I wouldn't recommend the 286gr Hornady on anything bigger than deer. Had some 2011 made bullets that exploded of a cow moose shoulder blade at 180 yards with only surface penetration. Shed the jackets completely. Four rds to put the moose to sleep with the last two at 20 yards angled rib cage. Sent unfired bullets to Hornady for ballistic testing. Of course worked flawlessly in jell. The old dull red box Hornady bullets of the 80's and earlier were great. Hornady has cut corners somewhere on jacket material but won't fess up. Korth stepped up and sent me 5 boxes of 9.3 projectiles.......3 250gr GMX and 2 of the same 286gr SP I had issues with? Pulled what I had loaded and seated 286gr Partitions. Handloads were in the 2400fps range. Your mileage may vary. Wouldn't trust them on a grizzly.
Bullet Choice for 9.3x62
- Thread starter slinkylegs
- Start date
slinkylegs
Regular
- Location
- Hudson Bay, SK
I have some factory Hornady International bullets left. I bought a few boxes cheap to keep the brass, and shot one whitetail with it. However, I have read horror stories like yours about the Interlock in 9.3 failing to penetrate and kill as it should.
Short list is the Speer, Prvi, and Lapua I think. Lapua is appealing for weight retention, but the other two are certainly affordable
slinkylegs
Regular
- Location
- Hudson Bay, SK
I have read of a few (along with the Prvi). However, I have also read more success stories with them than the Hornady rounds. One guy I talked to from Winnipeg said he swore by the Speers, and used them to anchor numerous moose.
- Location
- Saskatchewan
Norma Oryx are wonderful bullets in 9.3mm 285 gr. I’ve killed black bears, kudu, Oryx and giraffe with them. Perfect results every time.
I have hornady custom ammo with the 286gr sp interlock and they shed the jackets nearly everytime but when I load the 286gr sp rp interlock they hold hold extremely well. Not sure why they'd have 2 versions of the same bullet the recoil proof marked ones seem to actually hold up where as the regular factory loaded sp are basically varmint bullets
- Location
- Vancouver Island, BC
The PPU is the best economical projectile. Nothing wrong with the lapua mega but unless I've been looking in the wrong places it's substantially more expensive than the PPU.
I've stayed away from the hornady 285 gr myself due to what I've read but have no first hand experience.
I have a few hundred 270 Speers but have never used them seeing how well the PPU perform.
I've stayed away from the hornady 285 gr myself due to what I've read but have no first hand experience.
I have a few hundred 270 Speers but have never used them seeing how well the PPU perform.
yukonshooter
New member
- Location
- Whitehorse yukon
I used the PPU bullets last year to take a moose and bison. I shot and recovered 3 bullets. All penetrated well. But 2 of the bullets shed their jackets but the cores were right there with them. Third bullet mushroomed perfectly. They killed very quickly. Both animals shot at less than 25 meters.
slinkylegs
Regular
- Location
- Hudson Bay, SK
Not quite as economical, but I am interested in those! I have some coming for my 6.5 Grendel, and I hear a lot of good things about them!
slinkylegs
Regular
- Location
- Hudson Bay, SK
I think they are about $0.40 more per bullet, or they were about that the last I checked.
I've heard great things about those! Hard to find in Canada though (at least recently)
- Location
- Vancouver Island, BC
I don't personally think it's worth the difference. Not that the lapua is bad, it's just pretty much the same price as other bullets I prefer.
Just looked up the price. Ouch. I'm pretty sure trade ex was selling 20rds of loaded PPU/PRVI for 32.95 shipped in 2020. I guess that was already 5 years ago. Glad I bought a case of it.
In case you haven’t tried it, here’s an idea for a great plinker: put a 355 bullet in a drill, nose first, and cut it at the start of the flange to the first bearing band. After you clean up the cut, you’ll have a wad cutter that’s a hoot to shoot at low velocities (1000 fps roughly) and can see duty as a game getter round. Heck, you can even shoot it without a gas check.
As a point of interest, I commissioned a 145 grain SWC (in .338) from Mountain Molds about 15 years ago and shoot the bullets both as cast (with a gas check) and truncated (down to about 50 grains) without a gas check. The 50s are very accurate at 25 yds and shoot like a 22. Great fun!
OP, it's to bad 9.3 bullets are so expensive. It leads to posts like your's
The big mistake made by most people who purchase such large diameter rounds is not considering WHY WAS THE ROUND CREATED IN THE FIRST PLACE?
The 9.3mm diameter cartridges (appx .366in) don't have a lot to offer over North American 338 or 35 caliber bullets. Not only that, there is a much larger selection to choose from and usually several will shoot well in any given rifle.
9.3 caliber rifles are a different ball game, in that bore diameters, although within spec, can be either large or small. This usually happens with older rifles, and I haven't seen a modern rifle with such issues.
People have become used to the trend created by CNC machine tools, used on an industrial scale to produce firearms. Todays firearms are incredibly consistent from one to the next and even between different manufacturers.
I had a very nice Yugo, Zastava, M70 chambered for the 6.3x62. It shot everything but the heaviest bullets well, due to its rather slow twist rate.
I still have a Drilling 16X16/9.3x72R. It was made before WWII and shoots bullets it like well. So far, it likes two,
The one it likes best is the 255 grain, Safari Raptor from Advanced Precision Technology, available from Intersurplus, a banner supporter and 230grain 9.3mm Lapua, which have been discontinued. I don't believe APT are available in Canada at this point in time.
The Drilling will not shoot anything else well, other than cast bullets .370 diameter.
I've likely got more than enough bullets for this combo rifle than I'll ever use. I only want to take one Deer with it and all will be well.
There seems to be a lot of trees between the Deer lately.
The one thing different between the two rifles, other than the Drilling has a slightly larger bore diameter, is the amount of FREEBORE.
The Yugo, Zastava M70 had just enough FREEBORE that I could load the bullets to touch the leade and still fit into the magazine well.
The Drilling, which was built for a different purpose, during a different era, has so much FREEBORE that it's impossible to seat a bullet out far enough to get close to the leade.
Many older rifles have very generous FREEBORE, along with sloppy throats. All of this makes finding the right bullet for the job tedious and expensive.
The 9.3x62 was meant to be an "all around cartridge" but many felt it was almost ideal for "dangerous game" Some felt it was to light and it's banned for such use in some African nations.
9.3x62 twist rates vary as well. I've come across them with twist rates from 1-11 all the way to 1-15, and this will also determine which bullet your rifle will shoot well.
The big mistake made by most people who purchase such large diameter rounds is not considering WHY WAS THE ROUND CREATED IN THE FIRST PLACE?
The 9.3mm diameter cartridges (appx .366in) don't have a lot to offer over North American 338 or 35 caliber bullets. Not only that, there is a much larger selection to choose from and usually several will shoot well in any given rifle.
9.3 caliber rifles are a different ball game, in that bore diameters, although within spec, can be either large or small. This usually happens with older rifles, and I haven't seen a modern rifle with such issues.
People have become used to the trend created by CNC machine tools, used on an industrial scale to produce firearms. Todays firearms are incredibly consistent from one to the next and even between different manufacturers.
I had a very nice Yugo, Zastava, M70 chambered for the 6.3x62. It shot everything but the heaviest bullets well, due to its rather slow twist rate.
I still have a Drilling 16X16/9.3x72R. It was made before WWII and shoots bullets it like well. So far, it likes two,
The one it likes best is the 255 grain, Safari Raptor from Advanced Precision Technology, available from Intersurplus, a banner supporter and 230grain 9.3mm Lapua, which have been discontinued. I don't believe APT are available in Canada at this point in time.
The Drilling will not shoot anything else well, other than cast bullets .370 diameter.
I've likely got more than enough bullets for this combo rifle than I'll ever use. I only want to take one Deer with it and all will be well.
There seems to be a lot of trees between the Deer lately.
The one thing different between the two rifles, other than the Drilling has a slightly larger bore diameter, is the amount of FREEBORE.
The Yugo, Zastava M70 had just enough FREEBORE that I could load the bullets to touch the leade and still fit into the magazine well.
The Drilling, which was built for a different purpose, during a different era, has so much FREEBORE that it's impossible to seat a bullet out far enough to get close to the leade.
Many older rifles have very generous FREEBORE, along with sloppy throats. All of this makes finding the right bullet for the job tedious and expensive.
The 9.3x62 was meant to be an "all around cartridge" but many felt it was almost ideal for "dangerous game" Some felt it was to light and it's banned for such use in some African nations.
9.3x62 twist rates vary as well. I've come across them with twist rates from 1-11 all the way to 1-15, and this will also determine which bullet your rifle will shoot well.
I had a few 9.3x62 over the years and still have one, they all shot really well with 286 nosler partition and 286 swift Aframe! Sub moa if I do my part! I never tried lighter bullets yet, mainly cause I really like the 286gn for moose, and hopefully I will have a chance on a bison by the end of the season.
For reloading the 9.3x62. Like I mentioned above, I bought PPU factory 286gr loads to practice with and for the brass.
I got 286gr PPU bullets for reloading with. The 52ed Lyman manual has loading data for Varget (which I have and plan to use), but lists numerous other powders. Any experience/suggestions for or against?
I got 286gr PPU bullets for reloading with. The 52ed Lyman manual has loading data for Varget (which I have and plan to use), but lists numerous other powders. Any experience/suggestions for or against?
