Anyone reloading 9.3x62 ?

Hi qwerty,

I've just converted a Sako L691 .270 into a 9,3x62 having spent a while in Germany and experiencing the wonders of this round. I've only put a few rounds through it so far in order to break in the new Border Barrel on it but I will be experimenting with using 250grain bullets as apose to the traditional 286's. I reckon this will lesson the recoil ever so slightly but more importantly give a slightly flatter trajectory whilst still delivering a mighty punch. so hopefully when i get more familiar with the round, i should be able to push it out to 250 yards. The bullets i have to experiment with are the Nosler Accubonds and some Woodleigh Round Nose Weldcores. The Accubonds with their Spitzer profile and boat tail should shoot slightly flatter than the lesser dynamic flat bottomed and blunt Woodleighs, but the Woodleighs will be some what tougher and and hit harder on impact ( i intend to use it on running boar aswell as a woodland stalking round). The only issue is that i particularly chose bullets that have a cannelure to allow me to crimp because of the moderate to heavy recoil of the 9.3 and i did'nt want them shifting in the mag. With the cannelure being very high on the Nosler bullets, meaning they have to be seated quite deeply which means i have less room for the charge in the case and with the Varget i'm using, i can't even get minimum into the case without heavily compressing it. However with the Woodleigh crimped at the cannelure i can get loads more powder in, as much as i like in fact (up to the max, with min being 56g and max being 60g) although i havent gone there yet and probably won't. So the point i'm making is that i can get more powder in the case with the Woodleigh bullet, hence outwaying the advantage of have the more aerodynamic Nosler bullet which will only take a max of 55grains. Although adding more powder will invariably up the recoil; by how much i don't yet know, perhaps it will be negligable??

So that is all i have to offer at this point, the rifle is away being blued and having cross bolts fitted as i speak so i can't go further till its done. Then i can begin to see any differences in results on the paper at 100m. TBH, i will go with the one that shoots the more accurately in my rifle; as simple as that.

So what have you experienced through loading for you Mannlicher, any joy? what have you been putting through it?

Cheers, James
 
Where are you sourcing your bullets from James20 ?

I have a 9.3x74r and have found bullets to be hard to come by, not the sort of thing you can normally pick up off the shelf.
 
I couldn't help but comment on your crimping problem. I suspect that even in these tough-game bullets, the "crimping groove", isn't. It's probably a structural feature... especially when crimping to the groove impinges on the powder supply to any great extent.

You might want to have Lee Precision in the US make you a Factory Crimp die which does not need a channelure to produce a crimp. If you visit their site and look under "Custom Services" they list the procedure for ordering. It basically involves sending them three dummy rounds (empty cases, cross drilled or with the primer pocket drilled out, and a bullet seated would work) and a check for $25 US if i recall correctly. A friend of mine had a custom FCD made for one of his wild-catting projects and the turn around was 3 weeks. You might contact them and ask.~Muir
 
Hi 8x57,

Pretty much the only place I've found that has a half decent selection of 9.3 bullets is Midway UK. Usually stock levels are good because it comes from Midway HQ in the U.S which is a very BIG company. Having said that I keep looking on there to buy some Woodleigh 9.3 bullets and in the weight I want they're not back in stock for ages. If you're interested in Woodleigh bullets for your 9.3x74 then I'm sure Kynamco (Kynoch Ammo) bring them in for loading in all their ammo, and Woodleigh have one of the largest range of bullet weights in the 9.3 than any one else. I presume you'll be after some 293grainers for the 9.3x74 and I think he has those in stock, and i think Midway UK do aswell, you can Google both of them to find em. Out of interest, what is your 9.3x74 regulated on, presuming its a double not a single. Is it a Side by Side or Over & Under?

What I do with the Midway stuff I order is pick it up directly from the guy who runs MidwayUK, who's a very nice guy (Peter Starley) locally to me at Warwick otherwise they're shipping rate is steep as it comes directly to you from the U.S. What you could do is get your local dealer who uses Midway to order it in for you if it were more convenient, and then you shouldn't pay the shipping


Hi Muir,

That's very interesting, I will look into to it. Until now I didn't realise you could crimp without the groove in the bullet. What kind of crimp would that give you, I'm guessing like a longer than usual factory crimp?? The cannelure in the Woodleigh bullet is definitely designed for crimping not for structural integrity and the Nosler Accubond bullet should be for crimping also because in the smaller calibres there is no groove, but it's possible it's been put in place because its larger, thus needs to be tougher than the smaller bullets but then they are all Bonded bullets and as far as I'm aware there aren't any bonded bullets with a structural cannelure in them aswell, perhaps i'm wrong??
 
Hi James,
Yes I keep looking at Midway UK but as you say postage is expensive and they would have to be sent to a RFD if they are expanding. I was very fortunate and picked up a couple of boxes of 250grn Nosler accubonds in the Sportsman the other day. It was an off chance thing as they were a cancelled order that had been hanging around for some time. My 9.3x74 is a side by side and the load that I have settled on is similar to the Sako load of 55.6grns of N140. Convergance seems good with this load and to the same point of aim as the Unifrance ammo in this calibre that I have previously used. In fact I am quite pleased with the results at 100 yards and that's with open sights.
I will try the Woodleigh bullets some day because they are probably the best you can buy in this calibre, but I will have to save up for them and then there is the problem of carriage.
 
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