.370 Sako Mag

[Pheroze]

That's great, thanks. Ellwood Epps is reasonably close so that should work fine. I will check out what the rifle options are in a 9.3x62 and see where we get to.

 

[Pheroze]

So, I think the road to the 9.3mm ends for me here for now. I called Ellwood Epps and was told that it was an oddball caliber that they normally do not carry rifles for (the one on their website was too much for me just now so I was asking about others). He did not think they made ammunition for it. The response I got about the 370 Sako Mag was equally instructive. Not being one to miss the subtle cues being given, I then asked about the Zastava 375H&H.:thumbsup: I guess I have to move over the "375H&H and up" forum.

I will probably circle back to the 9.3 when I have confidence reloading. But for now I think the reality in Canada makes it too awkward.

Thanks guys.

 

[Norwegianwoods]

I suspect the person you talked with had no clue what he was talking about.
I have seen many Canadians using the 9.3x62 on other forums.
I can understand he didn't know much about the 370 Sako Mag as it is a rather new cartridge, but having little knowledge about the 9.3x62 and calling it an oddball working in a place selling guns and ammo is just embarrassing.

Lots of ammo makers, including Remington, make ammo for the 9.3x62.

 

[enysse]

I suspect the person you talked with had no clue what he was talking about.
I have seen many Canadians using the 9.3x62 on other forums.
I can understand he didn't know much about the 370 Sako Mag as it is a rather new cartridge, but having little knowledge about the 9.3x62 and calling it an oddball working in a place selling guns and ammo is just embarrassing.

Lots of ammo makers, including Remington, make ammo for the 9.3x62.

I agree with you, but I would like to point out the .375 H&H has a universal appeal, makes getting components so easy,

 

[Spooksar]

Trade Ex in Ontario has a bunch of Zavasta 9.3x62 in stock. They also have ammo and components. Check out a website, www.canadiangunnutz for Canadian info, there are other Canadian gun forums also.

 

[sestoppelman]

Trade Ex in Ontario has a bunch of Zavasta 9.3x62 in stock. They also have ammo and components. Check out a website, www.canadiangunnutz for Canadian info, there are other Canadian gun forums also.

I have been looking for one of those rifles here, without much luck.

 

[enysse]

Trade Ex in Ontario has a bunch of Zavasta 9.3x62 in stock. They also have ammo and components. Check out a website, www.canadiangunnutz for Canadian info, there are other Canadian gun forums also.

I agree, damn fine rifle....9.3x62 is a great caliber.

 

[Spooksar]

I agree, damn fine rifle....9.3x62 is a great caliber.

I own 2 of them a CZ 550 and a Husky, have used my CZ in Africa for planes game, taking it back in 2014 for 2 hunts. Also have a Mauser 66 in 93x 64, and a Brno o/u in 9.3x74. In North America the 9.3 has been a underdog as a bore size, but is gaining in popularity

 

[enysse]

I have a 9.3x62 in a Husqvarna, can't wait to play with it. I wish it was more popular here in the USA, but .35 Whelen is just so popular (another fine caliber).

 

[Pheroze]

Thank you for the lead on Trade Ex! looks like a great site for all sorts of supplies.

 

[DOC-404]

I then asked about the Zastava 375H&H.

Have a good long look at the CZ 550 as well, it's very popular in Africa and most PH's know them inside-out.

 

[Norwegianwoods]

I agree with you, but I would like to point out the .375 H&H has a universal appeal, makes getting components so easy,

I know that
And I also know that many Americans have problems with any metric cartridge as long as it is not a 7mm Rem Mag

But there are lots of components for the 9.3x62 too.
And it rubs me the wrong way when people are discouraged from getting what they want by shops and staff with little knowledge or/and crap attitude.

My BS sensor is always very alert when I talk with staff in gun shops, both in person and on the phone, as to many of them have lack of knowledge, lie, bluff or think they know it all and show customers little respect.

 

[Pheroze]

Making recommendations for the "right" cartridge causes such confusion that I have some sympathy for the fellow behind the counter in his attempts to provide guidance to the customer. For example, I originally had a Tikka Lite in 270wsm. I could shoot it very accurately but I just found the recoil and "boom" factor to be obnoxious and ammo was expensive. I switched to the A-Bolt 30-06 with which I find I can spend long sessions at the bench and ammo is all over the place in many different incarnations. However, I cannot seem to get the same extremely close groupings I could with the 270wsm. Despite that I much prefer the 30-06. A friend of mine absolutely loves his 270wsm.

I am personally interested in the 9.3 because I thought it would be less obnoxious from a recoil and volume perspective than the 375H&H. But, the fellow behind the counter should not be faulted for steering me, with my relative lack of experience, to the caliber that is more common in this neck of the woods. I agree it is frustrating as I was eager to make a go of this project. I am confident I can become comfortable with either, its more degrees of comfort and other intangibles that attract me to the 9.3mm. What it has shown me is that ownership in Canada of the 9.3 will require more effort than a 375H&H. The question I need to answer is whether that effort is worth it.

Having said all of that, do I really need anything but my 30-06 for a plains game hunt!

 

[Norwegianwoods]

Need and want are sometimes difficult to distinguish

If you use a high quality bullet like the Barnes TTSX, I think you will do totally fine on all plains game with your 30-06.
Some think it is marginal on Elands.

The 9.3x62 will give you significantly more "punch" to the animal with very little increased recoil if the stock is good.
In fact the 9.3x62 I owned before gave a clearly more gentle recoil than my fathers 30-06 with a crap stock design.
And that was when using 180 grain bullets in his 30-06 and 285 grain bullets in my 9.3x62.

I have also have owned a Tikka T3 Lite in 30-06 and I didn't like the recoil in that light gun with the original recoil pad.
Specially with 200 grain bullets.
But the recoil became much better when I replaced the original recoil pad with one from Limbsaver.
I suspect that a Limbsaver recoil pad would make your 270wsm more comfortable to shoot as well.

Felt recoil very much depends on stock weight and design and what recoil pad you have.

 

[sestoppelman]

Just out of curiosity I emailed TradeExCanada and asked about importing a Zastava 9.3 to the states. They said sure, no problem, minimum order 3 grand!

I see they have more than a few of those rifles, while I cannot find one in the states at least at the usual places and the net. And yes I have looked all the auction sites and googled it etc.

 

[Pheroze]

$3k.

The market is keen for the 338 magnums but the appeal is lost on me. I get the appeal of flatter trajectories etc. I liked the ballistics of the 370 Sako which is what attracted me. But, in thinking it through, the 9.3x62 has a point blank range of some 240 yards - how much more do I need? But, then again the 375 has the same trajectory as the 30-06 so maybe the power is worth it...the wisdom in the old cartridges is really appealing. I wish I could try the 375 and 9.3 to get a real sense of the difference in them. Until then I will sit on the fence and be unhappy.

 

[enysse]

Just out of curiosity I emailed TradeExCanada and asked about importing a Zastava 9.3 to the states. They said sure, no problem, minimum order 3 grand!

I see they have more than a few of those rifles, while I cannot find one in the states at least at the usual places and the net. And yes I have looked all the auction sites and googled it etc.

I can tell you there are a lot of those great metric rifles in Canada....if only we had common sense laws to allow cheap shipping.

 

[sestoppelman]

$3k.

The market is keen for the 338 magnums but the appeal is lost on me. I get the appeal of flatter trajectories etc. I liked the ballistics of the 370 Sako which is what attracted me. But, in thinking it through, the 9.3x62 has a point blank range of some 240 yards - how much more do I need? But, then again the 375 has the same trajectory as the 30-06 so maybe the power is worth it...the wisdom in the old cartridges is really appealing. I wish I could try the 375 and 9.3 to get a real sense of the difference in them. Until then I will sit on the fence and be unhappy.

No need to be unhappy. Heres the deal. You can use the 9.3x62 as you would a .375 right up to dangerous game in most places, a few allow it for DG. I have had both and used both in Africa a lot. The 9.3 kicks lots less than the .375 so if you are recoil sensitive the choice is obvious. No piece of plains game could tell the difference between the two given equal hits. DG maybe. If DG is on the menu in the immediate future, get a .375, if not get the 9.3 and enjoy it. Both are equally accurate in good rifles. You have good access to the 9.3 up there it seems, better than us.
Buy something and enjoy it.

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

$3k.

The market is keen for the 338 magnums but the appeal is lost on me. I get the appeal of flatter trajectories etc. I liked the ballistics of the 370 Sako which is what attracted me. But, in thinking it through, the 9.3x62 has a point blank range of some 240 yards - how much more do I need? But, then again the 375 has the same trajectory as the 30-06 so maybe the power is worth it...the wisdom in the old cartridges is really appealing. I wish I could try the 375 and 9.3 to get a real sense of the difference in them. Until then I will sit on the fence and be unhappy.

At the expense of offending some, from a hunter who hunts both in North America and Africa, I've never quite understood the .338 Win Mag with the availability of the .375H&H and the .300 Win Mag or .300H&H Mag. When comparing ballistics, I just don't see what hole if any the .338 fills.

On my safari this year I carried both a .375H&H and a .300WM. The simple reason is I felt .300WM would be sufficient for Eland if a problem arose with the .375. Thanks to a broken scope on the .375, I indeed had to use the .300 on my Eland. Loaded with 200gr North Forks at 2850fps, no problem.

Later in the hunt, I swapped the scopes and used my .375 for the rest of the hunt. Loads for that were 250gr North Forks, also traveling at 2850fps. The decidedly more significant thump that load hit animals with impressed me. I have a hard time believing the recoil would be any worse than a .338 shooting the same weight bullet. With the weight of my M70 Safari Express, I'm guessing it may even be less.

I can't say anything bad about the 9.3x62, except as ses points out, you're not going to be able to use that in some countries for DG. You may not be thinking DG at this point, but once you're over there I promise that you will.

I guess I might encourage you to separate this into want versus need. I think you'd be fine with your .30-06, though a bit marginal on Eland. It can still be done, my son killed one with his .308 Winchester. But that's getting real marginal. So I don't think you need anything else.

But if you want to hit your animals, move up. Whether that be a .300WM, a .338WM, the 9.3 or a .375, that's all a move up. But needed for PG? No, it's still in my mind a want. There's nothing at all wrong with that in my mind. I have a .300WM but recently bought a Ruger #1 in .300H&H, simply a want to have gun.

But frankly if you're moving up, I'd still recommend the .375H&H and a fairly heavy one. It's in my mind the best caliber for the prospective first time DG hunter to start out at.

Besides, that tarawa, an AH member has a good deal on a M70 if you can get the rifle out of the U.S. and into Canada.

 

[Pheroze]

I can't say anything bad about the 9.3x62, except as ses points out, you're not going to be able to use that in some countries for DG. You may not be thinking DG at this point, but once you're over there I promise that you will.

A light bulb just came on (dimly but visible) about the reason for the 375. It is a gateway of sorts, a tool to train for a different kind of hunt. A way of getting accustomed to the recoil of the bigger bore guns but yet have a rifle that is fine for what we do in North America. I never really thought of it that way. thanks.