Norma VULKAN or ORYX?

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

For big deer.

I used vulkans in a .300 win for a red stag one time and was a little 'underdone' on performance hence the question.

I was wanting some lighter bullets for my 9.3x64.

Norma projectile 9.3MM.365 232 gr Oryx

Norma projectile 9.3MM.365 232 gr Vulkan

Sambarhunter
Sorry mate thought it was the 62. The 9.3x64 will give higher velocity than 2,600.
The woodleigh velocity parameters are 2,000 to 2700 fps. The 64 will probably exceed this. I can't see any problems with the higher velocity as you don't shoot game at the muzzle. I shot a big Burchells zebra at the max velocity of the 225 PPSP woodleigh with out issue

225grain woodleigh PPSP from a burchells zebra stallion at 2,700 fps broke femur destroyed the heart and lungs broke the offside scapula and was found under the skin on the far side.
I hope this helps with your decision.
Cheers mate Bob

 

[sambarhunter]

Nothing,its just that I bought 285 and 232 Oryx pills Bob. Until they are exhausted thats whats getting used.

 

[bruce moulds]

bob,
the 286 gn bullets will go 2600 from the x64 with 2209/h4350.
250s will go faster again, but you have to choose the right powder to capitalize on it.
bruce.

 

[sambarhunter]

my heavier bullets loaded are the Alaskas and funnily enough weigh in at 285 grains,not the standard 286.

 

[Buffhunter]

200 grain oryx for me out of my 300 win mag. Have taken a quite a few cape buffalo, plenty of plains game from duiker to eland, many dozen water buffalo, and is my go to round for red stags during the rut here in qld.

 

[petander]

Does anyone know what the 156gn oryx opens up down to?

I ended up getting some barnes 150gn ttsx for my 7x57 but wouldn't mind some of these as well.

The bc is the only thing that lets itself down with oryx for me on cross gully shots.

I'm pondering whitetail opening right now. I'll take my 7x65R first, it is a Merkel combi gun with a 20 gauge barrel,too. Tungsten for it. The floating 7 mm shoots as accurately as a good bolt gun.

What to load?

I found a forgotten box of 170 Vulkan, never loaded them. I also have 140 TTSX , 175 TSX and factory 170 Oryx ammo. There may be shots from 20 to 200 meters... could be tiny roe deer,too. Right now it looks like I will load the 140 TTSX to cover it all KISS. If it shoots accurately,haven't loaded Barnes in that gun yet.

Oryx and Vulkan would work for moose too, our normal ranges are max 50 meters. I have shot a couple of moose with Oryx in the 90's, that was 30-06. Otherwise good but one Oryx lung shot up close from ten meters failed, that moose ran half a mile. It was already adrenaline pumped, I switched to 45-70 after that.

I also had a CZ 550 9,3x62 for moose for a while,took at least one calf with factory Oryx. DRT. I got (headspace ?) problems with it, some ammo just clicked. Everything was in specs. I traded it, 9,3x62 :s randomly clicking have been a little mystery around here.

 

[Sika98k]

I used Norma bullets in a 6.5x55 I owned some years ago. Oryx are a superb bullet offering great expansion and weight retention.
The bullets on the right of the photo are Oryx bullets I recovered from Sika and fallow deer I shot.
The bullets on the left are Norma 120 grain ballistic tips. Too much meat damage with these led me to changing to the 156 grain Oryx. Beautiful mushrooms ‍!!

 

[Sheldor]

I have a box of 200gr oryx I am itching to try in the 300wm

big fan of norma bullets

 

[Puddle]

Today I'm loading a handful of the Oryx younger sibling, the BondStrike, for testing in a .30-06.

I've used them in 6.5mm on cow elk with good results. Alas, all were side-on shots and exited, so none recovered.

 

[FlyGuy]

Norma Oryx is a great hunting bullet.

The Oryx is a bonded bullet, designed for big game like moose and large African plains game, where controlled expansion and penetration are desirable.
The Vulcans excel at fast expansion for dropping medium sized game like wild boar in their tracks.

 

[MS 9x56]

For my money if you are shooting a slower cartridge such as 30-30, 300 savage, 35 remington, 9.3x62or 9.3x74 you can’t beat the Vulcan bullets. For faster stepping cartridges and larger tougher game the oryx is your better choice.

 

[Shootist43]

I know that I'm very late to this party but I'm going to offer my 2c worth anyway. For my money if the only bullet NORMA made was the Oryx I'd be happy as a clam. Especially if they had them readily available in all of their "normal" calibers and bullet weights. The recent changes (3-4 years) were made due to changes in European Law.

 

[Zkk93]

For my money if you are shooting a slower cartridge such as 30-30, 300 savage, 35 remington, 9.3x62or 9.3x74 you can’t beat the Vulcan bullets. For faster stepping cartridges and larger tougher game the oryx is your better choice.

Exactly, the best summary of how to use Oryx and Vulkan.

Here in Europe, Vulkan has a great reputation as a driven bullet, where you have to stop animals like boar at close range and shot placement isn't always perfect.