9.3 x 62 Which gun?

[Duckiller]

Was going to get a shot out P17 Enfield to convert to 35 Whelen. Local gun smith who would be doing the work said no to the Enfield, parts and required work costs too much and no to 35 Whelen, 9.3 x62 is better. Reviewing balistic tables I tend to agree on the caliber. Lacking a older comercial that I wished to rebarrel he suggested one of the following to be rebarrelled. Ruger American, Savage 110, Stevens, Wetherby Vanguard, Howa. Good factory trigger would eliminate need of a replacement trigger. Any opinions on which action you would prefer? Considering my age and general health this firearm will probably be used primarily to keep charging targets at bay. Must have adequate penetration of paper targets. Thank You for your opinions. Duckiller

[Nickle]

What I recommend?

Remington 700 or Winchester Model 70.

The Savage and the Ruger would be third and fourth respectively, as long as it was a newer Savage and had the Accu Trigger.

I'm very biased though.

And, yes, the 1917 is an excellent choice.

[1500FPS]

I think I would just buy that caliber in a new CZ rifle.

[pipehand]

First off, I'd suggest telling the gunsmith he's perfectly free to built himself a 9.3 on whatever action he wished. If you want a Whelen on a P-17 then you should have it, not be told by the help "what you really need." You could send your barreled action to E.R. Shaw for the barrel and metalwork, and do the stocking yourself. There's nothing perplexing about an enfield P-17.

BTW, has said"smith" seen your P-17? His brain might have missed the P-17 part of Enfield, and he may think you're wanting a 35Whelen on a SMLE or No.4.

[Nickle]

Or he may think you have a P14.

I think you might consider finding a different gunsmith.

I'm generally not one to bash my competition, but I see ZERO problem with a customer wanting a 35 Whelen on a 1917 Enfield action. It's the customer's choice, as long as it's safe. I also see ZERO problem with a customer wanting a 9.3x62 on a commercial action.

And, if he thinks that 9.3x62 is all that much better than the 35 Whelen, I think he's probably very mistaken. There's more power variation between 2 rifles of the same caliber than there is between these two rifles.

One is 35 caliber, one is 375 caliber. Guess which is likely to be easier to find commercial bullets in?

It's your call, plain and simple, not his. Of course, modifying that 1917 Enfield could be above his ability, and he doesn't want to admit it. There are plenty of "gunsmiths" out there like that. My father never thought of himself as a gunsmith, but a "gun repairer", and he not only could do this, he has done this. Funny thing is, he doesn't consider himself an expert, but he knows far more than the "experts" out there that push hot air and easy jobs.

Now, if he is against modifying a collectors item, I get that. If he wants you to realize the cost on the Enfield will be much higher (trust me, it will), I get that too. Those 2 things alone could easily justify his comments on the action. But, not the caliber.

[1500FPS]

Or he may think you have a P14.

I think you might consider finding a different gunsmith.

I'm generally not one to bash my competition, but I see ZERO problem with a customer wanting a 35 Whelen on a 1917 Enfield action. It's the customer's choice, as long as it's safe. I also see ZERO problem with a customer wanting a 9.3x62 on a commercial action.

And, if he thinks that 9.3x62 is all that much better than the 35 Whelen, I think he's probably very mistaken. There's more power variation between 2 rifles of the same caliber than there is between these two rifles.

One is 35 caliber, one is 375 caliber. Guess which is likely to be easier to find commercial bullets in?

It's your call, plain and simple, not his. Of course, modifying that 1917 Enfield could be above his ability, and he doesn't want to admit it. There are plenty of "gunsmiths" out there like that. My father never thought of himself as a gunsmith, but a "gun repairer", and he not only could do this, he has done this. Funny thing is, he doesn't consider himself an expert, but he knows far more than the "experts" out there that push hot air and easy jobs.

Now, if he is against modifying a collectors item, I get that. If he wants you to realize the cost on the Enfield will be much higher (trust me, it will), I get that too. Those 2 things alone could easily justify his comments on the action. But, not the caliber.

How do you get the 9.3x62 is a 375 caliber? The bullet diameter is .366. Both cartridges are great ones. If I were stuck with just one I would prefer the 9.3x62 as is will do more then the 35 Whelen will. Being there getting to me more and more manufacturers making 9.3's the condom bullets are becoming more plentiful and certainly enough to keep your 9.3 shooting. But what difference does bullet supply mean to us, hell we're cast boolit shooters. Get a mold and no more bullet problem.

Unless the OP has to have a 1917 I would still opt for a new factory rifle in 9.3.

[Nickle]

My bad, I did a quick look up, saw 37 caliber. That one just taught me to not trust certain sources so quickly. And, by the way, thanks for catching that (and that's not sarcasm).

If it's 366, then commercial bullet availability may be getting better, but it's not what I'd even remotely call good, compared to the 35 caliber.

If you cast, and don't care about that availability, then's it's moot. But, then, I already said that (in different words), didn't I?

9.3 bullet availability isn't horrible, just 358 bullet availability is better.

If you want a 9.3x62, then get one. Seems this guy wanted a 35 Whelen on a 1917. And, both of you having different opinions is OK too.

Seems I mentioned the 2 calibers are pretty much the same power. Seems I said both were good choices, with the 35 Whelen having an edge on component availability. No, I didn't mention brass, because they may very well be on the same platform. See, I didn't bash either one of them.

But, a gunsmith that lets his own bias enter into a sale isn't right. If I were a customer standing behind a bigoted gunsmith, he would've just made my mind up to go elsewhere.

See, I'm not biased for or against either of these calibers. But, it looks very much like the gunsmith is biased. And, THAT itself is wrong, whichever caliber he prefers. By the way, a customer that walked in and asked me for either situation would be treated the same. Yes, I would point out alternatives, but I sure wouldn't try cramming either down his throat. Of course, he was there, we weren't, so that may or may not be the case. But, I've seen plenty of self important idiots that thought they had ALL the answers, and weren't afraid of stating them. If it helps, I don't consider you one of them, and I know I'm not one of them (but you may have thought I was). Sorry, I have a low tolerance of them.

[1500FPS]

There is a little work to be done on the 1917 action. Like milling the rear sight wings off to name one. The other thing that can become a huge problem is it's known that the 1917 receiver is prone to crack just removing the original barrel. If the OP really wants the 1917 action in his caliber of choice that is just dandy, but there are better easier to work with actions out there and complete new rifles too. Maybe the smith just didn't want to deal with the things that have to be done with the 1917 action with even a simple thing as D&T'ing the action for scope mounts whereas modern commercial actions come that way from the factory. In other words easier for him to work on a commercial action.

[Nickle]

Agreed, it's a ton of work. All 1917's are prone to crack, and it's said Eddystone are worse than Remington and Winchester in this respect. Plus, Eddystone was the major producer of these 3.

I know I would mention the troubles, plus the cost to a customer.

Now, if you have the 1917, and it isn't original, but already modified, there's no collector value involved. Gun show value here on a complete unmodified 1917 has been $595 and up, and that's usually $695 to $795. And that's as of Spring 2012. If it's changed, it probably hasn't gone done any.

If you don't have it already, it will usually be cheaper to use a commercial action, even if you have to buy it new.

[W.R.Buchanan]

The whole reason for the .35 Whelan in the first place, was so that a guy could take a surplus Springfield or Enfield P17 and have the barrel rebored and rifled to .35 cal and have a more powerful rifle for NA game for <$100.

No reason to not have your existing barrel redone to 35 Whelan, and you can restock the gun as you see fit.

If you really want a 9.3 then Husqvarna made both 9.3x57 and 9.3x62 rifles.

If you are just going to shoot paper with it I'd look for a Husky 46 in 9.3x57. It will be a lot easier on your shoulder than the 9.3x62 and you can make cases out of common 8x57 brass. There was alot of these guns brought into the US a few years ago from Sweden and they are excellent guns built on M96 actions. They were also available in 8x57 and 6.5x55.

With cast boolits you'd never know the difference.

"dutchman" could pobably put you onto one, as he is the resident Swede Expert.

Randy

[1500FPS]

The whole reason for the .35 Whelan in the first place, was so that a guy could take a surplus Springfield or Enfield P17 and have the barrel rebored and rifled to .35 cal and have a more powerful rifle for NA game for <$100.

No reason to not have your existing barrel redone to 35 Whelan, and you can restock the gun as you see fit.

If you really want a 9.3 then Husqvarna made both 9.3x57 and 9.3x62 rifles.

If you are just going to shoot paper with it I'd look for a Husky 46 in 9.3x57. It will be a lot easier on your shoulder than the 9.3x62 and you can make cases out of common 8x57 brass. There was alot of these guns brought into the US a few years ago from Sweden and they are excellent guns built on M96 actions. They were also available in 8x57 and 6.5x55.

With cast boolits you'd never know the difference.

"dutchman" could pobably put you onto one, as he is the resident Swede Expert.

Randy

You are talking now. Just to punch paper the 9.3x57. Lot cheaper to load for and they shoot cast great. Those 9.3x57 Huskys are usually found on the gun auction sites and decent price.

[warboar_21]

If you have the 1917 in hand now I would say send it up to JES and have him rebore it for $250 shipped back to your door. You can install a timney trigger on it and they sell kits that convert it to cock on opening as well. If the rifle is in factory condition then I would say it may be more than it's worth. If you are looking to put it in an aftermarket stock I have one that I didn't use. I was going to have a custom built on a P14 action but life happened and no custom rifle. Actions and parts sitting here at the house.

I would let it go cheap enough.