I have 3 choices and all shoot equally well in my rifle,Dec. season northern Michigan,9.3x62 full charge of rl-15 (thanks R,A.)I have the Speer 270gr,the Nosler 250 ballistic tips and some 286gr Norma sp alaskans I believe,the plain rn bullet.thanks,no time or money to try others and a 350 mile rd. trip for any from where I live.

The 250BT is suppose to have been designed with Elk in mind. Ku-dude

One gent I know uses 286 gr Norma factory loads with success on Roosevelt Elk. 9.3x62, VZ24 action, 20 inch Lothar Walther barrel.

I`m too poor to even understand the term "factory loads"but I have some of those 286`s and the nosler 250`s,I`ll try again in colder weather for accuracy and leave the speer`s at home,thanks.

don't use the speers, I don't trust them after I had them blow up on a Big Kudu bull, the Normas is a little better, I won't be afraid to use them, and from wat I have heard the Noslers are pretty good, I would go with them, But alas they are not abailable over here so I will use a local brand called Rhino

I don't think any of them are sure fire 'stem to stern' (or more importantly stern to stem!) killers but they should all work with reasonably sane target orientation.

Can I suggest you have some fun and test them. Put together some dry magazines say 3-4" and then wet newsprint and test them.

It is important to repack the magazines after each shot. The impact opens them up which gives false results for following bullets.

3" of dry magazine followed by 10" of wet newsprint is a harder test than a ranging shot to the far shoulder from 50 yards on a bull moose according to my recent experience.

Woodleighs in Australia make 9.3 projectiles in 250gn, 285 & 320 gn, the last two weights in both solids and softs.

They are excellent bullets and I believe are available in the U.S.

The 285 soft would be my choice for elk.

Good luck!

Dingo's right, the woodleigh's would be the best for those big elk creatures of yours.

Dingo is on the correct path, I have only heard good things about them, they are bonded so should outperform all the others

Thanks all,If I could afford them (and locate some)I`d try the woodleigh`s but hell I can barely afford the 50 mile trip to hunt.I can`t even afford a box of the 286gr barnes x bullets that the previous owner of my barrel was getting sub 1" 5 shot groups with.I`ll probably go with a ballistic tip in the tube followed by the norma`s,I won`t be shooting anything over 100-125 yards anyway,even with my sitting harris bipod and vari-x 111 2.5x8.if I can`t get that nice clean shot,I just won`t shoot.my health`s not good so I`m not going to play the harder shots,I love seeing them big animals and just having the chance of getting one is great.when I was younger I didn`t mind risking a long tracking jog.but I guess I just respect the animals a lot more now.But damn the thought of a giant pile of home-smoked jerkey is overwhelming and not having to buy meat for a while sounds great too.my rifle`s throat is very short,the noslers have to be seated right to the cannelure to even chamber,so the norma`s give me a lot more powder capacity,and at 100 yds they both hit within .5" of one another so I feel pretty confident with this choice.When I get her home and if the bullet(s) recovered I`ll try to post a picture of the remaining slug(s).thanks guy`s.

If you have a chance to get ahold of Rhino bullets, use them. I bring them back with me from Namibia or RSA whenever I'm over there, and I really like them. They remind me of a Trophy Bonded Bear Claw.

I always like Woodleighs too.

Joel Slate
Slate & Associates, LLC
www.slatesafaris.com

7mm Rem Mag Page www.slatesafaris.com/7mm.htm

bigbelly In my 9.3x74R I have used Speer 270gr., Woodleigh 286gr., Hawk 285gr,.035jkt., and Nosler 289gr. Partition on many wild hogs in the 275 to 325lb weight range. All have done an excellent job. But..... The ONLY bullet I have NOT recovered from a Hog is the 286gr. Nolser Partition. Shots have ranged from about 110yds to 17yds. All shots have caused very good internal damage with good exit wounds. This is the bullet I recommend when you may need deep penetration on a big animal. Good luck on your hunt.

All of a sudden yesterday (my birthday)a box of 250gr X-bullets got dropped into my hands,plenty of time to work up a good load,damn now no more decisions.I`ll go with them.thanks all.and the last action this barrel was on did sub 1" with them,mine WILL do it too!o.k. I hope it will.I`ll post a pic if I score.

The Speer and the Hawks will blow to hell in the 9.3x62...Use the 286 gr. Nosler, they cost about the same as any bullet...the Nosler Bal. tips seem to work but I don't trust them yet...Woodleighs are the best. you can get them from Huntingtons. they run about a dollar apiece and if you can't afford that then you can't buy the gas to get there.

The Barnes X 250 grain worked well for me in my 9.3 x 62 on Alaskan caribou, including a "Texas Heart Shot" that entered a ham was recovered under the skin near the brisket after penetrating at least 4 feet of caribou... I wouldn't hesitate to use them on elk ......

Thanks again,Pygmy I`ll use the x-bullets,You and Ray are the ones that appear (no disrespect meant)to be the 9.3 authorities and your help is GREATLY appreciated.this time the x`s, next time (if I ever get another permit)it`ll be woodleigh`s.Ray the gas thing is moot,I only live 35 miles from the "elk capital of Michigan"I know that doesn`t mean anything,I live in the "wild turkey capital of Michigan"and after living here for almost 3 months I`ve seen 8 birds.some "capital"my old area down state we would see enough that most people complained of turkey droppings all the time.went 5 birds (no trophies but good tasting,one had an 11" beard though)in 6 seasons,this fall I had west nile during the dates so only hunted 2 days.feel a lot better now.and this wasn`t even a bad mosquito year up here.well thanks again and it is from reading the posts from the 2 of you that helped me decide on the 9.3x62 (and only $85 for a 26"barrel that headspaced perfectly on my 98 action)hopefully next year I can get a new stock for it too,or at least some kind of recoil pad.it may be UGLY but it shoots very well.

286 gr Nosler Partition, nothing else is needed!

I would go with the 286gr nosler partition,it's been very accurate in my 9.3x64.I shot a decent Alaska/Yukon moose last year at about 140yds with the partition at 2550fps,the bullet entered the onside shoulder angled up towards the spine hit the spine and traveled along the spine coming to rest at the pelvis.Approx 50" penetration retained weight 189grains.One shot kill,tore up the spinal colum,damage was incredible.

Big Belly,
If it shoots good, what more does one need...

I had a guy jump on me the other day when he saw my 300 H&H M-70 in the cabinet...He said ah ha you do shoot stainless steel guns!! I told him to take a closer look..He did, and said "no blue left" yep I said....He wanted to know why I didn't reblue it and I told him, hell it took me 50 years to wear it off, I don't want to go through that again....Same for a couple of others.

Ray,good to see a sense of humor.I listen to you and Pygmy as it seems that the two of you have the most "hands on"experience with the 9.3x62.Also it was one of your earlier posts that finally made me give in and buy that barrel.I know it was cheap and that was an influence for me also,but I am in no physical condition for long tracking sessions anymore.I use a heavy loaded 45-70 single shot (nef)for deer to avoid tracking,and if I can`t stalk within 50-100 yds of them I just don`t take a shot.I have seen some awful shooting in my years of hunting state land here in Michigan,and have in the past been guilty of a few of those awful shots,but I have gained respect for the animals I hunt and if I can`t place my shot where it should go,and use the proper powered load I just won`t shoot.how does the Barnes 250gr X-bullet over about 58gr of rl-15 sound,I have a 26" tube on a good nazi 98 action(1932 I believe)and my chamber is cut a little deep.never shoot factory loads but new Norma cases have to be bumped up to 40 cal then re-sized to avoid streching.that puts the shoulder on my cases approx .1" farther forward.gives me a little extra capacity,even though I don`t think I really need it.thanks.
If you want,let me know at my e-mail bigbelly@i2k.com