S&B ammo successfully without any issues. Less expensive ammo at discounted prices for shooting and hunting is what they are pretty much currently known for.

Years ago I had an unpleasant experience with S&B 22 Hornet and 7x57R ammunition although I'm sure that their current quality control and components are considerably better than they were then.

Years ago the 22 Hornet, 7x57R and 9.3x74R had undersized primer flash holes creating difficulties with the primer punch pin in dies that used to get stuck in the cases when reloading. I purchased undersized punch pins and also drilled the flash holes - have since given up on both and no longer use their cases for reloading. I could not say whether their ammo currently uses an undersized flash hole.

Cheers,

Gerry