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I should check my language (and measurements) before posting.


Gentlemen - thank you

It is most definately LONGER than the 30-30 class. Just around 2.25 from rough measurements. The GROOVE diameter (not the bore) is .365 with 6 lands. 27.75" long.

The base of the chamber mics .435, and the rim cut .511.

I had an 8.57r360 case and it fits nicely. Now to order the dies from CH4D.

The stock is walnut with some dents but looks thoroughly servicable. 2.75" of drop at the heel. With a pull of 13.5"

The hammer was broken sometime in the distant past, but someone took the effort to rebraise it and they did a credible job at that.

Overall the gun needs some work but it appears to be correct where it has to be.

My only concern is the bullet diameter and although the bore looks ok, I was surprised to see it closer to .366 than .363 like the 9.3x72r.

Hopefully by fall I may get the opportunity to take a whitetail with it.
Fuhrmann, have you taken that roe yet?

Tom

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Tom,

first, a .365 or .366 groove diameter is just fine. I have measured bullets for the 9.3x72R, and they have about 9.30 to 9.32 mm diameter diameter, which is .366.
These bullets are in no way "thinner" than the modern bullets intended for the 9.3x62 or 9.3x74R. The difference is they have thin soft jackets and a reduced bearing surface.

Question is what bullets you can get in the USA.

My problem was getting correct sizing dies and reforming 9.3x72R cases.
Lancaster already named the problem, different forms of case taper.
The British .360 2 1/4 Express is said to have a straight taper while the German form is not a straight taper but somewhat convex, with a little bit less waist in the middle.
In addition, in Germany and Austria the cartridge is really old and rare, and has never been "normalized", meaning standard measurements established. So each gun may have an individual chamber, with its own reloading problem. The .360 2 1/4 and then the 9.3x57R/360 were the first "smallbore cartridges". But by about 1900 the 9.3x72R had taken over, and I believe that many older guns have been rechambered to 9.3x72R. That's why I never found any useful data on chamber dimensions, loading data and on ballistics for the 9.3x57R/360.

My story is that I inherited the rifle from an old friend about 8 years ago, together with some fired original Berdan cases, a supply of Boxer-primed 9.3x72R cases, and a good box of the original 193 grain RWS jacketed bullets, great.
Plus a set of RCBS dies labelled 9.3x57 which was obviously out of place because it's for the rimless Mauser case.
RCBS or Huntingtons listed a special order die set for the 9.3x57R/360, part number is 55010.
I got that, shortened 9.3x72R cases, fully resized them but they did not chamber completely, a wee bit to fat around the waist.
The problem was finally solved by having dies made to order by the German company Triebel.

The message is that taper dimensions are tricky to measure, if wrong not easy to correct, and in a Martini or rolling block action the case must fit EXACTLY - you have no leverage to get the case in, and extraction of a wedged case is even worse.

Further problems I had was that the necks of the reformed 9.3x72R cases were much too thick, a lot of brass had to be turned off. Then I needed to learn how to set bullets into paper-thin case necks - you need an expander which is just a wee bit undersize than the bullet.

Lots of fun and learning in this project! And worth all the effort, because I finally got a roe buck this spring, see here:
http://forums.nitroexpress.com/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=180464&an=0&page=0#Post180464

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