The Forgotten Big Game Cartridge! Eps. 520

Ron Spomer introduces John McAdams of the Big Game Hunting Podcast as a student of cartridges, ballistics, and rifle history. McAdams explains that the 9.3×62 was designed by German engineer Otto Bock in the early 1900s, before the .30-06 and around 1905, though after the .30-03. It resembles a .30-06 case necked up for .366-caliber bullets, but its case is 62 millimeters long rather than 63. A typical load drives a 286-grain bullet at about 2,350 feet per second and fits a standard Mauser-length action.

McAdams says the 9.3×62 was intended as an affordable, general-purpose rifle cartridge for German settlers in Southwest Africa, now Namibia, and Tanganyika, now Tanzania. It could take antelope for meat, protect livestock from lions and leopards, and serve for animals such as buffalo without requiring an expensive magnum Mauser or British double rifle. Ron compares its role to the American .35 Whelen, which similarly gave hunters more bullet diameter and performance in a standard .30-06 or Mauser-size action. The 9.3 fires .366-inch bullets, about .008 inch larger than .35-caliber bullets.

The .375 H&H became more dominant after Germany lost its colonies and European industry was damaged by the World Wars. British colonial rules often established .375 caliber as the dangerous-game minimum, although the 9.3×62 was sometimes grandfathered in and remains accepted by many professional hunters. McAdams says the .375 H&H is unquestionably more powerful: it can launch a 300-grain bullet around 2,550 feet per second, versus roughly 2,350 with a 286-grain 9.3 bullet. The 9.3 nevertheless produces about 20 percent less recoil and can be carried in a substantially lighter rifle.

Because he is left-handed and wanted a bolt-action rifle for buffalo, McAdams and his father rebarreled left-handed Ruger Hawkeyes from .30-06 to 9.3×62 around 2008 or 2009. His rifle weighs about 8½ pounds loaded, compared with roughly 11½ pounds for his Ruger Safari Magnum in .375 H&H. On a buffalo hunt, a 286-grain Swift A-Frame hit the chest near broadside; a second 286-grain Woodleigh full-metal-jacket bullet struck where the spine joined the pelvis and dropped the buffalo. The same rifle and cartridge also took zebra and impala.

Ron questions whether sectional density remains decisive when modern bullets use controlled expansion and copper construction. A 286-grain 9.3 bullet has a sectional density of about .305, almost the same as a 300-grain .375 bullet; a 250-grain .338 bullet is about .313. Both men argue that bullet design, penetration, and placement matter more than small differences in those figures. McAdams describes the RWS H-Mantel as having a soft front core that fragments and a harder rear core that continues through the animal. Ron cites 270-grain Hammer copper bullets that passed through buffalo and killed an elephant.

Zimbabwe requires at least a 9.2-millimeter caliber for thick-skinned dangerous game, a rule McAdams says was promoted partly to include the 9.3×62; the .35 Whelen does not meet that standard there. Mozambique has allowed .35 Whelen buffalo hunts, while other countries use a .375 minimum or no explicit caliber minimum. McAdams considers the 9.3 ideal for a hunter taking one buffalo along with zebra, kudu, eland, or other large game, rather than for someone shooting five buffalo every year. In North America he has used it on deer, hogs, and a black bear, and recommends it for elk, moose, and large bears.

The rimmed 9.3×74R is the main alternative, often used in double or single-shot rifles; despite lower pressure, its larger case gives performance close to the 9.3×62. Other, less successful options include the newer 9.3×66 Sako and the 9.3×64 Brenneke, which McAdams says is about the most powerful cartridge still fitting a standard Mauser action. The .376 Steyr was shortened for scout rifles and produces somewhat less power. Factory ammunition and bullets are available from Federal, Hornady, Nosler, Norma, Barnes, RWS, North Fork, Swift, and PPU, though it is not as common as .30-06 ammunition.

The 9.3×62 is legal for deer in Iowa because the state requires a centerfire rifle cartridge of at least .35 caliber, even though .30-06 and .243 cartridges are excluded. McAdams says the rule appears intended to encourage lower-powered cartridges, but the result has created demand for rifles such as CVA’s .35 Whelen Cascade. He owns a CVA Scout single-shot .35 Whelen that groups between one and 1½ inches and drove 180-grain Barnes bullets to about 3,000 feet per second from a 22-inch barrel. Both men note that .35-caliber cartridges remain less popular because most hunters see little need to leave the familiar .30-caliber range.

McAdams still calls the 9.3×62 his favorite rifle cartridge, but he praises the .375 Ruger as a compact alternative to the .375 H&H. Introduced around 2007–2008, it delivers .375 H&H performance in a .30-06-length action. His African partners have used a 20-inch Ruger Guide Gun with a suppressor for about ten years and more than 5,000 rounds, including many antelope and buffalo, with excellent results. The .375 H&H remains the easier conventional choice, while the .375 Ruger offers shorter, lighter rifles. McAdams closes by recommending the 9.3×62 for hunters who value lower recoil, lighter weight, and distinction.