I'd love to hear about anyone's experience with North Forks in their 9.3 x 62 - good, bad, or otherwise. Gracias, amigos.

No experience with 9.3X62 but much with .338, 358, and .416. Generally Northforks are my most accurate bullets no matter what rifle I am shooting. They have always been by far the toughest on the larger animals. I have taken many Elk plus African plains game and Cape Buffalo with them. Good Shooting

I used the 250-grain soft points in my 9.3 on some animals in Namibia in 2005. Excellent penetration.

Did you fellows find load data from say Partitions was a suitable starting point, or were there any surprises along the way?

I pushed 9.3, 250 grain North Forks at 3300 fps in a 9.3 Dakota. It actually did quite well on Michigan whitetail, you could almond eat right up to the hole.
Doug

Superior Ammo loaded mine so I do not have the recipe.

I had a box of them but traded them to someone on this forum. IMO the Swift A-Frame is as good or better and costs less.

I still have some 6.5 MM 120 grain North Forks but will not reorder when I run out.

In loading the Northfork bullets you can use the reloading manuals of Nosler, Swift A-Frame, Barnes, Hornady, Sierra without worries. My Northfork loads are regularly faster than the bullets listed in the previous Manuals. I have recovered perfectly formed mushroomed bullets from Elk, Kongoni, and Cape Buffalo with outstanding weight retention. Many kills resulted without recovered bullets. A Bullet from my .416 Remington that traversed a Cape Buffalo from in front of the hip to the first rib on the neck portion of the backbone still had .91 per cent of it's weight upon recovery. Good Shooting.

I used a 9.3x62 with 286 partitions at 2,500 on a North America Bison hunt (900# cow).

Full broadside penetration on two shots. Which was unsurprising really.

Thanks for all the info.

Rnovi- 2500 is moving along for a 9.3, what powder got you there?

quote:

Originally posted by BaxterB:
Thanks for all the info.

Rnovi- 2500 is moving along for a 9.3, what powder got you there?

Hi Baxter,

Sure: standard disclaimers apply. This load was developed in my rifle and may not be safe in yours. Please work up slowly and be aware of pressure signs. Use at your own risk. Book Max is 62.0 gr of Big Game. This load is over Max.

The primary load data came from John Barsness, aka Mule Deer on other forums.


Rifle: Merkel Helix, 22" barrel.
Chrono: Magnetospeed, multiple shots average 2,500 fps with low ES.
66.0 gr. of Ramshot Big Game
Nosler 286 Partition
RWS Primer
OAL: 3.21"
Accuracy: .75" at 100, 1.25" at 200 yards.

My "normal" load is 62.0gr of Big Game. I wanted to see what a load making official Zim Buffalo requirements would look like. Results were really super.

Excellent! Thanks for the info. I’ll proceed with caution as always.

I have used it on cape buffalo in the past and again about 5 or 6 years ago..I did some testing for Mike when he owned North Fork..I use the 286 gr. bullet, and later on used the 320 gr. Woodleighs..I like them both, North Forks are utterly boring, in that the make perfect mushrooms every time, yes every damn time and in any caliber..Strange enough I found the swift book lacking in velocity??

The 320 gr. Woodleigh needs to be pushed as hard as you can and in a 26 inch barrel, and its a hammer, I shot a huge bull elk, several buffalo and a large Bison with that bullet at a tad over 2400 FPS, that's real close to a .375 H&H btw with 20 grs of metal over the 300 gr. 375, but the 375 beats it with the 300 by a 100 FPS in my favorite load..Thats called a push any way you cut it and it sure ain't no 30-06 or 338-06 up to 200 yards or so..In killing power its the full equal to the 375, but its not a distance caliber..It would be my favorite up to 200 yards. Beyond that 200 yards Id opt for a 338 Win and a 225 Accubond or Partiton at 2913 FPS in my gun..Kinda the way I see it.

Forgot to tell you I have a lot of load data for the 9.3x62. If you want it I will email it to your email address, send me an email request and I'll forward the info to you. One thing I found out loading it is as long as the bullet weight is the same, you can use any 9.3x62 like wt. load of another bullet. maybe start a grain less would be a good idea but I did not do that and no problems were encountered. As I recall I used the Barnes manual and their loads to start with.

quote:

Originally posted by rnovi:
I used a 9.3x62 with 286 partitions at 2,500 on a North America Bison hunt (900# cow).

Full broadside penetration on two shots. Which was unsurprising really.

did you recover the bullet?

I recovered a bunch of North Forks, they tend to expand large and that slows down penetration as a rule, but every bullet I recovered was against the off side skin perfectly expanded..Some gave large exit holes, depending on the size of the animal I suspect..

All in all they are as good a bullet as one could use..

Very accurate bullets, poor BCs, but great for dangerous game and heavy for caliber applications.

I have them in my 404 and 458, softpoint and solids. Took Bushbuck to Elephant with the 404. Have a great load for a 35 Whelen (250 gr at 2,575 fps 1" group) and plan to test for my 358 Norma.

They also shot well in my 9.3 and 375. And have a load for my friends 270 Win (pretty good BC here).

I think the secret is the pressure rings. Very effective.

would not load for long range (300+ yards) rifle.

I found the 232 gr. monolithics at 2700 FPS give or take, good long range bullets, I killed a bull elk at about 450 yards give or take, got a 2 inch exit hole. went thru the lungs and heart, and out.. elk fell over and was dead when we got to it..Shot a cow at 270 yards behind the shoulder, and she went 20 yards and died before I got to her..Its been sometime ago but I think they were GS customs bullets but wouldn't swear to it, my point being the 9.3x62 is a capable long range caliber with proper bullets at high velocity..Monolithics being long for caliber hold velocity and trajectory better than cup and core etc. and they are lighter and perform like heavy bullets out yonder, they do serve a purpose in the hunting field, even though they are not always my pick for various reasons...

I've only use NFs a couple of times and only on one safari. They worked fine but I had what seemed to me to be an odd experience with them. I was using my 375 WBY with 300 NFs. A buffalo was crossing our front at about 150 yards. I led him a little and he went straight down at the shot. I had led the buffalo about a foot too much and hit him just as the neck comes out of the shoulders. That bullet exited taking the spine with it thus the DRT. Bullet did a great job. A few days later I shot a lion at 35 yards with the same load. Broadside shot right behind the right leg going through and breaking the left leg but no exit. Lion did a lion somersault, ran 25 yards and died. In both instances the bullet work very well but it always has amazed me that with that kind of horsepower the bullet did not exit on the lion.

Mark

posted 28 January 2018 02:29
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{I've only use NFs a couple of times and only on one safari. They worked fine but I had what seemed to me to be an odd experience with them. I was using my 375 WBY with 300 NFs. A buffalo was crossing our front at about 150 yards. I led him a little and he went straight down at the shot. I had led the buffalo about a foot too much and hit him just as the neck comes out of the shoulders. That bullet exited taking the spine with it thus the DRT. Bullet did a great job. A few days later I shot a lion at 35 yards with the same load. Broadside shot right behind the right leg going through and breaking the left leg but no exit. Lion did a lion somersault, ran 25 yards and died. In both instances the bullet work very well but it always has amazed me that with that kind of horsepower the bullet did not exit on the lion.}quote:
Sounds like the bullet engineering worked just as planned.. All the energy in the lion. Lions have tough muscle as you know. Too many variables to explain another African "what the hell?"
I have always hailed Northfork bullets and continue to use them on North American game.
I believe them to be the superior game bullet made.

Mark,
I suggest the Lion at 35 yards received the bullet at a very high velocity causing swift expansion and large expansion thus slowing down penetration in every case..Ive seen many coupe de grace shots fail to exit on large animals for that very reason, expansion slows down penetration in every case..That same shot at 150 yards and beyond would normally exit. But, as Im sure you know, nothing is written in stone on this subject.