Hi
this caliber is almost balistically identical to the well known 9,3x62, but nobody is talking about it for african hunting!! there are plenty of double barrelled guns in this caliber around here and some are more affordable than british doubles
what about a 9,3x74 R in africa? if x62 can kill the most then x74R should be able to do the same any comments?
cheers
danny

Had a kid and a woman use doubles in this cal last year for buffalo and ele.

Eugene Yap's (SCI hunter of the year) Son also used one for ele/buff last year.

Like the 9,3x62 it just works and people using them don't have to get on a high horse and "defend" their pet cartridge. Very popular ammongst the Euopeans who come out. Would think that arround 40% of the German/Austrian/Czech/Swiss use a 9,3 of one persuation or another

it is like Ganyana said, it is not a cartridge witch gets everyone talking, it just gets the job done, it is almost a clone of the 9.3x62, so all the things they say about the 9.3x62 go for the 9.3x74, not many people can afford a double, otherwise it would have been even more popular.

Ganyana

Hi

the Ken steward bullets you use in your 9.3 how do they perform, there have been a a fuss saying his bullets are breaking in half. Do you have any foto's of how they look.

last time I read about him he makes 2 greades for the 9.3 which do you use, how do they perform penetration wise agains say Rhino or one of the other premium bullets

Thanks

Flip

Hi lip

I use a bonded core flat nosed bullet that he makes to order. (makes me .404 softs to the same design) I have just run out of the last 100 and Ken has kindly arranged for another batch to arrive. I have never seen a Rhino in 9,3 but Kens premiun 9,3's perform about the same as a Rhino from a .375 and open more slowly than woodleigh 286grn softs - which is why I special order Kens bullets rather than walking into Harrisons in Harare and just buying woodleighs. His new batch look slightly different, but the one I sectioned appears to have the same thickness of jacket (1mm) as the old.

I have had a couple of hunter that used the 9.3x64 in double rifles, and a few more that used the 9.3x62 in bolt actions...They all did about as well as anyone else...

I would like to have a nice little light 9.3x74 double and if I ever get one then I will surly hunt Buffalo with it, but I still prefer the great little 450-400 over any 9.3...

Ganyana

So from what I gather they work well on the larger game and Buffalo. I like to experiment so I might when I am back in SA give Ken a call, I would love to see 1sthand how they perform on Kudu and eland, we are a bit short on buffalo on the farm so Eland will have to be the meanest.
Thanks for your time

Cheers

Flip

Hi
What about nosler or barnes for buffs? they both are making bullets in 366 (9,3 ) caliber.
regards
danny

I have not used the nosler but from reports from other people it works very, I have read of a guy who shot a buffalo and it did a good job, I am not sure if Ray have used the nosler, well the Barnes X is a great bullet, I have used it both in factory (Sako) and reloaded by another reloader. The 250 grain x at about 2400 penetrate like hell, out of about 20 animals shot did not recover any bullet, they just go through, don't matter which angle, although I did not shoot at severe angles. The 286 grain bullets was at 286 grain, they gave the same type of penetration, I could only recover one on an eland, the other was the same as the 250 grain, if I had not other I would shoot a buff with it on the shoulder, penetration will not be a problem.

Cheers


Flip

Have tried the Barnes X in 9,3x62 and gave up becuase I couldn't stuff enough powder into the case to get the velocities I wanted. With the tripple shock (same as GS Custom) design that might change. 9,3 x62 is very limmited on case capacity, and the 9,3x74's I've seen seldom regulate if you deviate from the 286grns @ 2380fps - that said though, the one the youngster used last year shot 258grn , 270grn speers and 286grn loads all into a 4" circle at 75 yards. Bloomin Impressed (it was a frog made rifle by someone I have never heard of)

hi ganyana
That frog made rifle wasn't that a CHAPUIS double ? they usually made excellent doubles not as cheap! as British doubles . Here in sweden there are plenty of TIkka doubles (o/u) some with a pair of 9,3x74R barrels at affordable prices. what is your opinion about these guns? 9.3x74r has a better case capacity than x62 in case of using long monolithic bullets ,but the working pressure is much lower do not allowing to get a real decent velocity.
regards
danny

A lot of the doubles chambered for the 9.3x74 are over-and-unders. That is probably not as beneficial as side-by-side (SBS) for rapid reloading. It is quite a while ago that SBS was the order of the day for Central European doubles.
- mike

Hi Flip,
I used Ken Stewarts "Hi-performer" Core Bonded Custom Bullet (thicker jacket than the standard Stewart bullet, aviable from cal 9,3mm) in my .404 when I hunted with Ken Stewart in September North of Pietersburg.

I like the idea to use the possibility with modern powders not to gain more velocity than original loads but use heavier bullets than original with the original velocity!
So Ken makes 425 grains bullets for my .404 and 300 and 325 grains bullets for my rifles in 9,3x62, 9,3x63 and my drilling 16/16 9,3x74R.

I shoot one wlidebeest with the 425 grain bullet. Broadside shot at 130m -the bullet went straight through.
For two weeks ago i shoot a 120kg wild boar hog with my 325grain load in my 9,3x62 (53 grains Norma N-202).
The hog went down and had not to consider if he should visit the dentist or the docter first! The bullet had opened up nicely and weight retention was 91%.

I can only recommend Stewart bullets and if that isn't enough...

-Ken makes all the brass and bullets for Harry Selby that he uses in his .318 Westley Richards!

Scandinavians interested in buying Ken Stewarts bullets can contact me for orders. Ken makes the bullets in any shape, caliber and weight that you wants!

Husky

Husky

Hi

thanks for the data, do you know the velocity of the 325 grain bullets in your 9.3

Seems like good bullets

thanks

Flip

Ganyana

Speaking of barnes bullets, You most likely now OPM amminition, well he loaded some ammo for me 286 grain X, the case looked pretty full, I don't know the powder, it is not s335, I don't know how S341 looks like, the powder looks like small round ball if I can call it that, well the case seems pretty full, and it seems pressure is high, I can see the tooling marks on the cases, but they sure shot well and accurately, they where loaded in norma cases

Cheers

Flip

I have just had an email from Truveloshooter giving me some date on Ken Steward's bullet and about the cannelure.

Thanks chris for all the data, Folks it is great to have somebody with Truveloshooter's experience over here, can only increase the experience on this forum.

Hello Flip,

Ken Stewart makes 2 grades in his bond core bullet - the standard grade for soft game and the Hi-performer for tough game. I have shot both. There are times when they brake in half due to a cannelure that is too deep. Naturally the thick jacketed Hi-Performer is stronger. The last batch I received from Ken features a much shallower groove indentation and is much better. I actually prefer no crimping groove for a 9.3 bullet, especially if you want to use it on buffalo. The Swiss CDP bullet has no crimping groove and I have used it without any hassles. The recoil is mild on a 9,3 if you load it sensibly (approx. 2,250 fps) and it will not bump your bullets deeper into the case. For higher recoil levels, from the 375 H&H and up, one needs a crimping groove to hold the bullet firm.

Since bullet performance is the ultimate measure for me, it makes sense to do every thing possible to make the bullet perform better and one of those things is to do away with the crimping groove that is an engineered weakening of the already thin copper jacket, the other thing of cause is to bring the velocity down to within the threshold strength of the bullet. As bullets are not created equal, you have to determine with your own tests what is acceptable to you. That is why I say it is silly to load a 9.3 to 375 H&H velocity levels. High impact velocities work against the bullet. High velocity is meant for long distance shooting only in my opinion (for soft nosed bullets). Taking the crimping groove away just strengthens the bullet further. You can try these 2 things, and I assure you sterling performance. I have just proven it to some of my mates with the Claw bullet (made by Andre van der Merwe ) by increasing the wall thickness from 1 mm to 2 mm and taking the crimping groove away. I did this in a wet pack. Weight retention shot up drastically and the mushroom looks better and does not sheer off as it has been strengthened. When people see this with their own eyes, the penny drops. It is a nice feeling when you feel confident about your bullet/load combination.

Regards
Truveloshooter

I used the 9.3x74R in zim last year with excellent success. shot kudu, zebra, & a 10'2" lion. used 300 gr swift A frames over 65 grains of old H4831. this regulated well in by beretta o/u. one thing about it is that the tragectory is sort of like a rock. Beyond 200 yds it drops to fast to be usable, but then it isn't used for longer ranges anyway. I know of some who have used it on buffalo, but I really consider is to small, but then again I think a 375 is to small too. (really like my 470)

Hi Flip,
The velocity is ~2250fps from a 22" Schulz & Larsen barrel. I guess that it is possible to make a little bit hotter load -but I don't see any reason for that.

Normal shooting distances when hunting Moose and Wild boar (driven hunts with dogs) is 50 m. a long shot is 100m...

Husky

HiHusky

It seems yours is much the same range as in our Northern Part of Namibia, it is bushveld, have have shot game as close as 10 m, I have never shot any game on our farm at greater than 100 m, unless in is on the road or one of our planted fields, but not when I am hunting in the bush, even 100 m is an awfully long shot most of the time it is like 40 \ 50 yards

How is your meatdamage at with your gun say to more faster guns like the 30-06 and so on

Cheers

Flip

Hi Flip,
The hunting conditions.. -atleast the ranges are very much the same! But the weather Its horrible here right now, +2degrees Celsius and ice cold rain...

The meat damage is much lesser than with a 180gr 30-06 at say 2600fps!

/Husky

hi
how many fps did you get for your swift 300 grain load and 4831 powder?
regards
danny

Flip,
I have only used the Nosler 286 gr. in a 9.3x62 and on plainsgame, deer and elk as I recall and perhaps one Buffalo, but memory slips me a bit on that...the Nosler seems a little soft in my long throated 26" gun at 2520 FPS. and blows the front off, but at the much lower 9.3x74 velocities it would probably work pretty good on Buffalo or anything else....

The 9.3x62 sure works well with 286 and 320 gr. woodleigh softs and solids in my gun..I can get almost 2400 FPS with the 320 gr. Woodliehs and that load has worked exceptionally well on Buffalo...Today I mostly use the GS Customs flat nose solids in my 9.3x62...they do work.

My 9.3x62 is a great pack everyday get any job done gun, but for hunting buffalo I still like the 40 calibers best.