9.3x62 Husqvarna 640

[Shootinshyster]

I found a used Husqvarna 640 in 9.3x62. The gun was available at a cheap price because the stock was cracked. So I had an idea

I read an article in Handloader magazine by John Barsness. Mr Barsness developed safe modern loads for the 9.3x62 and one of his loads intrigued me. You can see it over here- 250 grain Nosler Accubond with a velocity of 2651 fps. This bullet has a ballistic coefficient of 0.494 and here we would have a long range powerhouse.

Imagine a 9.3 with the trajectory of a .308

 

[Shootinshyster]

Part 2.

So I had the stock repaired and I had the rifle glass bedded. I also had Rusan pivot mounts installed.

The rifle does not have iron sights, just a Leupold 6x42. The whole thing is rather specialized. Normally we think of the 9.3x62 as a close range gun but this one can easily hit the gong at 300 meters.

 

[Shootinshyster]

So lets discuss the ballistics of a 250 grain bullet at 2650 fps with BC of 0.494.

Suppose I zero it 3.5 inches high at 100 yards. It will hit dead on at 250 yards. And at 250 yards it would deliver over 2700 foot pounds of kinetic energy. And at 300 yards, the bullet drop would be only 4.5 inches

And at 400 yards, it still delivers over 2100 foot pounds of kinetic energy. So at a quarter mile it has the same power as a 6.5 Creedmoor at the muzzle!

So imagine showing up in Scotland with a 9.3x62. They would think I was nucking futs

I have not yet found any 250 grain Accubonds, but I have experimented with 270 grain Speers. With 66 grains of BLC(2) I'm getting 2550 fps. This load is accurate and surprisingly easy to shoot

 

[w-hak]

People sleep on the 9.3x62 but with the wide range of bullet weights available you can get radically different loads. I have been running the now discontinued 220 gr Lapua Naturalis "LR" ("long range", really, Lapua?) for a few years and I love it. That lighter bullet I could push pretty quickly but I stepped back down to a lighter load for more comfortable shooting. It still is very, very effective and gives me both hitting power and reasonable ballistics. When I run out of these I have a couple of boxes of 214 gr North Fork CPX bullets.

I have been intrigued by the existence of the 184 gr RWS Eco Green frangible tin bullet, with which you could - at least theoretically - get muzzle velocities that start sniffing .300 Win Mag numbers. I have no use for that kind of performance in my hunting though, so I have let it be. Also the bullets are eye-waveringly expensive, but Geco has a bullet of the same type of design and weight if that is of any interest.

I do however have friends who hunt with the 250 gr Accubond and they swear by it, considering it a very reliable bullet - especially in 9.3 mm.