9.3x57
(.450 member)
13/12/07 12:36 AM
Re: 98 & 96 actions for 9.3x62

Stuart, glad you found a rifle!!

I'm going to make some "in my humble opinion" suggestions. Please know I want you to enjoy that gun and my suggesstions are meant in that spirit.

1} You have a 9.3x57 built on a 94/96 action with a walnut stock {some were made up with birch}. I do not see any stamp on the top of the reciver ring, was it ground off? The gun when built by Husqvarna is known as the Model 46. The action has two locking lugs, no safety lug like a 98, and has the small gas shield on the cocking pice, small gas relief holes in the bolt. It is a "small ring" action. I have one of these guns myself. Very light, superb balance, really a great hunting rifle, but not a rifle to push pressures in. It has what appears to be the very common side safety, installed frequently in Sweden by gunsmiths to allow scope use with the rifle. Have your gunsmith check the safety and functioning of this safety. Some of the guns exhibit chambering oddities that may result in a slightly excessive headspace condition. Gunsmith should check that, too. The gun appears to have the proper inletting relief behind the tang. This is good as many of these guns do not and suffer stock cracks as a result. Have your gs check the bedding closely. Most could stand bedding gel in the recoil lug area and the wood behind the tang relieved. Frequently on the Husqvarnas, the actions are bedded so perfectly from the top that they look like they've been poured into the stocks. Trouble is, the Swedes didn't do such a great job where a rifle needs to be bedded, at the recoil lug, and that in combination with the contact at the tange leads to cracking. I suppose I'd keep the old scope mount, but I'd have the gs make sure it is well mounted on the action. And I'd pick a lighter scope so as to avoid stressing the side mount too much. Minor point there, but make sure the mount is well secured, as the screws take the force of recoil directly, which is a little differently than a top mount where the recoil rides both back and up against and into the mounts.

2} I would NOT have that gun rechambered! The action will not feed many full length factory 9.3x62 cartridges {magazine is not long enough} and you will have to either reseat bullets deeper {be careful of pressures here} or handload exclusively. I would not want to push max 9.3x62 loads and pressures in it either. Save the money and use it on ammunition.

3} All is not lost, however. In fact, there are advantages to the 9.3x57 round! First, the round was most likely designed specifically for your action and it fits the 46 perfectly. If you are stuck with handloading anyway, cheap 8x57 cases are available to use to make 9.3x57 rounds; one pass thru the Hornady sizer is all it takes for mine. The ballistics of the 9.3x57 make it good on deer, moose and elk to 200 yards and there are lots of bullets available. A 285 grain bullet can typically be run at 2100 fps. I have killed deer, elk, black bear and other ranch trash with the gun at from bayonet range to a little over 200 yards. Good cartridge. I shot a big 1000 pound semi-wild steer angling thru both shoulders with the round at 70 yards and it exited {Hornady .375 caliber 270 grain Spire Point resized to .365}. That was over 2 feet of penetration. The round has been and is used on moose in Scandinavia for a hundred years.

In sum, if it was mine, I'd leave it in 9.3x57 and shoot game with it! Congrats on a neat gun!



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