9.3X62 MAUSER

User00014

Well-Known Member
hi all ,

im looking for any information i can lay my hands on about the 9.3x62 mauser .

what i have found out is that it is along the same sort of lines as the .375 mag . :D

it might sound strange but i have a bit of a thing for mausers already owning 6.5x55 SE , 7x57 on the way and with a 9.3x62 it would nicley complete the trio ! :D

i also plan to get it on my ticket for deer and plenty enough poke for the piggies too , so im looking for all the info i can to baffle plod with , ammunitiion is not really an issue as i load my own and im already looking for the required componants ! :p

cheers

lee
 
It was a very popular cartridge in Africa until Germany lost its colonies after WWI but it remained still in use until the arrival of legislation mandating a minimum calibre of 375 H & H for "dangerous game".

There probably isn't much that could not be shot with it, with a suitable bullet, on any continent. But it is a bit "slow" in the velocity department.

It is still very popular on the continent and still holds its own against the onslaught of "new" American calibres. As one things that the Americans can't do is cartridges of this type! Too "slow" as noted!

If you look on other forums you'll find various recipes that I am sure. And not only for European powders but the imported American ones too.

It is probably, like the venerable 303 (of Lee Enfield fame), one of the few European cartridges that has crossed the other way across the ocean in the last decade and is seeing somewhat of a "cult" following there!

This because with the fall of the Iron Curtain CZ products are becoming widely seen. And unlike 7 x 64 (that competes with the better IMHO 280 Remington) 9.3 x 62 has no direct USA challenger excepting the 35 Whelen.
 
There is a lot of infor on the 9.3x62 on the Accurate Reloading Forum.

General consensus seems to be that it is a very efficient cartridge with more than enough power to take most things including buffalo - but it is not a stopping cartridge. And it does all this with minimal recoil etc.

And since cartirdge is 30-06 / 270 sized you can very easily rebarrel any long action rifle to this calibre.
 
The 9,3x62 enjoying some limited popularity here in the states due to th einflux of used (excellent) Husqvarna rifles in this chambering. Try this forum. Look under Swedish Rifles. There are a lot of hunting experiences related as well as reloading info. ~Muir
http://forums.gunboards.com/
 
Belive it or not, but it seems to gain popularity in Poland on... roe :eek: (but not only). Drops them on the spot and causes very little meat damage - exit wound of the size of entry wound. Good for driven hunt as well, slow and can shoot through bushes - almost as with a solid slug.

Greg
 
Have a barrel for my Mauser M03. Use it in Africa for everything, including Steenbuck.

Comfortable to shoot. Great fun walking in the bush, no sling, open sights.

For non dangerous game I prefer it to a .375 as it's more "fun".

Stan
 
A very popular calibre in Europe but not so popular in the U.K. I think that you will find that most police forces will treat it the same as a .375 and put it in that class of calibres.

Reloading information is readily available as are suitable powders, but bullets are horrendously expensive in the U.K. and not readily available.
Cases can be converted from .30-06 cases but this is not generally recommended.

I tried ordering a new 9.3x62 some months ago but two separate importers quoted a delay of six to nine months so I bough a 9.3x74r instead. Then I saw a Sauer 202 in 9.3x62 and 7x64 advertised on Guntrader. The same gun was put in the classified section of this site yesterday at an attractive price, pity I now have my 9.3 double or I would be tempted.

The idea suggested of building a 9.3x62 on a long action Mauser certainly appeals though.
 
9.3 seems to be getting more popular. Quite a few 9.3x62 custom rifles being built in Germany. Roedale came out with a WSM necked up to 9.3 , 375H&H performance in his little short action Howa. Thing is called 9.3RSM and actually looks balanced.
More powerfull than 9.3x62 would be the 9.3x64 Brenneke which has a larger diameter case and gives energy equal to the 375 H&H.
I think for Europe the 9.3x62 would be plenty.
Bullets don't seem much of a problem if one looks on e-gun. 50 speer 270gr soft points for 26 Euro don't sound too bad.

edi
 
well gentlemen ,

you never cease to amaze me ! i have found most of the reloading gear off midwayuk but its not going to be cheap at just over 2 quid a round bit im sure it will be worth it ! :D :D

ill slap the variation into the cop shop in the new year when i increase my ammunition allowance .

cheers lee
 
ejg, e-gun is probably the best source of supply for most metric calibres.
The only problem is legally expanding bullets need to be transported in this country to RFD's via a section 5 carrier.
I know that it may be legal to post expanding bullets in Germany (don't know for certain) but as soon as they arrive in the U.K. they will be subject to U.K. law :cry:
 
Lee these are the notes that go with the couple of 9.3x62 rounds in my collection, hope they are of interest.

ATB
Chris


"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." This is how 'Pondoro' Taylor sums up the 9.3x62 in his classic book, African Rifles & Cartridges. From the moment of its introduction in 1905 until ammunition supply problems in the late 1960's, the 9.3x62 Mauser reigned supreme the "all rounded calibre" and probably most popular non-military in Africa.

When cartridges loaded with smokeless powder and jacketed bullets were first introduced, a truly remarkable "small-bore" revolution began amongst hunters and farmers across the continent. The military rifles that introduced this revolution were chambered for the 7x57, .303, 6.5x54 Manlicher, 8mm Lebel or 7.92 Mauser. Their flat trajectory and almost unbelievable penetration changed the way people thought about rifles. The Martini-Henrys, Sniders and 11.2mm Mausers that they replaced packed a most impressive clout on small and medium game but, they were no slouches in the recoil department, had a rainbow like trajectory and the military bullets were too soft to give the desired penetration on big- game.

Almost overnight the old black powder rounds became obsolete, and only those who couldn't afford a new rifle were left with the older ones. In Zimbabwe, the Martini-Henry was THE universal rifle up until 1894. By March 1896 when the first outbreaks of rebellion occurred, the Martini was obsolete with those remaining in Government stocks being in disrepair whilst many civilians and all of the militia had .303’s. By the end of the war everybody had acquired a .303 and it was much the same throughout Africa.

What cut the small bore revolution short was the Rinderpest epidemic, which from 1894 to '97 ravaged South and Central Africa. The antelope died in their millions becoming locally extinct in many areas. This huge drop in animal numbers meant a change in hunting ethics. Prior to this it was "normal" that, any animal shot at, that did not show signs of being badly hit, was usually left and "assumed" to be a miss and another individual engaged. Suddenly game was scarce and it might take a couple of days of hard hunting to get a second shot, so the first one needed to count, and bring the animal down quickly. Marksmanship on game improved, as did follow-up effort to recover wounded animals and it didn't take long for people to realise that game had to be hit "just so" with the full metal jacketed, military bullets to bring them down quickly. Soft point ammunition improved the situation, but even these lacked the terminal clout of the old black powder rounds and were in very short supply to boot.

By 1900 many hunters had either gone back to their Martini's or had invested in one of the new medium bores being brought onto the market by the British and German gun trades. The British were also quick to introduce heavy calibre rifles for use on dangerous game, but these were specialty weapons designed more for the gentleman hunter than the working professional or farmer. What the working man required was a cheap, reliable rifle chambered for a cartridge that would comfortably sort out a crop raiding elephant or hippo, and at the same time secure good knockdown times on plains game for the pot, and do this with full metal jacket bullets, whilst at the same time having mild enough recoil to allow for sustained fire in case the owner needed it for self defence. The British were quick to meet this demand with the 400/350 (Rigby) Express, the 400/360 (Purdy & Westley Richards) and the .375 Flanged Express (BSA), whilst the Germans produced the 9x57 and 10,75x57 rounds. The British rifles though fell into two categories, very expensive high quality arms chambered for the proprietary cartridges, or very cheap and nasty ones chambered for the .375 express.

Only the .350 Rigby achieved any measure of success, but it could only be had in expensive Rigby rifles (even the Rigby single shots cost more than double that of a "B" class Mauser), and the proprietary ammunition was expensive and sometimes difficult to obtain. In addition, the Boers, French, German and to some extent the Portuguese colonists were not exactly pro-British and were unlikely to buy another nation's rifle unless it was the only choice, or offered clear advantages over any home produced product. The German cartridges, based on the military 7.92 round necked up, were great on soft skinned game, but had insufficient penetration to kill elephant with frontal shots, and were marginal for raking shots on game such as buffalo or hippo. The 9.3x62 was developed around 1905 by Berlin gunmaker Otto Bock, who designed it to fit into the Model 1898 Mauser bolt-action rifle. It was into this searching market that Paul Mauser launched his 9.3x62.

The standard model '98 Mauser rifle cost only £5 (sterling) in 1905 and were renowned for their reliability. The rifles came with acceptable sights, were superbly accurate and the earlier 7.92 (8mm Mauser) and 9x57 cartridges were easily the best of the early smokeless, small bores and, although they lacked the knockdown power needed for the largest game, had a good reputation. The 9.3x62 corrected the power problem whilst not having excessive recoil. In short, it was a well-balanced cartridge, loaded with excellent soft point bullets or acceptable solids, and came in a reasonably priced, high quality rifle. It was an instant success, and not only in the German colonies.

To cater to the British market, Mauser introduced the. "A" class rifle, with express sights and/or a peep sight, rhino or buffalo horn fore-ends and grip caps and an English style stock. Even with the "extras" the A class Mauser was still half the price of contemporary British rifles of similar quality, and so sold like the proverbial hot cakes to the colonists. Here at last was an all round cartridge; its 286 grain bullets at 2350fps had enough energy and penetration for amateur hunters and farmers to safely kill even elephant in all but the worst circumstances, whilst its moderate recoil made using it on small game such as warthog or impala a reasonable thing to do. The velocity was tolerably high for the period (higher than the contemporary British cartridges) and this gave a flat enough trajectory for all hunting out to 200 meters or so without having to change the sight settings. This was just what the workingman ordered. As its popularity spread, so conditions developed that further enhanced its popularity, viz the ready supply of ammunition.

Anywhere from Cape to Cairo where there was a general dealer or store, 9.3x62 ammunition could be 'obtained'. This was of vital importance to the farmer or hunter who was often cut off from the towns for months on end by the rainy season, not to mention war or rinderpest. In fact, the 9.3x62 came to have a truly international flavour by NOT being a country's military cartridge and this further enhanced its general appeal. The .303 ammunition was not available anywhere in Africa outside of the British colonies, whilst 8mm Lebel ammunition was confined to French Africa, but wherever you went in all six of the colonial power's spheres of influence 9.3x62 ammunition was available.

The only area that Taylor considered the 9.3x62 unsuitable for was following up wounded elephant in thick cover and most hunters would agree. The penetration is there aplenty, enabling the bullet to reach the vitals from any angle, but the sheer bullet energy needed to turn a close quarters charge just simply isn't there (nor is it in the .375 H&H for that matter). Nevertheless the 9.3x62 found immediate acceptance amongst even the large-bore fans in the professional elephant hunting fraternity, for use in open country where shots over 20 meters were the norm. In thick bush, or when following up a wounded elephant, the professional would then take his heavy rifle (a .500, .505 or larger). In truth, many of the small-bore fans kept at least a .450 double in reserve for wounded jumbo in the thick stuff. Wounded elephant aside, the 9.3x62 adequately fitted the bill for everything else.

George Rushby favoured his 9.3 double for both elephant control work and for shooting lion. Ten of the man-eaters of Njombe fell to George's 9,3, and he records with sorrow how he was forced to sell the 9,3 for financial reasons and purchase a .400 which, although just as effective on elephant lacked the "shocking power" on the big cats. This of course was simply a matter of velocity as the 9.3' s velocity is above the critical velocity at which explosive wounds occur in flesh (2200-2250fps), and so the bullets tend to produce a much more extensive wound and "shock" to the central nervous system than the larger, slower bullets.

World War II marked the beginning of the end for the 9.3x62, Mauser stopped producing rifles, and supplies of good quality Kynoch of DWM ammunition became unreliable in the early '60's. The Norma and S&B (Czech) ammunition that remained available was generally designed for medium sized game (up to eland/elk) and the solids were too poor a quality to take against elephant. The European rifles that remained in production were no longer cheap, and the new breed of hunter coming to Africa were Americans, who wanted cartridges chambered for imperial cartridges that they could understand, had a belt on them to "show" that they were a Magnum, and chambered in a cheap home grown American rifle. It didn't matter that the.375H&H solids broke up far more readily than the 9.3's or that the .375 produced greater meat damage with no improvement in effectiveness, and did so with a significant increase in recoil. Ammunition was available, it was cheap, and a new Winchester or Remington, was half the price of a Steyr- Manlicher or Husqvarna. By the 1970's the 9,3x62 was all but dead in Africa, although it remained very popular in Europe.

In recent years the 9.3x62 has seen something of a revival. Good quality Bruno (CZ) rifle arrived on the market which are substantially cheaper than any quality .375, supplies of high quality (and damned expensive) RWS a ammunition began to arrive and custom bullet makers from Ken Stewart to Woodleigh began to produce first class bullets in 9.3. Contrary to popular belief that .375 H&H is the minimum calibre for Class A game in Zimbabwe (Elephant, Buffalo and Hippo) a the 9.3x62 is perfectly legal without having to over-load it, and the current RWS 293 grain TUG load safely meets the minimum energy requirements.

More and more people are re-discovering that the 9.3x62 is a great "all round" rifle. For the man who occasionally gets to shoot a buffalo or elephant, and spends most of his time hunting kudu, eland etc, the 9,3x62 makes an awful lot of sense. The recoil is not excessive, nor the meat damage so severe as to make it an unreasonable choice for game as small as impala, so its owner might as well use it on everything. This makes a great deal more sense than doing most of your hunting with a small or medium bore rifle, and then having change to a different rifle, often with a longer bolt throw, for that once every two or three year buffalo hunt. Beware of the hunter who only uses one rifle he usually knows it intimately, where it shoots at longer ranges and generally is not the originator of cock-ups and wounded game. Loaded with good bullets the 9,3x62 will give the same terminal performance a .375, and do it without the sharper recoil/longer action/greater weight of its modern replacement.

In summary then, the 9.3x62 is a bit of overkill on dassies, and a bit short on horsepower for a Tyrannosaurus, but on everything in-between it is as perfectly adequate today as it was in 1905.
 
If you look at that US/Swede site you'll find extensive information about reforming 9,3x62 from 30-06 brass. Load data as well.

Prvti made a good 286 grainer. I just got 500 of them for my x57. 375 bullets can be resized to .366 with inexpensive dies from Lee Precision. It's a winner. (I just bought a set of x62 dies for a buddy on a shooting forum for $30 US. so they can be had...) ~Muir
 
8x57 said:
ejg, e-gun is probably the best source of supply for most metric calibres.
The only problem is legally expanding bullets need to be transported in this country to RFD's via a section 5 carrier.
I know that it may be legal to post expanding bullets in Germany (don't know for certain) but as soon as they arrive in the U.K. they will be subject to U.K. law :cry:

That is correct, I presume the majority of ammo and components have been imported to the UK some how.. so it is possible. All you need is a friend who is a RFD. A couple of you should get together and import in bulk, via RFD. Pay him for the service, not the ware. Bit like importing a private rifle.
edi
 
As Muir has suggested Privi Partizan make a suitable bullet for 9.3mm but the importers Henry Krank don't list it so presumably they don't import the full Privi line of components. Importers in the U.K. tend only to stock the quick sales lines.

Muir I have read on a Canadian website about resizing .375 bullets to .366 (9.3mm), but in the U.K. we can't just go into a shop and buy such things. It would be necessary for us to have authorisation on our firearms certificates to possess .375 and we would need to demonstrate good reason, which if it were for a calibre of rifle we didn't possess would make for some debate with our relevant firearms departments.

Generally speaking availability of reloading components is pretty poor in the U.K. Most small town gunshops in the U.S.A. would probably hold a much larger choice and larger stock of components than even the largest stores in this country (with only one or two exceptions). We can't even get some things such as bullets (expanding) posted to you.
 
Gad. You've told me that before, too! Sorry. I just can't wrap my head around The Authorities being so fussy about "heads" V/S loaded ammunition. IF it were possible to obtain .375 bullets, a $50-$75 set of step down dies from Lee Precision would keep you in 9.3 fodder. I guess that bullet casting is the way to go. It doesn't seem like They Whom Must be Obeyed cares about casting enough to stick their noses into it.

All right! Dammit! I've had it! :mad: All of you just come over to my place to do some reloading!! ~Muir
 
again thanks for all the info , the mission is to source the dies ! i think that is easyier said than done , im thinking im gonna have to get some from the states :confused:

atb lee
 
I got my 280 Remington dies by RCBS off eBay! Just either use UK eBay and allow the option to search "international" listings or go direct to USA eBay.

The bonus was the "extras" of a factory crimp die by Lee and the postage wasn't too much either.

Whilst here in UK guns etc. are "unclean" and cannot be listed bu us on eBay in USA they can, do, and many do have the "worldwide" purchase option.
 
well just been on midway uk and addedsaid dies to wish list its just the shell holders im having problems finding :confused:

im thinking as its near enough a 30-06 case that will do the job ??
 
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