I am considering buying a 9.3x 62 or 74. Although I will eventually use it for bigger game, what bullet should I use for smaller game such as 100lb does and pigs under 200lbs? I'm thinking the Accubond. thanks, capt david

Norma oryx,lapua mega or any other tough bullet at moderate speed will work well for smaller game with acceptable meatloss.

I believe the PRVI bullets are pretty soft and they are extremely cheap at GRAFS. The 232 Vulkan should also be a good deer bullet.

quote:

what bullet should I use for smaller game such as 100lb does and pigs under 200lbs? I'm thinking the Accubond. thanks, capt david

I built my 9.3 X 62 as a big game round and not as a deer or ele rifle. From what I've read however it will certainly do the rest as well.

With that in mind, I'd load the 250 accubond and shoot everything with it....less of course the ele!

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I'm thinking the Accubond. thanks, capt david

Yo Capt. Dave,

I've got a couple 9.3x62's and a 9.3x74R.

IMO the best bullet I ever used in all 3 rifles were the 250 gr. Nosler Ballistic Tips. Sadly I've only got a couple of rounds for the 74R remaining with these bullets.

In the interim, I've played with Privi, Hornady, Speer & Woodliegh's in both cartridges. I'm back to Nosler; the 250 gr. Accubonds. IMO, an excellent bullet for these two cartridges when loaded Full Throttle and expecting ANY game, large or small.

BUT if I had to select a bullet for your criteria, Does & smallish Piggies I'd load the Speer 270 gr. Semi-Spitzers and be done w/it. Neither of these 2 magnificent game animals require the services of a premium bullet. Just pick a nice medium(ish) load that shoots well & go for it.

When I really consider all the bullets I've put down range & into game animals w/these 2 cartridges. Well ..... there's not any bad 9.3 bullets on the market today. All shoot really well and perform to standards.

Have Fun w/your choice.

Another coupla cartridges I find that don't require $2.00 apiece bullet components to get the job done. Regardless of the amount of Marketing & Testimonials swearing "X" bullet is the ultimate & only choice of informed hunters/shooters.

My FIL shot his oryx this summer in NM with those 270 gr Speers. At about 50 yards the onlyl exit I saw was through the neck. The shots into the chest did not exit FWIW.

scottfromdallas---Would they work good on those penned up deer you shoot?

I load speer 270grn for everything smaler than eland (but taken a good few female eland as well). My load does 2300fps

The 270grn are soft but at 2300fos don;t fall appart on even tough game like wildebeste or Zebra, yet open nice and quick for impalaand warthog.

IF i coud get them I would use the 232 grn Vulcan, Oryx or 250grn Swifts with the 232 grn Jactmatch (fmj) bullets for cheap practice...but in Africa, he speer are actually cheeper than the 'cheap' jactmatch bullets and I have only eve been able to scrounge some samples of the swift 286grn (which are great buff/lion/eland/giraffe medicine

For 'long range' (not than the 9,3 shines in this dept) Norma loads the 250grn swifts at 2600+fps and load the lighter 232 grn a bit slower to reduce recoil

I just developed one load for the two 9,3x62s I own. Used the Nosler 286 gr Partition at abt 2425 fps. Groups well in my CZ 550 and in my VZ.24 based Mauser.

The partition opens up well on lighter game and works fine on heavier game. Have used it to take white tails and piggies in the US, as well as Impala, wharthog, bushpig, reedbock, wildebeast, and kudu in Africa. The combination simply works.

Have had excellent luck with 286 gr Partition seconds as well!

That's a beauty of all 9,3's (57, 62, 74R) except 64! - 64 is an "ugly duckling" (no offends guys, it is just looking for special bullets).

Pick up a round that regulates to your scope or your left barrel (after right one that is), don't even bother to figure out what is it, go hunt and shoot something...if there are elephants in the area take some solids along - that's what 9,3 is all about - Hakuna Matata

The 250 gr X opened up just fine on the small African plains game.

Going lighter on the 9,3x62 mm, I would go with the 250 gr TSX as perhaps the best choice. I do not like short stubby bullets like the 235 gr Rhino bullet and the 232 gr Norma bullet, as the increased velocity potential gets negated largely by a lower BC and so little practical benefit is offered. Point is there are better tools to use for long-range shooting. I much rather us my 300 H&H with either 180's or 200's.

Lighter bullets in the 9,3 mm is essentially to make the 9,3 more flexible for general game hunting, or if you do not own other more appropriate long-range cartridges that can be used.

If more velocity is needed for longer shots, I would go with the 230 gr GS-HV bullet. What I like about this bullet is that whilst it is lighter than the traditional bullet weight, it is not a short bullet at all. Bullets in the range of 32 mm to 34 mm is ideal for the long-throated 9,3x62 mm.

For yet more velocity, a friend of mine Pieter Olivier is using the 180 gr Impala with great success on long shots out to 300 yds. Perhaps not well known in the States, but those that use them are very happy. I do not have much experience with them, but plan to shoot this year some game with Impala bullets. Kobus du Plessis kindly donated a few boxes to me to try, including his newly released Solid.

The Barnes bullet still remains my personal choice though, as it has thicker and stronger petals. I am still using the X version though, till my current stock is exhausted.

Warrior

I use 286grn Woodleigh round nose softs for every thing up to Eland but work well pigs and deer also.
Also shoots similar point of impact to the 286grn FMJs and Swift A Frames.

Ozhunter,

Nice photo. With the mild velocity of the 9,3 soft expanding bullets work well - in fact much better than faster cartridges. The PP opens up a bit slower than the RN in the Woodleigh bullet and so penetrates a bit better.

When it comes to 286 gr bullets my favourite remains the Rhino Solid Shank Bullet. Its performance is devastating with a bullet that opens up to 21 mm in a controlled way with minimum weight loss (+2%) to inflict a wide wound channel. Look at these retrieved bullets from a hippo at point blank range as a most severe test for the bullet..







Warrior

Mouse93 got it right.

While there are lighter bullets, the velocity of the 9,3x62 is low enough so that you never need anything but your stand-by 286grs bullet.

We shoot all from roe to moose with one, and I know of a particular hunting party where almost all have swapped their .308s in favor of a 9,3x62 for whitetail. Reason: so much less meat damage. The light deer might not make the bullet open up properly, but you still get a big hole and that drops the deer very swiftly.

As to range - have a look at the ballistic tables. If you sight in your rifle at 150 meters (170yds) you can shoot up to 200 meters (220 yds) without having to worry about bullet drop.

- Lars/Finland

To quote a wise man:

quote:

"It's not how hard you hit 'em, it's where you hit 'em." The 30-06 will, with the right bullet, successfully take any game animal in North America up to 300yds. Get closer!

I have used the 270 Speer on deer and pigs with very good results.

However the 285gr Hawk with the .035jkt has worked excellent as well, and in my 9,3x74R double it hits the same place, and regulates with the 286gr Woodleigh Softs and Solids, and the 286gr Nosler Partitions.

I like the answers I am reading. It demonstrates the difference between this and whole other lot of 338Federal, 358Win, 35Whelen, etc.

Using one load (weight) for everything all the time and you become one with your gun. I like this 9.3 more and more. Lets see what the tax man returns?

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I like this 9.3 more and more.

This much I can say.....I've never read a post where an owner of the 9.3 X 62 was dissing the gun or the cartridge......at least so far!

I have a hard time understanding how Taylor was able to write no less than four pages about the 9,3x62 considering that he said, inter alia: "There isn't really a great deal to say about it. Everybody found it so generally satisfactory that there wasn't anything to start a discussion."
Still holds true.

- Lars/Finland

The 250 TSX will do the trick nicely.

The lighest bullets I have used in 9.3 are copper drive band bullets weighing 156 grains.

Kills as well as Swift A frame in 250 grains but buys me an extra 120 yards point blank range.

I wish Nosler would make the 250 Ballistic Tip again.

Alan

quote:

Originally posted by GSSP:
I wish Nosler would make the 250 Ballistic Tip again.

Alan

Agreed. I have found the 250 Accubond at 9.3x62 velocitys too 'hard'.

The softest 286 round I have used is the Lapua Mega if you want to stay with one weight of projectile.

The alternative is the Norma 232 Vulcan which achieves 2,627fps over 61 grains of 2208 (Varget).

I've never seen the need for anything other than a 286, well, ok, I do use some of the Prvi 285's. They are very accurate and work well on deer & such.

I just shot two deer with the 9.3 250 grain Accubonds, exit holes where more than ample, and meat destruction exceptable.

Built a 9.3x62 few years ago and did purchase a box of Woodleighs of 250gr in weight and suggested velocity is only 1800-2200fps according to data sheet on box. That seems a bit on the slow side doesn't it?? Full description of the bullets is Weldcore RN SN
SD 0.267, BC 0.296

I have numerous 9.3's and use 250 X. Never had an issue. I use Nosler Partitions on all African game as you never know whats around the corner there. I also use Northfork cup point solids as well as the flat nose solid. I killed a buff at about 40 yards with a cup point and followed with two flat nosed. Three shots and out. The first killed the buff, the other two convinced him he was dead..

The 250-grain North Fork softs are nice.

and this is where the 35's shine, even more

quote:

Originally posted by GSSP:
I wish Nosler would make the 250 Ballistic Tip again.

Alan

My reasoning is the 250 AB is VERY accurate in my rifle. I'd like to shoot it alot but would appreciate the cost savings of the BT over the AB.

Alan

I have shot coyotes and whitetails with the 9.3x62 and 286 North Forks. Kills them.

quote:

Originally posted by MFD:
Built a 9.3x62 few years ago and did purchase a box of Woodleighs of 250gr in weight and suggested velocity is only 1800-2200fps according to data sheet on box. That seems a bit on the slow side doesn't it?? Full description of the bullets is Weldcore RN SN
SD 0.267, BC 0.296

You're correct, the RN has a recommended 1800-2200 fps velocity but the 250gr PP has a recommended impact velocity of 1900-2600fps.
However, in the past I've pushed Woodleighs past their recommended velocities and the mushroom just gets bigger.