I’m looking a bullet for my 9.3x62 for hunting elk, large antelope and pigs. I’d normally use a 286gr Partition or Woodleigh, but they’re not easily available and I’d prefer a source of bullets local to me and not have to worry about import.

What I have available is:

18.5g / 285gr RWS Teilmantel (cheapest option. I’d love to use them if they’re suitable)
18.5g / 285gr Norma Oryx
18.5g / 285gr Norma Alaska
19.0g / 293gr RWS TUG

Has anyone had bad experiences with any of these bullets in their 9.3x62?

Thanks,
- stu

(also posted on the Medium Bore forum)

stu...I can assure you about TUG - I have shot all kind of animals from 7 kg roe deer to heaviest red stag, boars and brown bears...it worked flawlessly (no meat damage, deep penetration...tho sometimes makes small exit wounds on bigger animals) - imo TUG and 9,3x62 are one of the happiest marriages I have ever seen between caliber and bullet...

I've been surprised, not positively, by TUG last July in Namibia. I shot a blesbok in the left shoulder. Distance 200m the bullet did not exit. Very well hitted it id not do a step. We found only the rear part of the bullet, the frontal part was exploded and we found only some lead and splinter by the mantel.
Great work of 3 Nosler Partition bullet, they lost about 30grains maximum. I recovered them all by gemsbok, special animal.

hello Stefano - thats odd thing with TUG and bless - assuming you used your reload - how fast did you push it?

Weidmannsdanke Stefano.
19,0gm Torpedo Universal Bullet via RWS @200m: 3708J with -8,5cm drop, not bad!

Norma Oryx or if you can get it Lapua Naturalis.

The new Naturalis is basically a Lapua X Bullet. It's solid copper, and fairly inexpensive as compared with most Norma bullets.

Stu,

you might try the Lapua Mega, app. 285 grains.
I bought them from Wildi in Zofingen.
Should cost about the same as the RWS TMR, but tougher in construction.
They shoot well in my 9.3x62 - but no hunting experience yet.

Fuhrmann

Stu
In my 9,3x74R double I have used the following bullets that are on your list:
286 Norma Alaska
286 Nosler Partition
286 Woodleigh Soft
293 TUG

The Norma Alaska is the softest of the bunch. It is good for game up to large deer size and broadside shots on medium sized hogs. I would not use it for raking shots on big hogs.

The 293 TUG has a lot of penetration potential.
One deer I shot with it at @35 yards was a frontal chest shot. The bullet went competely through the deer breaking the rear ham/leg bone on the way out.
Of the ones on you avialibility list that I have used It would be a good choice for big stuff and raking shots.

Hi Stu

From the bullets you mention I don’t have personally used any of them, but I’ve seen some animals, stag and wild boar, shot with the 9.3x62 or 9.3x74R.

The RWS T-Mantel is a conventional soft point with a fairly soft structure , generally it expands rapidly and transfers a lot of energy, stopping the animals in a hurry.
I’ve seen a case of a stag shot with a 9.3x74R at close range, some 30m, where the bullet hit a rib and exploded, when we butchered the stag the lungs where a complete mess full of tiny metal shrapnel, it looked kike sand. Obviously there wasn’t an exit hole but one was not needed because the stag died where he stood.

The Norma Alaska is also a conventional soft point design, but with a harder lead core, it expands less then the TM or Oryx, never used this one.

The Oryx is a bonded core bullet, it still expands fairly well but retains its weight and drives deep. It seems to be a good compromise between penetration and expansion and it doesn’t do as much meat damage as the TM. I’ll try this one in the future as I’ve had some good reports from friends who use them.

As for the TUG I’ve had some friends who used them but found them to be too hard, they don’t expand or transfer the energy as efficiently as the more conventional soft point bullets, and for the type of hunting we do, we want a bullet that stops the animal rapidly. They should be a good option for bigger animals.

The Bullets I’ve used and can recommend are the RWS KS, extremely accurate good energy transfer works very well for me.

The Lapua Mega - hit’s hard and transfers energy well, but hold’s together and drives deep, more it is cheap compared to Norma or RWS.

I would choose the Oryx in first place and then the Alaska, from the selection you have.

Cheer´s

It looks like the Oryx is getting the votes from the two posts I've made. Actually I should have also included the Lapua Mega. There’s a good source for that bullet as well. (Thanks, Fuhrmann, for the reminder).

- stu

stu - how about CDP - they are not cheap but...:

http://www.blaser.de/english/produkte/accessories/cdp.htm

or S&B loaded with Barnes XLC:

http://www.sellier-bellot.cz/rifle-hunting-ammunition-with-barnes-bullets.php

Of all the projectiles mentioned I can only comment on 3 in the 9.3x62.
#1. the RWS TUG, good accuracy, good penetration.
#2. The Woodleigh 286gr PP, very accurate, ecellent performance on critters up to the size of Eland.
#3. The Norma Oryx, not so accurate as the woodliegh (in my rifle), very good performance in game the size you mention.

If you can find them, the cheapest projectile I have found for the 9.3 is the Sierra 270gr SP.
Accuracy is ok, penetration is good, and performance on big pigs is great! Bang, Flop!
If you can find them, they might be worth a try.
hope this helps.

Cheers, Dave.

Stu,

I am reloading for my 9,3’s (x62; x74 and x64) using several RWS bullets (293 TUG included), Lapua Mega (285) and Sellier&Bellot SP (285).
Have used the x62 and the x74 on “montaria†(driven hunt) and the x62 also on wild boar from high seat.
From experience I find the Lapua Mega to be more accurate and the S&B to be more deadly as it usually generates a wider “mushroom†delivering all its energy, and with less meat damage.

B.Martins

As a regular user of 9,3x74R and 9,3x62 (my staple calibers for drive hunting Roe-, Red deer and Wild Boars), I have shot personally and witnessed the shooting of many heads of game).

CDP 285 : my 9,3x74R double was regulated for it and I have used it for years. Very accurate but a a too tough partitioned bullet. Awfull penetration but too little expansion (boars kept running for a while after being hit solidly). Last year I had my double re-regulated for the much softer Norma 286 Alaska I used before and my boars are dropping on the spot again. BTW, I know an African PH who swears by the CDP on Buffalo.

Norma 285 Alaska : see above comment.

Norma Oryx : tougher than the Alaska, holds together on moose ( I saw the results on 13 moose shot in Sweden).

RWS TM : same as Alaska.

RWS TUG : same as CDP.

Speer 270 : softer than Alaska. Opens up easily on lighter game, less or no complete penetration.

Lapua Mega : adopted very recently in 9,3x62. Very accurate (.7 MOA for 5 shots) but not shot anything with it yet. I expect it to be similar in performance to the Alaska, albeit a little tougher, more like the Oryx.

how about RWS evolution - some good reports in 7 mm anybody used it in 9,3?:

http://www.rws-munition.de/de/jagd_geschoss/geschoss_be...navid=0&geschoss=EVO

Mauser93,
I did not tested the velocity of my loads, always searched the best group with the max load possible.
I put 53 grains of VV135 in Laoua cases using Federal GM primers. I never found load adata on VV Manual for 293grs TUG bullet, I developped it using good sense and experience.

For what you are hunting, any of those bullets would be suitable. I would get some of each and see how they shoot in your rifle, picking the best two types (always good to have a backup source).

Stefano - the reason I asked you about bullet speed is that I saw TUG fired in 9,3x64 with 785 m/s (compared with 740 m/s in 9,3x62) that fell appart too fast - maybe that was the problem with your blessbock?

Mouse93,
it could be, but 200 meters ????? I already had problems with other calibers of bullets but always at "short" distances, where short is absolutely relative to the caliber, the velocity etc, but 200meters for the 9.3x62 it is not a short distance by my opinion even if I tested the rifle at 300 and 400 meters. No, I suspect a combination of causes like bullet construction, materials (soft lead and slim mantel) and phisical constitution/complex of some animal. 2 Gamesboks, for example, retained 3 of the 4 bullets, Nosler Partition, shooted at them. At any distance. I never had any of this problems in Europe, and Tug is still one of my favourites bullets.
But Tug will not be my first choice for Africa in the future.

ow yes - I missed that 200 m sorry btw - does anybody knows when a new premium line (that ganyana talked about) called the "PH" from Norma is coming out?

quote:

Originally posted by Andre Mertens:
Lapua Mega : adopted very recently in 9,3x62. Very accurate (.7 MOA for 5 shots) but not shot anything with it yet. I expect it to be similar in performance to the Alaska, albeit a little tougher, more like the Oryx.

Corrective : yesterday PM I shot a Roe kid at 80 m with the 285 Mega (took a lung shot to avoid the shoulder). The deer jumped at the shot and wobbled for 10-15 m before going down. Small exit hole, little expansion and very little damage, no haematoma. As expected, hard bullet best suited for heavy game.

quote:

Corrective : yesterday PM I shot a Roe kid at 80 m with the 285 Mega (took a lung shot to avoid the shoulder). The deer jumped at the shot and wobbled for 10-15 m before going down. Small exit hole, little expansion and very little damage, no haematoma. As expected, hard bullet best suited for heavy game.

André

YEAH , André, you are correct

In my 9,3x62's, the Lapua Mega has been very accurate. I have never used it on game. I have for some reason stuck with the Nosler Partitions on game, with good results.