9.3x62 Barnes 250 Grain TSX or Nosler E-Tip 250 Grain for PG up to Eland

etsonaut

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I am headed to Limcroma Safaris in August for Buffalo and PG. For Buffalo, I am using my 450-400 Heym 88B double. So, I am specifically asking for opinions on PG up to Eland.
I am taking my9.3x62 for the PG opportunities. I am hopeful for Zebra, Kudu and Eland, plus opportunistic species.
First, I am not a handloader. I am speaking strictly of factory loaded ammo. I was looking at lighter 250 Grain options for the 9.3 and the two factory loads that are available are Buffalo Bore loaded with Barnes TSX 250's and Nosler E-Tip 250's. There seems to be a lot of that available on Gunbroker.
I'm sure there are numerous opinions out there. Any practical, personal experience?
Thanks in advance.
 
I have a friend who has killed 17 cape buffalo his 9.3x62. Most of them with the 250 grain TSX.

It is certainly capable of all plains game including eland. When I go back to Africa,I'm taking a 9.3x62 as my all around rifle.
 
Of the two bullets the Barnes is a better choice. It is tough enough to penetrate the shoulder and expand properly. The other is a much softer bullet.
 
For 99.99 Hendershots will load you 250 grain Nosler accubonds in PPU brass just if you want another option.

But those 250 tsx should be perfect.
 
I have used 250 gr Barnes TTSX out of a .375 H&H mag for everything except Cape Buffalo on the last 6 Safaris with exceptional results. All PG except one Zebra were single shot kills. I have to get a lot of credit to my PH as he provided exceptional shooting opportunities and with the exception of a few 300+ yard shots, all at close range. I see no need for anything else.
 
You are going to have a hard time finding better than Barnes TSX/TTSX. I can't speak to DG/buffalo as I only used it for PG. I used a 300WM when I went shooting Barnes 185gr TTSX. Everything died, one shot, and went no farther than 50-100 yds. Now, in everything from .223 up to .458, I basically only use Barnes.

The PH breathed a sigh of relief when I told him I was shooting Barnes.
 
I have never used the nosler E-tip in any rifles. I do wonder why they don’t have relief grooves when every other mono bullet does with well documented reasons for having them. I have used hornady CX 250’s in 375 and thought they were great. But I think the 250TTSX may be one of the better bullets for all-around use in the 9.3x62. I’ve done gel testing and wet pack testing and it consistently penetrated and expanded very well. It out penetrated the 258 hammer and 286 A-frame. The Aframe had better expansion and shorter neck but not by a huge amount. The gel block is 8” long and 6” across with a slight taper. The 250 TTSX impact was 100yds at 2422fps

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