Sometime back I picked up a Husqvarna sporter (1930 manufacture, M96 action) in 9.3x57. I have not fired it yet while trying to decide whether to drill and tap it for scope mounts.

I know from reading that apparently it is considered an antiquated cartridge in Europe and no one currently chambers it in new rifles. Norma ammo is available here in the States, but is expensive so I expect I will move to handloading it. When I do I am concerned about what bullets to load in that I expect most currently available will be built to withstand the higher velocities of the 9.3x63 and faster cartridges. Because I would most commonly use it on Texas whitetails of about 100 lbs/45 kilos I am afraid they may be too stout and not expand.

Does anybody have experience with this cartridge and does anybody here handload it? Any experiences or observations on the 9.3x57 are greatly appreciated.

Your 9,3x57 will be a great cartridge for deer, wild pigs and I would not hesitate to use it on black bear, especially over bait. I have used a 9,3x74R double rifle a great deal so I would recommend the following bullets.

The 270 Speer, 285 Hawk with the .035jkt and the 286 Woodleigh Soft Point.

I haven't used it but the 250 Nosler Ballistic tip might be good for longer range deer hunting.

If you have not hunted much with iron sights you might want to try them first. You might find that you really enjoy using them.

Edited to correct a typo on the weight of the Hawk bullet.

In Sweden it is affectionately referred to as 'the potato chucker' Generaly very good condition with a couple of boxes of ammo shot in it's lifetime by moose hunters who typicaly will shoot it for a week a year.

In my 9.3x62 start loads with the 270gr speer would have been around 2,200fps. I shot a couple of fallow and the bullet worked well killing the animals impressively not to mention some saplings behind!

The 232gr Norma Vulkan would be an excellent choice indeed for your use. I have shot fallow, roe, muntjac and fox albeit at faster x62 speeds. Expansion is not great but killing is dependable even if not instant.

Enjoy your rifle - a texas whitetail will I suspect be killed from any angle if a vital is hit. The largest muntjac trophy I ever shot was with a 286gr partition. Bear in mind the animal would have weighed 25lbs field dressed!

The low cost Speer 270 gr, Norma's 230 gr Vulcan and perhaps their "new" 285 gr Alaska will work fine on that type of game.



Basically, any old-world, non-complicated bullet will do it's job on deer sized game.



I'd stay away from any kind of more or less solid core bullets, as the Nosler Partition and Barnes X. Especially the latter won't expand reliably if you stretch the range a little.



Pettson

Thanks for everyones input. I suspect that Speer is where I may start as they are less expenive and probably will mushroom faster than they others.



NE 450 my concerns about open sights revolve around 50 plus year old bi-focal eyes. I would be comfortable with an aperature sight as I hunt the Piney Woods of East Texas where 75 yards is a long shot. However, again I run into the drilling and tapping question. The factory V sights just don't cut it as they did years ago.



Pettson, thanks for your input again. It was your and Jack Belk's advice several years ago on another forum that led me to buying the rifle. You also were the one to provide the year of manufacture based in the serial number. You were most helpful.

Search all threads for Ray Atkinson's opinion of the Speer. Against his advice, I tried them on feral cattle in a 9.3x62. The folks at Speer told me they'd be fine at an impact velocity of 2,300 fps, but Ray was right. On the other hand, I think they'd be perfect in a 9.3x57. I think a muzzle velocity of about 2,200 fps would be ideal.

According to the tech guys at Nosler, the Partition will not open below 2,000 fps, so it would be a very short-range proposition in your rifle. You might also look at the Ballistic Tip. It has a very high BC, and even at the relatively low speeds you get from a 9.3x57, you'd get about the same reach as a 180-gr. bullet in a 300 Savage -- no competition for a 270, but better than you'd think. Also, the folks at Nosler say it will open at impact velocities as low as 1,700 fps.

Hope this helps, Okie John.

Altjaeger
If you need a scope then by all means have the rifle drilled and tapped. I would have it done by a real pro like J.J. at www.champlinarms.com
Also for a really good bullet for deer and pigs the 285 Hawk with the .025jkt should expand very well. I have killed deer and several pigs with my 450/400 double rifle with a 300gr. .025jkt Hawk. Those bullets driven at @ 2330fps expand to about the size of a quarter, they should still expand plenty good at the 2000 to 2050fps of your 9,3x57. The Hawk bullets in my 400 and in my 9,3x75R have given me my quickest kills on wild pigs. they should be just the ticket in your 9,3x57.

Thanks everybody for your input. Everything seems to point to my earlier conclusions that I need to stick to standard bullets avioding premiun types due to the relatively low velocity. I suspect this would hold true right up through elk size animals of te non-dangerous varieties.