9.3x62 bullet question

[Hunt of a Lifetime]

I have a CZ 550 that just had a trigger job, bedding checked etc. at gunsmith. He then proceeded to sight in with my norma oryx 285 gr. ammo.
He said it shot sub moa at 100yds all holes touching. My dilemma is that i was going to Africa with 250 gr tsx and the 285 Oryx. I have not shot the TSX yet but am now thinking why bother. The game I will be hunting is Leopard, Eland, Wildebeest, Zebra, Impala and Hartebeest. Is there any reason not to use the Oryx 285 on everything ?
Thanks for any advice.

 

[Skyline]

I have used the Oryx in a few cartridges over the years and it an excellent choice in the 9.3x62. You would of course get a bit more velocity and flatten the trajectory a little with the 250 TSX, but nothing that is really going to make any significant/real life difference. I don't see any real advantage to changing when you are getting great accuracy with the Norma 285 grain Oryx.

 

[Mike70560]

I would suggest going to Africa with only one load. Keep it simple. No experience with the Oryx, but I do like the TSX and plan on using it in my wife's 9.3 CZ.

BTW who did the work on your CZ?

 

[Hunt of a Lifetime]

J&S custom Rifles , Jack Lyons. He is a local PA guy, does nice work.
I think we will go with the oryx, hard to beat sub moa. Now to just shoot and shoot until the piggy bank runs dry lol! 60 to 100 rounds off the sticks should suffice. Especially since the 1st one counts the most.
My range session will consist of 5 rounds 22lr 3 rounds 30-06 and 1 round 9.3 off the sticks then repeat 3-5 times per session. I think that is a good regimen, what do you think ?

 

[Calhoun]

That dosen't sound like a bad regiment. Myself i skip the 22 practice as I use my 22 for dry fire practice in the basement and a s far as actual recoil or anything it's like dry firing. Myself I basically use a30/06 for everything & take the 375 H&H for anything big. I do 90 % of my shooting before a saafari with the 06 from all positions. Sitting , laying, standing, & kneeling. I should practice kneeeling more as that is my worst positon. then I shoot 2 rounds in each with the 375.
As you said with the sticks! If you read in some other things I wrote I have been to Africa 2 times & neither time did the outfitter have shooting sticks! I can honestly say I've never shot with them - but that will change as I purchased a pair & I do believe they are necessary equipment.
I shoot a lot of competiton with rifle so shooting offhand never really bothered me, but as I get older I see that it is the way to go & i will learn to use them! I hope it will be a easy thing to learn, as I have heard many negatives, but - In real life there are a lot of negatives to over come to get the positive results one wants!
As far as loads I'm not real up on the 9.3 but that load sounds ok to me. If you reload as I do - I load all my rounds pretty much so there is no major change in ballistics when I apply them to HUNTING!

 

[Mike70560]

For my only trip to Africa I practiced nearly even weekend for months prior to leaving. My regiment consisted of firing one round from the bench with the scope and one round from the bench with iron sights. After that I split shooting time between offhand and and off the sticks, shooting slow fire, rapid fire, and practicing reloading. I shot over 300 rounds through the 416 Rem and had zero problems while hunting.

I also brought a 338 Win, practiced with it little (maybe 60 rounds), and missed an impala. I was never comfortable with the 338 on the sticks because of lack of practice.

Currently I am preparing for elephant with a Krieghoff 470 Nitro. I will shoot 4-500 rounds before my trip mostly offhand, rapid fire, rapid reload.

Practice, practice, practice, it is cheap and fun.

Off to change the trigger in my Palma Rifle, trying a new two stage Jackson.

As usual my .02 from limited experience

 

[enysse]

I like soft bullets with rapid expansion...I like the oryx. Since it shoots well in your rifle go with it. I'm not familiar with the tsx. The barnes bullets that they are put the plastic tip on the end of them are good...but I still like boatails that expand fast. The only reason I use a more solid construction bullet like Nosler Partition, Swift A Frame...etc. is if I'm hunting with a 270 Win. or 243 Win. for something like a oryx or kudu. Then I would go with something in penetration. I took a nice elk in Montana with a 270 Win. and one 130 grain Barnes X bullet...he rolled down the mountain with one shot in a 50 mile per hour wind gust at 150 yards. But in Africa I would rather use a bigger gun.

 

[Shallom]

Currently I am preparing for elephant with a Krieghoff 470 Nitro. I will shoot 4-500 rounds before my trip mostly offhand, rapid fire, rapid reload.


Mike... thats a lot of rounds, but you are better for it. Welcome to the Krieghoff Club - you are going to enjoy employing the .470 NE. It is a joy to have in the long grass and when dealing with critters bigger than your truck and who want to get a go and a bite at you. Once you are accustomed to the double - it wil be just like an extension of your hunting instinct - DON"T HESITATE!

 

[Mike70560]

We can (and do) discuss at great lengths on many forums which is the best bullets. I try to keep it simple, find a premium bullet, heavy for caliber, that shoots accurately, then practice, practice, practice. A wildebeeste will never know if it was shot by a Barnes TSX or a Swift A-Frame, but it will tell the difference between a high heart shot and being gut shot.

400 Rounds is not really a lot of shooting. Twice a month for a year, 16 rounds per trip and you are there.

I have written this before, the best compliment my PH gave me was that he could always easily tell which clients practiced shooting before they went to Africa.

 

[stevedscross]

My first trip to Africa I brought my .338 Win Mag with 225gr Barnes TSX bullets, however half my ammo never arrived! So I bought a couple boxes of 250 gr Oryx .338 and after two day using the Barnes (and sight in rounds ) I was about out, so I re-zeroed with the Norma Oryx and I found that not only was the bullet performance exelent but it was almost identican to the barnes. Now the TSX's were 225 grains, and the Oryx's 250, so being that the TSX is all copper with no lead it is long for its weight, thus both rounds have very close Sectional Denisty and penetration. The Oryx rounds held togreath very well even on very tough shoulder shots and kept their course. You should also remember that the 9.3x62 is about 400 FPS slower than the .338 WM, so the pentration with be greator with the 9.3x62 because speed causes (After a point) less penetration. Thats why all the old NE rounds were loaded between 2000-2400 FPS, any faster and bullets do funny things. On that note if I were going back today I would download my .338 Win Mag to a MZ of no more than 2500 with a barnes 250gr TSX (Or the norma Oryx) and I would take my 9.3x62 because it is just a wounderful round.