Santa was, to be blunt, EXCEPTIONALLY kind this year and if everything on my VW Bus resto goes to plan I'll have the funds to pick up a Tikka T3 in 9.3x62.
Prices here are not as cheap as the competition but neither Weatherby, Remington, Howa or Savage/Stevens make a rifle in 9.3mm.
I've heard lots of great reviews on the T3 but have a few concerns.
Is the synthetic stock on T3 Lite and Lite Stainless up to the sort of recoil generated by this "prod-buttock"(nice way of saying kick-a**) sort of cartridge?
Also, how are the factory rings supplied with rifle?
Some people reckon they're not up to the heavier recoil.
I'd really like the Hunter but I think I'll probably end up with the Lite Stainless so I need to know it won't die on me.
For the record I'll probably be going either a fixed 6x scope or a 1.5-6x to make it flexible for all the hunting I do.

I've never heard of rings failing, but I s'pose anything's possible. Don't load it "for bear", and it won't knock your teeth, or the 'scope, out.
 
Paul

Well, in the long run I intend to load it for buffalo.
Yeah, that's right.
Woodleigh make good bonded core Protected Points (Mag-Tips), RNs and FMJs in 286gr that would be perfect for the job so long as I keep it under 100yds.
But certainly most of my shooting will be with a 250gr or, if they aren't too expensive, the Norma 232gr Vulcans fore more MV and better trajectory.
Since the cheapest pills I've found for 9.3mm are the Speer 270gr SMP at  AUD$29 per 50 if I can get a box of the Normas for between $60 and $70 or, better still, the Woodleigh 250gr PPs for about the same price then I'll happily use them instead.
The Nosler 250gr BTs would probably be good but expensive.

Hi Kombi,

     Now which model of the T3 are you considering?

    I got to shoot a Sako Finnlite in .308 last night which of course is their light weight version and it is light. Shooting it with a bare barrel using some 150 grain Factory Sako ammunition it was lively and fair on accuracy. The rifle is theaded for a moderator or muzzle brake, I then shot it with a "Wildcat" moderator, which is the type which comes back over the barrel so reduces the length that the overall length is increased. With the Moderator fitted accuracy was dramitcally improved and with the same amunition it was shooting MOA. The groups usually had two or three bullet holes touching but one or two about 3/4"-1" away. John was wary of this ammunition and on inspection it looks like the bullet seating depths are not consistant yet they shoot well enough. The 150 grain shoots about 1" left of where the rilfe is zeroed for the Sako 123 grain load which also shoots MOA or under.

   Now the important bit recoil with the sound moderator fitted is drastically reduced and of course the muzzle report is vastly reduced. A few weeks back John shot a fallow Doe from a group of three in a wood and his companion shot another as they just milled around for a little while before standing still again. Sure they hear the bullet but do not know where it came from so which way is safe to run.

   The T3 Tactical he has is of course much heavier having a shortish bull barrel and is also in .308. Shooting 180 grain factory Sako ammunition recoil is noticable but not more than normal, this is without brake or moderator fitted of course, recoil is only slightly less than experienced when shooting my Husqvarna Model 46 which of course is a 9.3x57.

   Now people are surprised when the shoot the 9.3x57 as they expect recoil to be far more than it is although I have never to my recollection shot a 9.3x62.

Quote[/COLOR]
Now people are surprised when the shoot the 9.3x57 as they expect recoil to be far more than it is

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It's a far too common misconception - borne of inexperience - that "big around" means "big recoil".

Kombi,

Knowing that you like heavy-for-caliber bullets, I ran a QuickLoad estimate for the 9.3x57 using the Woodleigh PP Weldcore 49A bullet (320 grains) and ADI 2208 AR powder. The external ballistic results are below. The chamber pressure is estimated to be 50,741 PSI. This load delivers 2,164 ft-lbs of energy out to 200 yds, and when sighted in for a 6" target, is only 3" low at that same 200 yds. All this with a muzzle energy that is only 3,000 ft-lbs. In a "normal" rifle, that means the recoil will be almost pleasant, and certainly nothing that's going to 'rattle' a 'scope of even average quality. Sounds like a buffalo gun to me.

Paul

Except that I'm getting a 9.3x62......not the '57.

Sorry it was me that brought the 9.3x57 case up. However as I see it the slightly longer case should not give much more recoil anyway. Oh the Model 46 is quite light as well.

  Gitano,

     Yep I can believe those figures. It really surprised just how flat it shoots .

Yep, Quickload does a pretty good job.

I use the ballistic charts on the Norma website to look at both the 9.3x57 and 9.3x62 using the 286 grain bullets.  Using the same approximate point of zero ~170 yards, the 9.3x62 (286 grain bullet)  would give you about 2 inches high @100 yds and 2 inches low @200 yds.  This is assuming the Norma factory loads, of course.

Nels

Quote from: kombi1976;70868Except that I'm getting a 9.3x62......not the '57.

Duh!
 
I'll run the 62's numbers through QL and see if there's much difference..
 
Paul

Here's the QL trajectory table. It just gets better. The ME goes up a bit so recoil will too, but it's still only about 3300 ft-lbs, and that certainly tolerable in a 10# gun. Estimated chamber pressure for this load is 50,500 PSI,and MV is 2150. The 'roundness' of those figures is purely coincidental. Looks like a winner to me.
 
Paul

Hey Kombi,

Great minds think alike. I have always had my eye on a rifle in 9.3x62 and the Tikka has always seem the best value for money and one of the only few chambered in that round. Although popular in Europe we seem to see it less down under.  Buffalo and deer are my intended uses for the 9.3mm. I was going to go down the custom path using a mauser action but realised it would be less to purchase a factory rifle by the time I finished shelling out for a quality donor rifle like an argentinian, barrel, stock and gunsmith work.

Have you considered a Tikka M695 in 9.3x62, there are quite a few brand new ones around. I would say they are better quality built than the T3, although they come blued and in wood, not synthetic stainless. The reason I say this is that I have a Tikka LSA 65 in 270 win with a 3-9x40 Bushnell scope and I wouldn't swap that for a T3. Absolute tackdriver, a little heavy but a great deer rifle none the less.

Overall though you can't go wrong with a T3 if you want synthetic stainless (didn't think you were the kind of guy, along with BH, that would purchase a newby like that but I guess it's not a Remington (which I happen to actually like)), I have not heard bad words about Tikka rifles in general even if the new ones are made by a Beretta owned company.

All the best with your new purchase and let us know how you go.

Cheers

QuoteI was going to go down the custom path using a mauser action but realised it would be less to purchase a factory rifle by the time I finished shelling out for a quality donor rifle like an argentinian, barrel, stock and gunsmith work.

Too bad more folks don't do enough "up front work" to realize that.
 
Paul

QuoteWoodleigh make good bonded core Protected Points (Mag-Tips), RNs and FMJs in 286gr that would be perfect for the job so long as I keep it under 100yds.
But certainly most of my shooting will be with a 250gr or, if they aren't too expensive, the Norma 232gr Vulcans fore more MV and better trajectory.

Given the above, I'm not sure why you're concerned about the trajectory of the heavy bullets, but that's your call. Given the above, I made another QL run with the Woodleigh 250 Weldcore PP 47C. Estimated chamber pressure is 50,497 PSI.
 
Paul

Of course we think alike, Jorge.
All Australians are rational, like-minded people, right?
But seriously, when Santa was EXCEPTIONALLY kind and I added up the booty I started to consider what my options were.
I have an "unstarted" large frame Martini project that will (some day) get off the ground but I've been tossing and turning about calibres so much I haven't made a decision about it at all.
I starting looking at the various lower end rifles on the market.
The Baikal O/U Express in 30-06 was deeply attractive....but it's an '06.
It's like building a Mercedes and then putting a Flathead Ford in it - it lacks style.
The Weatherby Red Mist in 308, which has gone out of production but can still be had, was certainly also enticing....except I'm not a fan of 30 cal and 308 Win in particular.
The others that interested me were the Howa Hogue-stocked Stainless or Weatherby Blued Fibreguard in 270 WSM.
But in my heart of hearts I knew what I really wanted was either:

• something non-magnum that made a big hole or
• a boltgun or decent single shot in 7x57, 7x64, 7x65R or 280 Rem.

As most of you know I have old school tastes that have more to do with the British Empire and Continental fashions.
And even though belted rounds and the word "Magnum" have been used in the shooting world since the 1920s I prefer subtlety and efficiency of the English and European cartridges.
In fact I'd right now swap my entire gun collection and the money for Christmas for a Kreighoff Quadro drilling in 12g/12g/7x65R with a matching set of 9.3x74R bbl inserts.
But the lot together doesn't even approach the base price for one of those.
So when I saw that the Tikka is chambered in 9.3x62 I soon started checked prices.
As far as a M695 in that cal.....lead the way, sir!
I would buy the T3 Hunter (blued/walnut) if I could afford it but I can't and since I intend to drag the poor thing up and down hills, probably in the rain, and eventually to the Top End to score me a buff I figured a stainless/synth model would give it a head start in fighting scratches and dings.
I may well update the stock to something better one day but by all reports the standard ones are quite good so the day may not come.
 
And Paul, the trajectory and energy of a 286gr solid is an immediate concern when your blood is pumping and you're facing a big water buffalo bull who is beginning to paw the ground and lower it's head.
You want to be as close as is absolutely necessary but at the same time as far away as possible!

Quotewhen your blood is pumping and you're facing a big water buffalo bull who is beginning to paw the ground and lower it's head.

An opinion shared by many that haven't actually faced that situation, and one that gunwriters (ptooey) trade on shamelessly. This of course true even though the Great White gunwriter (ptooey) hasn't faced such a situation either.
 
I'm climbing on my soap-box now...
 
When I'm hunting, and particularly when I'm hunting coastal brown bears, the more the situation 'complicates', the calmer I get. For me, big game hunting is an exercise in focus, and over the years I was taught and learned to focus before the shot is taken. This of course means that there is much less need to focus after the shot is taken. It is then, after the shot is taken, that I tend to get 'excited'. I have had the good fortune to watch wolves and bears take moose, caribou and sheep. And weasles take ptarmigan. What impressed me more than anything else was the concentration of the predator. It was awesome - truly. NOTHING distracts them. I try to emulate the predators that 'do it for a living'.
 
I'm not preaching or bragging. I'm just trying to dispell some more of the bullwash that ignorant, inexperienced gunwriters (ptooey) spew. Hunters, in my opinion, should learn to control their 'buck fever' 'til after the shot. All of the Hunters I know, do that as a matter of course.
 
I seriously doubt that you will be 'shakin' in the knees' when you get that chance to shoot a buffalo. Frankly if I thought I'd be shaking with fear (or whatever it would be called) when it came time to shoot a dangerous animal, I'd not hunt that animal. The single "thing" that a hunter can do to completely quell pre-shot "exitement" is; know their weapon. At that point, "trajectory" and "excitment" are non-issues.
 
Off my soap-box now.
 
Paul