First Trip To Africa

[Philip Glass]

I really wish to thank you all for the wonderful advice , looking into the Courtney Boots, I found out that under current laws I would not be able to travel with the suppressor on the 300 Winchester mag outside of the U.S. , but that leaves me with dealing with the recoil and would most likely put the Muzzle break on it. As I use Electronic Ear Protection. But I have heard Muzzle breaks are universally despised on such hunts. Just trying to stay within my comfort zone.

The Rifle I use has cap protectors fpor the threads if not using a Compensator or Muzzle Break.

I should add that I am disabled but I have let the Guide service know this and my limitations are clear but I will as ever do my best .

You CAN take a suppressor to South Africa and Namibia. There is no issue leaving the US or entering those countries as long as you have all your paperwork. (4457&tax stamp)
Take your can!
Philip

 

[Morga]

Was just toying s around with some Ballistics stuff for the 9.3x62 Mauser Using a Hornandy load
Ballistic Coefficient: 0.4
Bullet Weight: 286 gr
Initial Velocity: 2360 fps
Sight Height : 1.5 in

Zeroed in at 250 yards will put you in that close to magic zone 4 inch target area, +4.3 Inches 100 yards, +3.3 at 200 , and -5.3 at 300 with minimal correction can be dead on my have just found the best setting for me if I take the 9.3x62 as a backup.

 

[Morga]

You CAN take a suppressor to South Africa and Namibia. There is no issue leaving the US or entering those countries as long as you have all your paperwork. (4457&tax stamp)
Take your can!
Philip

I would like to but I feel more comfortable taking the Muzzle break.

 

[Philip Glass]

I would like to but I feel more comfortable taking the Muzzle break.

To each his own but many of us have done it and it is really no problem. I recently went into RSA and hunted there, crossed into Namibia, back out of Namibia, and then home. All those flights and border crossings and NO ONE even looked closely at my .223 with suppressor on it the whole time!
Philip

 

[sgt_zim]

I can see your point , the 300 WM as I use it does seem to drive holes in things, my normal load I use here in the U.S. is the 180 grain Norma Bondstrike, honestly with the 9.3x62 I might even go old school with round nose ammunition but the Barnes you mentioned works great to , with the base info I can do some math in my head with a 286 grain Barnes and it standard cartridge velocity if I zeroed the Mauser at 200 yards, it would be about 2 inches high at 100 and 4 to 5 inches in drop at 300 would have to fire a few rounds to gauge it.

Barnes makes fine bullets, no error, but...even TSX 250 gr is not well-suited, IMO, for 9.3x62. At MV of 2400 fps, it's already down to 2K fps by about 175 yards. Starting at a generous 2300 fps, the 286 gr TSX will have decelerated to 2K fps by about 150 yards.

Somebody may have better info than I do, but 2K fps is the go/no-go line for reliable expansion with TSX.

Swift, Woodleigh, Norma, and Nosler all have good reputations at lower impact velocities.

 

[Morga]

Barnes makes fine bullets, no error, but...even TSX 250 gr is not well-suited, IMO, for 9.3x62. At MV of 2400 fps, it's already down to 2K fps by about 175 yards. Starting at a generous 2300 fps, the 286 gr TSX will have decelerated to 2K fps by about 150 yards.

Somebody may have better info than I do, but 2K fps is the go/no-go line for reliable expansion with TSX.

Swift, Woodleigh, Norma, and Nosler all have good reputations at lower impact velocities.

Well I found 2 rounds that can meet rough specs you mentioned ,for the 9.3x62 , Norma's 230 grain Ecostrike has the velocity you mentioned , a slightly slower round made by Double Tap had a Muzzle Velocity 2520 Fps Energy a great 3900 using a 250 grain Barnes TTSX , I learned talkink here sometimes a hard hitting round can be useful to.

 

[Morga]

When I usually go hunting I follow a old rule my Father set down , to stay in range of 1 ton of energy when a bullet hits for a 300 Win Mag allot of rounds can do this out to 500 yards no worries but not suited for overly thick skinned game or heavier PG in Africa, the 9.3x62 with 2 or 3 rounds I have found can easily meet this requirement out to 300 yards.

 

[sgt_zim]

Your best bet in 9.3x62 is 250 NAB, or any of the 286 gr. Swift makes a 300 that several PHs have said they'd be more than happy to have me use for cape buffalo, Woodleigh makes a 320, and Norma makes a 325. Otherwise, 286 in not-TSX is the best option. Like a 30-06, it does everything well, but nothing great. And I'm also a big 30-06 fan.

If you're hunting the US mountain west, the 250 NAB can have very similar performance to 338 WM shooting 250s.

 

[Morga]

Your best bet in 9.3x62 is 250 NAB, or any of the 286 gr. Swift makes a 300 that several PHs have said they'd be more than happy to have me use for cape buffalo, Woodleigh makes a 320, and Norma makes a 325. Otherwise, 286 in not-TSX is the best option. Like a 30-06, it does everything well, but nothing great. And I'm also a big 30-06 fan.

If you're hunting the US mountain west, the 250 NAB can have very similar performance to 338 WM shooting 250s.

Most of those heavy weight bullets are great , I am sure getting into Dangerous game, for just plains game like what I was going for the PH said in 9.3x62 a 220 to 250 grain bullet would suffice.

 

[sgt_zim]

all of those lightweight bullets have the fatal flaw of VERY low ballistic coefficients, so that by 150-200 yards, they've decelerated to the same velocity as 286 gr bullets, minus the energy of 286. After that 150-200, the 286 gr bullets are faster AND have more energy AND have a flatter ballistic arc.

Norma Oryx 232 looks very attractive until you look at downrange performance. It ain't great. For short range work, they're fine. But then so would be Oryx 325. Given a choice, I'd opt for the 325.

250 NAB if you want to go downrange, 286 for most applications, and 300+ for exclusively close-in work.

I've been testing this stuff for a couple years, and that's the conclusion I've arrived at.

 

[Morga]

Hmmm maybe I am wrong here but if you look at the ballistics info for each round made by Norma for 9.3x62 the 230 grain Ecostrike outperforms most of there standard round like the Oryx 286 grain in both Ballistic Coef and hitting power or am I missing something here. That is why the PH recommended the Ecostrike as a solid round for PG.

Up to 300 yards and this Cartridge was designed to be updated for 9.3x62

I heard of a New Cartridge that Norma is making called the Kalahari, but have very little info on it.

 

[Morga]

Soooo wish I could find a 9.3x62 Over under Rifle , most of the Doubles I have found have been well way out of budget, I hear Merkel is the lower end of the scale, get to many people respondeing with 9.3x74r guns I have no interest in lol.

 

[M McDindi]

Zeroed in at 250 yards will put you in that close to magic zone 4 inch target area, +4.3 Inches 100 yards, +3.3 at 200 , and -5.3 at 300 with minimal correction can be dead on my have just found the best setting for me if I take the 9.3x62 as a backup.

Morga - I think maybe your getting a little sidetracked here. Not sure I follow why you want to zero at 250yds? A few posts back I think you mentioned your PH told you to expect actual shooting distances of 100-150m? If you zero for 250, and the bulk of your shooting is inside 150, are you going to remember to hold 4" low on all your shots?

I honestly believe you'll be much better served to zero at 150m and just put the crosshairs where you want the shot and squeeze. Mathematical mental gymnastics tend to go out the window in the heat of the moment. Been there. Done that. There is only one worse feeling they missing what should have been an easy shot. That's wounding an animal that you don't recover and knowing it's going to likely have a long, protracted and painful death because I screwed up.

As always, just my opine and others my vary.

M