9.3x62 reviews?

[charles p]

I gather that you live in Europe.  See no other reason to consider the caliber.

[kombi1976]

I gather that you live in Europe.  See no other reason to consider the caliber.

I think you missed the previous posts.
I was filling kangaroo tags.
I don't think there are any running wild there.....not even in Austria. 
To dismiss a European cartridge as irrelevant to someone outside Europe is a little shortsighted.
After all the 9.3x62 was originally designed by Otto Bock in 1904 for German farmers in Africa who could not afford English double rifles and instead used standard Mauser 98 rifles.
It's still the exception to the rule in African countries where 375 H&H or even bigger cals are the legal minimum.
Cartridges like 338 Win Mag, 35 Whelen or even 375 H&H may seem more sensible to you but I dislike magnums in general because you pay in recoil when for the most part that much power is not needed and they are not cheap to feed.
The 9.3x62 OTOH is not nastier than a hot loaded '06, at least to my mind, and it takes no more powder than an '06.
The 35 Whelen brass is not that easy to find in Australia and I used Lapua brass in my 9.3x62 and it's top quality for what I believe is a very reasonable price.
And since I use Speer 270gr Semi-Spitzers I don't find myself dropping stacks of money on projectiles either.
Besides, it has the lure of the exotic.
Wouldn't that hold any attraction for you, especially if it's also affordable and effective?

[Beau9.3]

I gather that you live in Europe.  See no other reason to consider the caliber.

That statement made me spill my coffee Charles.  There was a time when I thought any cartridge without a belt & a magnum moniker wasn't a real hunting cartridge. So for many years I hunted with a 270 Weatherby, 7mm Weatherby, 7mm/300 Weatherby, 340 Weatherby, 308 Norma & a few others.  Recently I decided I wanted a European CRF Mauser type rifle. I settled on a CZ550 American in 9.3x62. I am so pleased I chose that rifle & calibre. It is the easiest & most comfortable rifle to quickly shoulder & aim with that I have ever used. As for the 9.3x62, it is an amazing calibre for hunting big Sambar Deer with. It is more gun than my beloved 300 Weatherby & is fully the equal of my 340 Weatherby in killing power.  With it's modest powder diet & heavy .366" diameter projectiles it anchors game on the spot. No failures yet & I don't expect any by the way it performs. As much as I love my 30.06 & my Weatherby's, I will always select my 9.3 when I am hunting Sambar, Camel, Wild Cattle & any big ungulate or any dangerous game.  If I was going on a one gun African Safari, I would be taking my CZ550 American 9.3x62 with it's 2.5-10x50 Zeiss Victory Diavari.  Meanwhile back here in AUSTRALIA, it has become  my weapon of choice for Wild Boar & any other huntable game that comes to mind. When the game is big & dangerous like Buffalo & Wild Cattle, it seems to kill better than my 300 & 340, & is the equal of the 375 H&H.  The 9.3x62 changed my way of thinking when it comes to killing power.

[kombi1976]

Ah, another Aussie who has been lured and succumbed to the excellence of the ol' '62.
I wish I had your access to camel, scrub bull and buffalo, Beau.
I'd dearly like to bag a camel and a buff in particular.
My Tikka is off south with me in July to hunt sambar and I'm looking forward to it.

[RevJim]

 I had given my Barnes Vortex 286gr TSX ammo to my Son in Law. He checked his zero with them in his CZ 550 FS in 9.3x62 and got to use them today. He and another friend had booked a local hunt for hogs. They both shot two nice 300#+ sows. I had given my friend a Marlin 336 that I had reamed out to 30-30 Ackley Improved with some Speer 170gr Hot Cors going around 2450fps. He shot his sow around 20yds, behind left ear, it exited out the right shoulder, dropped her right there. The other sow then circled around, grunting like crazy like they do and when she saw my SIL, here she came! He was on one knee, and popped her also around 20yds, bullet hit left cheek, through neck vertebrate, across the chest to ribs on right side, and stopped under the hide, 20+ inches of penetration and full expansion! Of course, she dropped right there also, ha.
  (Side note, I shot each dead hog thorugh the head with my 10mm glock 29SF, one with the DoubleTap 230gr WFNGC, and the other with Buffalo Bore 155gr TAC-XP. Both got complete penetration except the 155 was recovered just under the skin, opposite side and had shattered the skull inside. )

[yooper77]

I looked at the the big three in comparison, 338-06 A-Square, 35 Whelen and 9.3x62mm Mauser, but I found more inexpensive bullets in 338 diameter so my decision was easy.
 
I considered re-chamber/re-bore my Ruger M77 MKII in 270 Winchester to 35 Whelen, but the rifle shoots so well with any 150 grain bullet and IMR-4831 that I couldn't do it.
 
I bought a very lightly used Weatherby Mark V Ultra Lightweight in 338-06 A-Square and mounted a new Leupold VX-III 3.5-10x40mm scope with standard Leupold base and low rings and soon I fell in love with my medium bore cartridge too. I always wanted a Weatherby Mark V action which has the 54 degree bolt lift, but I certainly didn't want a magnum rifle cartridge.
 
I use only 30-06 Springfield brass for my 338-06 A-Square and I have never had a failure to fire using RCBS full length dies.
 
I also picked up a T/C Encore Pro Hunter 15" pistol barrel in 338 Federal and I intend on using 308 Winchester brass for it and also RCBS full length dies.
 
I have 338 diameter bullets ranging from 180 grains to 250 grains on hand. My Thor's Hammer will be 250 grain Nolser Partiton at 2500 FPS out of my 24" 338-06 A-Square barrel.
 
yooper77

[RevJim]

 I tried a Mod 70 in 338/280 once, but the only brass available then was the Remington Nickled brass. It flaked badly and split necks when sized up, fireformed. I got aggravated and had it converted to .338 winmag. I've shot game on two continents with .338 WM, .340W and the .338 RUM. I enjoyed them all, but the novelty wore off. After I went to the Barnes 200X in my .35 WAI, I found I had virtually the same thing, at 350yds and under. Less blast,etc.
 At one time of my life (you know, "the young man with a young family who worked all the time and had no money for toys" time?ha) I wanted a .338/270 Improved. Later on is why I tried the standard 338/280. Maybe if I had went the Improved route and formed the .270 brass instead...I may have been a different kind of nut! ha. No, when I was in my first year of Bible school,'88, I read about Craig Boddington shooting a moose with the then released Mod 700 Classic in .35 Whelen and I always wanted one. My first one was in '95. It was one of those "soul mate" kind of things from then on. (Of course I ruined the first one rebarreling/converting it to .416 Taylor) I got my 2nd (and present one) in 2000. I do love the .338's though, and find no fault in them as a whole. I just don't have one anymore as I don't shoot over 300 or so now. I actually prefer the heavier bullets in my Whelen for closer range, just because I like the ooomph.

[Drilling Man]

I tried a Mod 70 in 338/280 once, but the only brass available then was the Remington Nickled brass. It flaked badly and split necks when sized up, fireformed. I got aggravated and had it converted to .338 winmag.

  If you would have built a std. .338-06 in the first place, i'm betting you would have liked it better.  If the std. .338-06 doesn't have enough V, like you already found out, going to the .338 Win. Mag. is the next best option...
 
  DM

[RevJim]

 Yep, I was always an avid reader of Elmer keith, and really considered the 338/06. However, fate had me run into that first 700 Classic .35 Whelen and the rest is history,ha. I'm ruined now, and when I had it Ackleyized, I almost swooned,ha. I love that 40 deg shoulder! I always liked the lighter bullets in the magnums; 185XLC in the .338W; the 210 XBT in the .340W; and the 180 Accubond in the RUM. When I went to the 200gr X in the Whelen, I saw no difference in killing effect on game, and was just about as flat, ex. the new 200TTSX gets 2950fps out of my rifle! +3 at 100 I am only -4" at 300! Not too shabby,ha.