I found the Speer 270 to be really soft and they came apart like a bomb...I like the 286 gr. Nosler, the 320 gr. Woodleighs and the 300 gr. Swifts...I really like that 320 gr. woodleigh RN..at about 2375 FPS....It works on Cape Buffalo darn well.

I just learned that I have drawn a moose tag in New Brunswick, which means that I'll be taking my CZ550 in 9.3 x 62 moose hunting this fall...So far all I have killed with this rifle is a whitetail buck, two caribou and a coyote...

I've been using a very accurate load featuring the Barnes 250 X bullet and RL-15...I have no doubt that this load would prove perfectly satisfactory for moose.. Velocity in my rifle is 2500 FPS...

However, just for the sake of argument, what would all of you 9.3 fans out there do if you were in my shoes..??.. Would you go with the Barnes or work up a load with a heavier bullet, such as the 286 Nosler partition or others, such as the Woodleigh... Keep in mind that fairly long shots on clearcuts are a possibility...By long, I mean 250-300 yards max....

The last moose I killed was with a Husquvarna 9.3x62 with 270gr Speers and a stout charge of H414. I shot him 200+0r- yds right behind the shoulder but alittle high. He took 10 or so steps and piled up.

I don't think premium bullets are needed with velocities like the 9.3x62 but most bullets that are available are premiums so you have to use whats out there.

Barns X should work fine!!!

If you choose the 270 speer, the following two loads shot about 3/4 inch at 100 yds in my Mark X with 26 inch barrel. 57.0 Imr 4064 with Lapua cases and F210 primers and 62.0 of Imr 4350, same case and primers at 3.365 OAL. If you want Woodleighs try 58.0 Re-15 with 286 Woodleigh SN, Lapua cases, F210 primer at 3.365 OAL.
If you want try 58.5 Re-15 with 286 Nosler Part in Lapua cases, with F-210 primers at 3.370 OAL. I doubt there will be much load development. Just work up to them and try them.

Pygmy
I have shot several deer, wild pigs [2 over 300 lbs] and one black bear with my 9,3x74R. I have used several different bullets including the 270 Speer, 286 Woodleigh, and 286 Nosler Partition. The only bullets I have never recovered are the 286 Nosler Partition and the 293 TUG.
If hunting moose with my double I would carry a Woodleigh in the right bbl and a Partition in the left.
The partition will give very deep penetration.

You might also like the 286 gr Norma Oryx bullet, which is quite soft and will expand well on lower velocities also. It has been found to be very good on moose here in Finland, where 9,3x62 is becoming all the more popular. Our moose are mostly shot under 100 meters, though.

I use the 270 Speer currently with N 140. Accuracy is great In the past I have used 286 grs Norma ammunition, but the best performer was the A2 Dead tough

Aleko

My thoughts and experience with the 270 Speer agree with Ray. Entirely too soft and they came apart. A post in AR about a year ago concurred same. Ive used the 250 gr Xs too and have some Hawk 285s I intend to try in the future. I would guess the Noslers should be fine also.

I've also found that the Speer 270 is too soft. Tends to break up or deflect as a result. Much happier with Partitions or Woodleighs.

Haven't needed anything heavier than 286 ... yet. But my experience with the caliber is somewhat limited.

Ray,

You always talk of the speer 270 gr 9.3 bullet in terms of Cape buff.....I agree totally that it would not be the bullet for that But from the shooting I have done with it I have found that it would definitely have a place for any deer, pigs, roo's and game of this size. In fact due to 9.3x62 speeds maintaining bullet integrity I feel for the above mentioned game it is more suitable than the premium bullets.

I don't plan on going to Africa unless I hit the lottery. Just the same, I have a CZ-550 in 9.3 x 62, and a number of Africa hands seem to think the Speer 270 is a little soft for use on nasty critters. I respect their experiences and opinions highly, and have opted for the Nosler 286 grain Partition for bear repellant venues. The Speer 270 will get detailed as my deer load for this year's hunt, but the Mountain Molds cast boolit would likely do as well. Tough decision, there.

I used the 270 Speers (9,3x62) for plains game in RSA last year, taking 7 animals with the Speers and 2 with the 250 gr Hawks. I regret not using the 285 Hawks completely instead of both I did use. I had the 270 Speer blow completely apart on a zebra shoulder at a little under 100 yds, with about 3 inches of penetration, with a long spooring job at the end. We did recover the zebra the next morning with the PH taking a rear-end shot with a 375 H&H as we jumped it up. The Speers worked ok on the light stuff, duiker, impala, etc. I've taken 2 mule deer with the Speers also, and expansion was on the too much side, one in the neck the other a behind the shoulder shot.

Forget African game.....how would the speer peform for feral pigs and deer & roo's ??

When anyone mentions the speer they always talk about shooting African game....most people do not shoot African game. I reckon the speer for pigs& deer etc. is a good bullet, and it has it's place.

At 9.3x74R velocities (about 100 fps slower than the 9.3x62) a deer kill and a hog kill both showed some signs of odd bullet behavior. It was more pronounced on the hog. Projectile stuck the left front upper leg bone, bent off to the right, exited just in front of the right rear leg. It left a trail of pieces of the core ... and of course a terribly messy gut.

Some bending of the flight path through the chest of the deer (just behind the let foreleg) and massive exit wound. Pieces of the core in the wound.

Obviously worked as both animals had exit wounds and were recovered. Would like to see better performance though.

That the kind of data you want?

I have killed a few deer, coyotes and wild pigs with my 9,3x74R using the 270 Speer at @ 2320 fps, including one hog slightly over 300 lbs. That is the only Speer bullet I have recovered. It performed perfectly. However I would not use it on larger game. The Hawk 285gr with the .035 jkt has caused more pigs to "drop to the shot" than any other bullet in my 9,3. For the big stuff I would use the 286gr Woodleigh or the 286 Nosler Partition.
I used the 286 Woodleigh on my Idaho Black Bear.

PC I tend to agree with you the speer bullets will be good for our game (Australian) with the exception of Buffalo our pigs don't seem to get as big as the european types the biggest pigs I have personally seen were about the size of sheep though I know that the pigs in NT get bigger
goats people shoot them with 222rem so I think a 270gr speer would be ok for them I am not trying to start an argument I would not use the speers on big nasty critters but in Oz at least they would make an excellent general purpose load we just don't have much in the way of big game

smle,

yeah I totally agree that the speer is not the bullet for tough game but I feel it has a place and it that it gets to much bad press when in fact the I doubt that the bullet was ever conceived for the shooting of buff etc. anyway.

I have shot probably 15 or so grassy's with the speer and I was suprised that on a couple of large males I got full penetration when they where faced away hunched over feeding. The 9.3 270 gr speerbullets penetrated hip and spine bones and managed to exit the chest. Same shot using a .375 H&H & Hornady 300 gr RN on a a smaller specimen lost a lot of weight and was recovered under the chest hide. I would say that the speer 9.3 bullet woulkd be a tougher bullet than the 9.3 ballistic tip...although this is just drwan from a comparison with .30 cal Nos BT's I have used.

I do not want to argue with anyone just trying to stress the fact that we need to compare apples with apples.

I have one load for my CZ: 54.6 gr Norma 201 with a Nosler 286 gr Partition. I never have to worry about what's in the chamber no matter what pops up. It will take care of anything I'm going to run across in North America (and most of Africa).

Bullets are like scopes. Ammo is the cheapest thing on a hunt and the thing that will mess up your day quicker than anything except a broken reticle. No cheap bullets and no economy scopes! Speer bullets are good for soft skinned game and practice. When I'm in the woods I carry Noslers. Yes, I'm opinionated.

PC,
Your probably right, I have a tendency to judge bigger bore calibers and bullets towards Buffalo..but in the case of the 9.3x62 I found it too soft for our Idaho elk and that it worked OK on Mule deer, but then, I doubt if there is such a thing as bullet failure in a 270 gr. bullet on deer, regardless of what it does on contact!

Ray,

have you ever reocvered any of those 320 gr 9.3 woodleigh's and how would they perform on lighter game do you think ??

PC

The ballistic tips in 8mm, 8,5 and 9,3 has much thicker jackets than the ballistic tips from 7,62 and smaller. The ballistic tip in 9,3 is not bad at all.

Cheers
/ JOHAN

Johan,

thanks for the tip. Whats my chances of getting a woodleigh 250 gr bullet and a 250 gr nos bt shooting to the same POI. I reckon you would have a good combo of hunting bullets with those two loads. Nos BT's work well on roo's.

The Speer 250 in .358 is a great bullet for Whelen velocitys I wonder about the 9.3 Speer. I have shot
several big bull moose at close range with mine and have yet to recover a bullet.

PC,
Yes, I have recovered some from Buffalo and the are about the size of a quarter and normally stop on the off side hide and they look typically Woodleigh, as I sure you know what that means...Good bullets

I have not recovered any from deer or elk but the exit holes were about quarter size on deer and a bit larger on elk, all broadside shots...I have yet to stick one up the tube of an elk, but I will if I get the chance and I know it will go past his vitals...

Also I had better mention that I shoot my 9.3x62 consideralby faster than most on this board, one reason is I load it warm and I have a 26" barrel that the 9.3 really seems to respond to...Those 320 gr. woodleighs are very close to 2400 FPS in my gun..I used to run them at about 2450 FPS but case life was short to say the least.

Pygmy,
I've taken at least ten mooses with my 9.3x62 using 250 gr Barnes X at 2600 fps and to say that I'm pleased would be an understatement
I've taken some mooses with the 250 gr Ballistic Tip aswell and it works pretty well too. But for mooses I would really recommend Barnes X, especially if you like the meat
But you'll be fine either way.
I haven't seen the need for any heavier bullets on mooses but here in Sweden the most common weight for moosebullets in 9.3x62 would without any doubt be 286 grains.

Regards,
Henrik

Henrik...Ten moose taken with the 250 Barnes X is certainly a good endorsment, and is just the kind of hands-on information I am looking for...Thank you for your input... The meat is very important to me , but a clean kill is the most important issue..

My limited experience with this rifle and bullet combination has been very favorable.. With it I have killed three head of big game, two caribou and a whitetail buck, and all three have been instant kills with minimal meat damage...The bullet also expands on smaller targets, as evidenced by a coyote which weighed 35-40 lbs. that I shot while deer hunting last fall...Shot through the ribs, the bullet left about a 2" dia. exit hole...

I have shot about 30 animals with the sako 250 grain X and it is a great load, , it worked well on Sprinbuck and even better on big game like Kudu, I once shot a realy big Eland Cow Slaughterd Wheight 211 Kg with a reloaded 286 grain X, it smashed the heave shoulderbone and stopped in the stomack somewhere, I was unable to get it but it shore got the job done, I will not think twice to use it on any large animal, I did not retrieve any of the 250 grain X bullets and on 1 286 grain X and this was olso on a large Eland Cow.

Those X bullets realy can do the job.

I am going to try some woodleigh 9.3 bullets next...Barnes X are to dear here in Oz.

I have some light 9.3x62 GS HV Custom bullets, I think they are 230 grs. but I could be mistaken and they sure do smak deer and elk down on the ground..I loaded some up for a guide I know and he raves about them on elk, says that little bullet will break both shoulders on a client wounded elk and beat the client back to Texas...I have mixed emotions with his answer, oh well.