The 9,3x74R...have any of you used it to take DG..?

[Pondoro]

It should be splendid on the cats but perhaps a bit anemic for Cape buffalo..? I know that many have used 9,3x62 on buff though..

Your thoughts on this..?

 

[spike.t]

Shot a buff years ago with a chapuis 9.3x74r double using the old RWS steel jacketed solids...First frontal shot 2nd as it turned....First through heart 2nd in lungs...went bout 30 yards and down....Great calibre love it...still depressed at having had to sell my little 9.3 Jeffery double .......would have loved to have had a chance to use it on an elephant

 

[Pondoro]

Hmm..would you really use it on elephant..?

 

[grand veneur]

The cartridges 9,3x74R and 9,3x62 are ballistically identical. Where the cartridge 9,3x62 is used, the cartridge 9,3x74R can also be used, even on buffalo if desired or when nothing else is available. The latter I speak from experience because for this reason I shot 3 buffalos in South East Asia with the cartridge 9,3x74R and 19g FMJ bullets, factory loads from DWM. The weapon used was not an DR but an combined rifle, a BBF 12/70 - 9,3x74R.

 

[grand veneur]

 

[grand veneur]

The question remains, which bullet do one use with a cartridge like the 9,3x74R to hunt DR.

I remain of the opinion that FMJ bullets are suitable for this purpose, as these guarantee a sufficient deep penetration of the bullet. As far as elephant hunting is concerned, I would not use this cartridge as a first choice either, although a PH I know stopped and killed an attacking Asian elephant with the cartridge 9,3x74R and the 19g FMJ bullet from DWM.

 

[spike.t]

Hmm..would you really use it on elephant..?

Yup in right situation

 

[grand veneur]

To stay with the cartridge 9,3x74R, from a subjective point of view I trust the cartridge 9,3x74R more than the cartridge 9,3x62, despite the theoretical ballistic similarity. Nevertheless, nowadays we have so many good cartridges available for hunting DG that we don't have to make compromise with cartridges like the 9,3x74R for hunting Big Game.

 

[AZDAVE]

I would use a 286 or 300gr aframe (Both shoot well in my Chapuis) and a CEB or Northfork soild. Just make sure you put the first shot in the boiler room.

 

[Pondoro]

I agree grand veneur ...I bought a 9,3x74R for moose hunting locally and the odd driven hunt in Europe.. Mine is scoped and happens to regulate well to 100 + meters with RWS ammo so I intend to take it to Africa and hunt antelope just for the fun of hunting with a double rifle on such game..

This is my french Gaucher:

 

[SFRanger7GP]

I used my Merkel 141 in 9.3x74R on plains game up to eland. I shot the eland 2 times using Fed Premium ammo with 286gr Barnes TSX. I put a bullet in each shoulder (he turned around after the first shot) and both bullets exited. If it was legal and that was all I had, I would use it on buffalo.

Safe hunting

 

[Tanks]

It should be splendid on the cats but perhaps a bit anemic for Cape buffalo..? I know that many have used 9,3x62 on buff though..

Your thoughts on this..?

Well, I can attest to its usefulness for a leopard, check my hunt report. For buffalo I move to .500 NE.

 

[John Wasmuth]

…

 

[Hunter-Habib]

Not Cape buffalo, but I shot 3 Australian water buffalo with the rifled barrel of a BRNO Combination gun in 9.3x74mm R/12 gauge (2 3/4”). All were one shot kills with 293Gr RWS TUG factory loads. Point of aim was always a broadside behind-the-shoulder shot to the heart-lung region.

With a properly constructed Cutting Edge Bullets 280Gr flat nosed brass monometal Safari Solid, I wouldn’t hesitate to use it for brain shots on elephants from any angle (where legal, of course). But I personally would not employ anything smaller than a .450 caliber for taking body shots on bull elephants. As it is, I already have a very negative experience with the .375 Holland & Holland Magnum in this regard.

 

[Puddle]

I remember reading (but can't remember where) and saw a pic of Boddington in Moz next to a cape buffalo he took with his 9.3 double. I think he used a Sabatti.

 

[grand veneur]

I would use a 286 or 300gr aframe (Both shoot well in my Chapuis) and a CEB or Northfork soild. Just make sure you put the first shot in the boiler room.

You need enough impact velocity for these modern expansion bullets, which is not always guaranteed with this marginal cartridges.

In the end you have to use with such cartridges as in the past thin-walled SP bullets for plain game and FMJ for the bigger dangerous game, although the FMJ bullets, depending on the manufacturer, were of very different quality. The cartridges 9,3x74R I used were from the sixties because DWM had stopped manufacturing them in 1972. The FMJ bullets of this firm but did not have a bad reputation when hunting Big Game.

A caliber 9,3mm 19g FMJ bullets from one of the buffalos.

 

[leslie hetrick]

i shot this cow with a ms in 9.3x62 with no problem, barnes solid. i,m sure a 9.3x74r would be just as good.

 

[Green Chile]

A friend has taken 2 buffalo and recently 2 brown bear with his 9.3x62. I think it's light for elephant and I wouldn't use 375 on elephant either. It works but I just like more bullet than that. I think elephants should have .40 caliber if not .45 caliber to get faster results.

 

[Hunter-Habib]

You need enough impact velocity for these modern expansion bullets, which is not always guaranteed with this marginal cartridges.

In the end you have to use with such cartridges as in the past thin-walled SP bullets for plain game and FMJ for the bigger dangerous game, although the FMJ bullets, depending on the manufacturer, were of very different quality. The cartridges 9,3x74R I used were from the sixties because DWM had stopped manufacturing them in 1972. The FMJ bullets of this firm but did not have a bad reputation when hunting Big Game.

A caliber 9,3mm 19g FMJ bullets from one of the buffalos.

View attachment 538063

View attachment 538064

That appears to look just as good as the old Hornady round nosed steel jacketed FMJ solids from the 1950s-1960s and from the 1980s-1992.

Since I began my big game hunting life from 1972, I never actually got a chance to use DWM ammunition. But I read about WDM Bell successfully using military surplus DWM 173Gr round nosed steel jacketed FMJ solids (which DWM kept manufacturing until 1913, at which point they replaced the military ball loading with 140Gr Spitzter tipped steel jacketed FMJ solids) in his John Rigby & Co. 7x57mm Mauser on elephants until 1911 (at which point he moved up to a .318 Westley Richards and 250Gr Kynoch round nosed cupronickel jacketed solids).

Were DWM FMJ solids superior to the later (1970s-1980s era) RWS FMJ solids, in your opinion ? I was very impressed with RWS 300Gr round nosed steel jacketed FMJ solids for the .375 Holland & Holland Magnum. But I absolutely hated their 347Gr round nosed steel jacketed FMJ solids for the 10.75x68mm Mauser. The jackets were far too thin and brittle to remain properly constructed when striking the heavy bones of big game.

 

[grand veneur]

A friend has taken 2 buffalo and recently 2 brown bear with his 9.3x62. I think it's light for elephant and I wouldn't use 375 on elephant either. It works but I just like more bullet than that. I think elephants should have .40 caliber if not .45 caliber to get faster results.

The initial question was whether the cartridge is suitable for buffalo hunting or not. Imho it is, conditionally, like all these medium caliber cartridges, like the 375 H&H Magnum too.

Elephant hunting, on the other hand, is quite a step above that, and I also would rather use cartridges caliber 416 or better 458 and above.