9.3 X 57 loads for Mauser 98 actions

Hoping Jethunter does not mind - picture of his bullet below. Notice the cerrosafe casting from my 9.3x57 chamber - the base of that bore rider is going to be well out of the case mouth before the "fat" part of the bullet hits the rifling - nose part will be well up along the rifling though. The chamber in this rifle has much longer neck section than the 8x57 brass that I managed to convert. I have not yet fired this one - still working on the stock to accept the fatter 9.3 barrel...

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Potashminer said:
Hoping Jethunter does not mind - picture of his bullet below. Notice the cerrosafe casting from my 9.3x57 chamber - the base of that bore rider is going to be well out of the case mouth before the "fat" part of the bullet hits the rifling - nose part will be well up along the rifling though. The chamber in this rifle has much longer neck section than the 8x57 brass that I managed to convert. I have not yet fired this one - still working on the stock to accept the fatter 9.3 barrel...

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That is a hellatious amount of freebore in that rifle. It was a custom job or Husqvarna factory made?
 
The barrel came to me on a stripped M96 type receiver - therefore a "small ring", not M98 - scroll marks on barrel say "Husqvarna Vapenfabriks A.B. KAL. 9.3 m.m." No stampings on the receiver. An acquaintance suggested that I do not need a "bullet" - I need a lead extrusion, .368" diameter, about 1.000" long to go from neck/shoulder junction to get to the rifling!!! :)
 
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I wouldn't worry about it. Maybe accurate all the same with some experimentation. May even have to seat the bullet deeper into the case to find the right barrel harmonics.
 
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Yeah. This rifle will have the Hellqvist hunting rear aperture, so with my 65 year old eyes, a 4" to 6" group at 100 yards is about all I expect. With a bigger, appropriate shaped aiming point that I can see, maybe can do better than that. As close as I could measure when the cerrosafe cast was an hour old, that free bore is real close to .368", which is the nominal size of these bullets, so hoping there will not be much "tipping" or canting going on. But, all "theoretical" - I will have to put some down range to know.
 
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According to my caliper they are "bang" on.
 
Potashminer said:
Yeah. This rifle will have the Hellqvist hunting rear aperture, so with my 65 year old eyes, a 4" to 6" group at 100 yards is about all I expect. With a bigger, appropriate shaped aiming point that I can see, maybe can do better than that. As close as I could measure when the cerrosafe cast was an hour old, that free bore is real close to .368", which is the nominal size of these bullets, so hoping there will not be much "tipping" or canting going on. But, all "theoretical" - I will have to put some down range to know.
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The eyes are definitely a limiting factor now with irons. This picture is from a few years ago with an early M46. Earlier thread: Cast bullets in a 9.3 x 57 (canadiangunnutz.com)
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When I decided I was going to size down 0.375" jacketed bullets to use in my 9.3x57 rifles, I ordered 3; 1 @ 0.372" & 1 @ 0.368", & 1 @ 0.366". I already owned a 0.375" die. Shipping was the same & if memory serves, they were ~$16.00US & the Cdn $ was at par. Although you have to put the bullets through a sizing die multiple times, it substantially cuts down on the amount of force required each time. In addition, my thinking was that there would, hopefully, be less spring-back each time if the bullet was less squozen less each time.

I use Alox for resizing, but let it harden a day or so. That is the only thing I use my remaining ALOX for anymore, other than to lube the wire rope on my winches.

The nice thing about doing this, is that you will "take up" a lot of the free-bore because the entire bullet below the ogive will be 0.366". (normal [at least in my 5 Husqvarnas, both M96 & M98 actions] land diameter in a 9.3mm is 0.356").
 
"Normal" is a relative thing. The old Husqvarnas had a fair range of variance, but the largest freebore I've encountered in 9.3x57 was still barely half an inch and even that is huge. Potaskminer's freebore looks to be at least 3x bullet diameter, or more than an inch.
 
For what it is worth on a several weeks old cerrosafe casting (as shown in my earlier picture in Post #41), from end of the chamber cut for neck, to start of the rifling, is .608"
 
Potashminer said:
For what it is worth on a several weeks old cerrosafe casting (as shown in my earlier picture in Post #41), from end of the chamber cut for neck, to start of the rifling, is .608"
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It's almost a musket. :)

My 9.3x57 rifle with the most freebore is just over .4". It shot honest 1.25" groups with the first load I tried. Since then I've experimented with seating depths, powders, and cast and jacketed bullets. Everything has been between 1.75" and 1.25". The free bore doesn't seem to hurt that particular rifle.
 
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