There seems to be a lot of interest and respect for this round. Can, and if so where, can this be used for buffalo? Atkinson seems to have a lot of respect for it as well as Kevin"Doctari"Robertson.
Robertson says it is border line legal in one of his books but talks about how many biffalo he has seen taken with it in the introduction on the round in the new Barnes reloading manual. Comments please.

Leo,

The locals I have met in Southern Africa consider it the equivalent of the .375 H&H, and don't hesitate to hunt dangerous game with it. They do use solids on elephant.

Dr. Don Heath the editor at African Hunter is also a particular fan of this cartridge.

The caliber is popular in most of Africa to one degree or another....You will never find anyone who has used this caliber the will say anything bad about it....My love affair started with a borrowed rifle on a buffalo cull, and I was impressed to say the least...I believe it the full equal to the great 375 H&H and with the use of the 320 gr. Woodleigh softs and solids, it works wonders on Buff..

A charge stopper? If you tend to shoot for the brain on a charge as I do, then it is as good as anything else..If you tend to shoot at the chest, during a charge, then you need to shoot a 40, 45 or better yet a 505 Gibbs...Same for the 375 H&H.

All that said I like the safty buffer of having a little more gun, if it is available, and have chosen the 40 calibers for all my DG..but I do believe we make a little too much commotion over caliber, but then if we didn't then what in the world would we have to talk about...

The above is nothing more than my personal opinion.

I met Dr. Robertson at SCI three years ago when he was signing his book at the Safari Press booth. He told me that his personal 9.3x62 has been used by himself and his clients to take well over 600 buffalo.

So it would be ok to hunt with, if being backed up by a propessional hunter?

Leo,
The 9.3x62 is fine if you can shoot it well, thats the criteria. To be strictly legal you must handload it pretty hot, but I don't think anyone has ever been checked on that one. I would suggest the 320 Woodligh softs and solids.
My load is 56.5 grs of RL-15, for 2400 give or take a hundred FPS, according to barrel lenth.

The 320 soft will bust a shoulder and come to rest on the far side skin, with near 99 percent reliability...the solid will pass through every time. Perfect for herd shooting Buffalo.

I�m wondering about something I hope Atkinson can answer. I have a 9,3x62 wich I mainly use for moose, and I have used the original Norma load for 2360 fps with the 286 grain bullet, but you say you get around 2400 with a 320 grain bullet, is�nt that stretching the caliber beyond the limits or am I just a coward;-) If you have any experience with Norma powders I would be glad to hear your thoughts on the 201 and the new 203-B for 9,3x62. I see Norma have published a load with the latter achieving 2440 fps with their 286 grain alaska and I�m using that load this fall.

Made in Sweden,

I think that it is due to Ray's rifle barrel lenght (26").
Difficult to have that results with a 20" or 22".
Ray use Woodleigh bullets, the 320grs were developped for 9.3*74R, but it seems that they work well also in 9.3x62 barrels.
I always had the best results with 293Tug bullets, Vithavuory N135 powder, 54/55grs, and Federal GM LR primers. Rifle Sabatti, S&B 4x scope, ring and bases Warne Premier.
bye

Would the additional case capacity of the 9.3x64 be of note in using a heavier bullet such as the 320gr Woodleigh? Maybe not so much with the 250's. Cobalt

Gator,and others,

I have shot the 9.3x64 and the 9.3x62 and with modern powders like H414 and RL-15 and the 9.3x62 I show the 9.3x64 to gain about a 100 to 150 FPS, not a lot IMO...both are excellent calibers...

as to my loads, they are max in my gun, the cases last at least 9 loadings...I loaded them until I got a extractor mark, and backed off a grain and then loaded that same case 9 times, trimmed it twice and it was still good...thats all I can tell you. I do get a lot out of the 26" Lothar Walther barrel and it is a little faster than my other barrel....

My loads are 5 or 10 shot averages- chronographed)
56.5 grs. RL-15 320 Woodleigh soft or solid...
59 SAme 286 Nosler 2520 FPS
60 H414 250 Nosler Bal tip. 2700 FPS
57 RL-15 300 gr. Swift 2450 FPS
63 IMR-4350 250 BarnesX 2777 FPS

All the above were with Fed 215 primers and I recently changed to 210 and only lost about 12 FPS average.

ALL LOADS ARE MAX IN MY RIFLE, CUT 10 PERCENT AND LOAD UP TO YOUR RIFLES MAX.....

As to the 9.3x64 I believe it is the best all around rifle in the modern world, bar none but brass, although available, is a pain to get in the USA..

Ray
Every time I start to doubt you you come up with a brilliant observation.

quote:

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Originally posted by Atkinson:
Gator,and others,
As to the 9.3x64 I believe it is the best all around rifle in the modern world, bar none but brass, although available, is a pain to get in the USA..

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Couple that with your opinion of the .404 and you may be alright yet.

"Never use a cartridge younger than you"

GAtor,
Hang with me and I guarentee you'll wear diamonds as big as horse turds!

Made in Sweeden,
I doubt that you will ever know the difference, when a bullet weighs 320 grs. velocity makes little difference, 2200 is fine and 2400 is too.

Ray,

Out of curiousity, what brass do you use for your 9.3 x 62mm handloads? Over here we can get Norma and RWS. I use the latter and find it good.