Gentlemen: I just did a search of this forum with the word "cast" and skimmed through 14 pages of posts. Never found anything definitive on shooting cast bullets in 9,3 doubles. Did anyone every have any success finding a cast load for their 9,3s that came close to regulating?

Yes, I have a load that will regulate in my Chapuis. It is a GC, 286 gr, flat nose lubed with LBT Blue, and run through a .367 sizer die. I'm using H-4831 and a magnum primer. The bullet is from a custom "Mountain Moulds" double cavity mould. The bullet is a rough copy of the RCBS 35-2200 in design and perfoms well. I haven't finished all of the load work as of yet, but it appears that the load will regulate at the same velocity (or nearly so) as the 286 Nosler, with roughly 2 or 3 grains less powder. Accuracy will be the same as the jacketed load. That is about what I expected. FWIW...DuaneB

I can't find an "edit" button, but the RCBS mould reference should be 35-200, not 35-2200. DuaneB

Duane: Thanks for the encouraging report. Sure would love to see a photo of one of your slugs. Do you have a Mountain Mold number for it?

Any commercial suppliers of these bullets? I gave up casting some time ago.
Peter.

Check with mstarling that posts here on AR; he's done some casting & experimenting with 9.3 cast bullets in his Chapuis 9.3X74R.

The mould number on my mould is MM 366 285. Since all of Dan's moulds are custom, I suspect that MM366 is the 366th mould he had made, not anything particular to the mould. His site has (or at least had) a program on it that let you design your own bullet, and he then cut it with his CNC machine(s). A few months back he had stopped taking orders, but I don't recall exactly why. You should be able to get the info you need from the CAST BOOLITS web site. I bellieve Dan's web address is there and a whole host of other info as well (loads, mould info, casting info, alloy info, etc. etc.).

I am not aware of any commercial casters of 9.3 cast bullets, but the above site can give you the info on that as well. I suspect that there is one or more casters (commercial) that haunt that site and also suspect that if nobody is currently offering commercial cast bullets in the 9.3 caliber, they will shortly after you make your request known.

In any case you MUST do a couple of things before you start shooting your cast bullets in your 9.3mm rifle. First, slug the bore(s). Mine were .364 and .3645, but I rather suspect that they both are .365 now. My barrels were very rough and have smoothed out a bit, with more smoothing yet to go. You want your cast bullet to be ~.002 larger than your groove diameter. I size my bullets in a .367 sizer die (custom ordered...there isn't any off the shelf 9.3 bullet casting stuff). Do not even try a cast bullet that is less than the groove diameter of your rifle, and you should not expect good results at groove diameter. Sometimes you get lucky, but not often. At least that has been my experience, and that of many of my casting friends. Second, make sure you use a gas-checked bullet. GC bullets are more forgiving than plain based bullets and will also give you higher velocities before trouble sets in. Before shoooting your first cast bullet, clean ALL of the copper out of your barrel(s). Some rifles will tolerate copper fouling and cast bullets, but not very many. Lots of info is available at Cast Boolits web site and the folks who haunt the site are more than willing to give you a helping hand.

Bill/Oregon - Drop me a PM if you want additional info, etc. I live a bit north of you in the south central part of Washington State.

FOR SPECIAL CAST BULLETS TRY

WILL HAFLER
ROULETTE, PA

TEL 814 544 9052 TILL MIDNIGHT

HE CAN PROBABLY HELP

I have an NEI #174 .366-260-GC-DD triple mould. It makes 290 gr bullets in WW. I size them to 0.366 though for most rifles .367 would probably be good as well. (I've not found it to be necessary to go to 0.002" over as 0.001" works reasonably well.)

I use Lar45's Carnauba Red lube ... it is superb. Much better than the NRA formula 50:50 Alox/Beeswax. Usually takes three patches to clean a bore to completely shiney.

Have used them a fair amount in the 9,3x62 and they work well for practice loads.

I have workup loads done for the 9,3x74R Chapuis but haven't had time to shoot them. Will get to them sometime toward the end of February I expect.

Actually, you'll find virtually no experience with the 9,3 bullets on the Cast Boolits forums. We're just not very popular I fear.

Frank Beller, I see you have a Tikka in 9,3x74R, same as me. Have you tried cast bullets in your gun?
Peter.

Mike: Please do report when you get a chance to shoot your NEI bullet in 9,3X74.

Mike - You are right re: 9.3mm cast shooters on the CB board. I think there are less than a half dozen of us, maybe just 3 or 4 combining all 9.3mm cartridges. OTH, there isn't much difference, other than caliber, with CB's in rifles unless you want to talk about fast twist rifles (6.5mm, 7mm) and/or .22 center fires. In any case, there is a wealth of cast info on that site if anybody needs some help, or simply is curious about cast bullets.

As far as lubes goes, I have read of the success with Lars Carnuba Red, and I personally have been using LBT Blue lube and can attest to the success using that lube. I have yet to make my own batch of FWFL, but have no doubt as to its' perfromance as well. Bottom line is there are a number of good lubes out there that definitely help when using nitro powders.

FWIW...DuaneB

DuaneB,

Certainly agree that the Cast Boolits site is a good place to go to get info. Just not a lot of interest in the larger rifle calibers suitable for use in Africa.

I haven't made lube either, but got some of the Big Melt lube from Felix and the Carnauba Red is as good or better in rifles.

The neat thing about Carnauba Red is that it is also reasonably priced. A $1.35 per stick in zip lock packaging and sent 14 sticks at a time at $5.00 is really hard to beat. Would not sacrifice quality for cost of lube, but it is one of the unusual situations where both needs are met. Given the good report of great performance, I hope Lar45 doesn't decide to double the price!

Peter: No, I haven't tried the cast bullets in the Tikka yet.

I got lucky. Less than a week after I got my CZ FS in 9,3x62 I found a four-cavity NEI mould on the cast boolets forum for sale. It casts two 270gr and two 300gr at a time, and they are within .001" of round. The only fly in the NEI ointment, their moulds are cut to take 36 caliber gas checks. Doesnt' seem to cause accuracy problems though. The light ones shoot about 2200fps, and the little bit of work I have done with the heavy ones suggests 2050 is about the max for accuracy and no leading. I have not had the time to play much with alloy, and have just used Lars45's Carnauba wax so far. Price is just awesome, and the stuff really works. Two patches of Kroil cleans the bore, even after 20-30 rounds of 2000+fps loads. The nice thing about the X62 and X74R is that the 2nd Edition AA Reloading Manual's starting loads for jacketed bullets works well for cast as well. I dropped two grains to start...just because I'm a wiener dog about that sort of thing. About everything I shot would group five rounds under 2" at 100 yards, and make nice round groups. I size mine .368", WW alloy.
I have become a real 9,3mm fan during 2007. Wish I'd owned one about thirty years ago when I first moved to Idaho...might never have gotten away from it.

Rich
DRSS
Knowledge not shared is knowledge lost...

Mt. Baldy Bullets (www.mtbaldybullets.com)has a .367" 270 gr flat nose gas checked bullet available that should be suitable. I have not purchased any yet for my Chapuis, but I am using his 510 gr. FNGC in my .470 Heym and am happy with them.