9.3x57 285 grain GC-FP

[Glen]

I got back from pheasant hunting this weekend to find a box from Mountain Molds waiting for me. Yippee! My new 9.3 mould is here! I sat down and quickly cast up a batch and they drop from the blocks at about 282 grains (BHN = 13), so they should hit the target weight of 285-286 grains just about on the nose when they get checked. Selecting a couple of bullets at random and micing them, revealed diameters of .369" or so, and they were ROUND (just like every other mould that Dan has made for me). These bullets will be sized .368" to fit the throat of my Husky, so this is just about perfect.

73% meplat, 2 lube grooves, GC, crimp groove, moderate nose length, grease grooves fully contained within the cartridge neck. (I'll try to post some pictures later on)

I'm going to start with this bullet at about 1800 fps and see how they shoot, and then work my way up to about 2100 and see what kind of accuracy I can get at that speed.

I'l let you know how they shoot. This is going to be fun!

[acsteve]

christmas comes early. post your results when you get time. thanks

[fatnhappy]

and some pictures please. :-D

[9.3X62AL]

Glen--

Fingers crossed here that all goes well with your new boolit in the Husky. I know that my Mountain Molds 270 grainer has been a source of unalloyed delight for over 4 years.

That didn't sound right........since I use 92/6/2. Never mind.

I just cracked open my third box of Hornady 375 gas checks, and still haven't run the pot to pour some more. And I thought retirement meant more time for hobbies and recreation. Silly me.

[Buckshot]

Glen--I just cracked open my third box of Hornady 375 gas checks, and still haven't run the pot to pour some more. And I thought retirement meant more time for hobbies and recreation. Silly me.

.............Yeah, but you have all those girls running around needing automotive help!

...............Buckshot

[9.3X62AL]

.............Yeah, but you have all those girls running around needing automotive help!

...............Buckshot

And you wonder why I yearn to move to NV or ID? It's more than just gun rights, I assure you.

[Glen]

I had some problems initially when I went to size these bullets. There was enough resistance to them entering my .368" sizing die that the bullets were getting bent, and getting sized asymmetrically.

When I had been sizing the NEI 315 grainers earlier, there was some resistance (heck, you expect that when you're sizing a .375 GC, that starts off at .384", down to .368"), but nothing like this. I sized some of the MM bullets without a GC and they slid into and out of the sizer smoothly with no problems, so it's not a problem with the driving bands. It had to be a problem with the GC shank. The Hornady .375 GCs snapped in place just like they are supposed to, and the bases of the checked and sized bullets were the right size and didn't appear distorted in any way, so I figured that this was just a case of how the checked shank entered the sizing die.

I chucked the sizer die up in the lathe and opened up the mouth, tapered the bevel and polished everything up. It took a couple of tries to get it just the way I wanted, but now everything works just fine and the MM bullets come out undistorted and properly sized.

It is interesting to note that the NEI 9.3 bullet comes out with a GC shank that mics .342", while the Mountain Molds 9.3 bullet comes out with a GC shank that mics .354". As near as I can determine, a Hornady .375 GC is about .015-.016" thick. If this measurement is indeed accurate, then the GC shank must be getting swaged down a fair amount when the GC is getting crimped into place on the MM bullet. The sized bullets look just fine, and I expect that they will shoot well, but we'll have to punch a few through paper to know for sure.

I'll get some loaded up later today, and if the weather cooperates maybe I can get some shooting in tomorrow.

[shooter93]

Ok...both you 9.3 shooters need to sell me a 100 bullets from your molds so I can test them in mine before I order one or the other....smiles

[shooter93]

Awwwwwww...come on guys...Christmas spirit and all??????

[Glen]

Sorry shooter93, I don't sell bullets. I can't keep up with my own cast bullet projects, there's no way that I can keep up with other peoples' (I get hit up for samples all the time). I give detailed loading information freely, and I figure that's enough.

Got a chance to go out and shoot a few of these bullets today. It was 20 degrees, clear and sunny, with about 6" of snow, and zero wind -- a great day to shoot! The Mountain Molds 9.3 bullets shot pretty darned well for me -- groups about 1" at 50 yards with open sights. Not bad for a preliminary test load (estimated 1800-1900 fps).

[Nelsdou44]

Glen,

I would like to know what powder gives you the best results in the 9.3x57.

My limited experience with some 270 grain w/GC Mt Baldy's has been with AA5744. 24 grains was very accurate at 100 yds, but not particularly fast. With that 57 case opened to a big bore I've wondered how slow a powder I could effectively use with a heavy boolit. Right now I'm considering H4895. My Husky has a 14 twist.

Nels

[Glen]

I've only just started working up loads for cast bullets in the 9.3x57, but so far the best load that I've tried has been 39.0 grains of H4895 with the 315 grain NEI cast bullet. This load generates right at 1800 fps and is very accurate. I started off with that powder charge with the Mountain Molds 285 grain bullet and it shot just fine (groups were 1" to 1 1/4" at 50 yards with open sights). Unfortunately I left my chronograph at home, so I don't have any velocity numbers for that load.

I may find a better cast bullet load for the 9.3x57 in the future, but 4895 has always given me good results with cast bullets, so it's ususally one of the ones that I start with.

[9.3X62AL]

Glen et al--

My sizer die was made by Dan at MM, and has a pretty generous start-taper like that you added to your die. I would liken my sizing effort very similar to that needed to install GC's on my #429244 or #454490 designs. Dan's die has a fairly generous centering recess in the push pin, and the GC takes on a slight but obvious "convex" aspect during sizing that is consistent from boolit to boolit. They shoot very well, so there seems to be no negative side-effect from this anomaly.