1917 rifle to 9.3x62 ?

Guy Miner

Master Loader
Apr 6, 2006
17,453
4,514
I've got this old sporterized 30-06 1917 that sometimes gets used for black bear or deer. The barrel is bobbed to 21", it's got a 6x Leupold in Weaver rings, and sits in a Bell & Carlson stock. Good old rifle that's been in our family more than 60 years.

Danged thing holds 7 cartridges. Six in the magazine, one in the chamber.

What do you think of sending this to JES and getting it re-bored, re-chambered to 9.3x62 for a rough & tumble medium bore?

I can't really see any drawbacks. Might top it with a fixed 2.5x, 3x, or 4x Leupold. Seems like a pretty good idea to me. Not that there's anything wrong with leaving it as a 30-06 either. It's certainly been one for a very long time now, over 100 years.

Thanks, Guy
 
The big advantage of the 9.3X62 is that it is novel. Can't see it doing anything the 30-06 won't do. Still, if it was me, I'd likely make the conversion just to work with something a little different (though the 9.3X62 appears to be growing in popularity here in NA).
 
Agreed, I don't think you will see much difference.
BUT the 9,3x62 is a good bullet for shorter ranges and delivers quite a punch.

If you want something exotic ( on your side of the big pond), go for it!

Gesendet von meinem Pixel 3a XL mit Tapatalk
 
42234594a51c03d3325fa077652f55cf.jpg

This one was rebarreled but the concept is solid! It’s been a great hunting rifle and being able to load with stripper clips is pretty handy.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Ah, I remember seeing photos of that rifle before! Yes, that would be great. Those stripper clips work well with a little practice. Is that the B&C stock?

Or - I could just load the 30-06 with 220 gr Nosler Partitions and call it good. It shoots them well, at about 2400 fps.

Guy
 
Rednek rampager":3n685y2p said:
Why not a .35 Whelen?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

That would be just fine too. :grin:

But I like the idea of using the heavier 286 gr bullets that the 9.3 has. The Whelen, with the usual twist rate, tops out at about 250 grains. They're both great cartridges. As is the good ol' 30-06 of course.

Regards, Guy
 
You know, I've been thinking about the same thing as well.
As much as I like the ballistics of the 9.3x62, it's still not plentiful enough for me to switch it to that, for me.
If anything, to make things a little easier, I would go with the .35 Whelen. There's more bullets available here in the States for it.
Plus, I bet if you use StaBall 6.5, or RL-26, it might put a little more zip behind those 250 gr smashers.
But this is just my opinion.

Hawk

Sent from my REVVLRY+ using Tapatalk
 
Can't go wrong if you end up with a 9.3x62 might be a good way of breathing a little new life into an old rifle especially since you have a 30-06 already.
 
I’d go 9.3 over 35 whelen. Really all you need is that 286gr bullet in the 9.3, it fills the bill nicely.

You could always twist the whelen to 1-12 if you where interested in heavy .358s


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I twisted my 35 Whelen and my 358 Norma Magnum to a twelve twist. The NM handles 280 grain A-Frames quite nicely. It does give a thump on either end, however.
 
Since your thinking of doing J.E.S. I think I would go with the 35 Whelen with a 1-12 twist for heavies and like DrMike said that twist works great for the big 35s and is what I had my 35 AI twisted by J.E.S.
You just have to make sure he doesn't short throat the chamber and send him a dummy round with the bullet you intend to shoot seated out to full magazine length.
A little free bore doesn't hurt just like in a Weatherby.
 
Guy I think if you really wanted to have it re-bored I'd choose the 338-06. No good reason except that it seems to be a very well balanced cartridge with some great bullets available for it.
 
I like the 338-06 simply for great bullet selection and potential to convert 06 brass into 338/06. The power comparison not sure.
 
Well Guy you know I'm a huge fan of the 9.3x62, so thats what I would choose. Although the Whelen and 338/06 are great as well. Those 286 grain bullets loaded too or close to 2500 fps is magic though.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
 
Cleveland48":1cw47ubw said:
Well Guy you know I'm a huge fan of the 9.3x62, so thats what I would choose. Although the Whelen and 338/06 are great as well. Those 286 grain bullets loaded too or close to 2500 fps is magic though.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

Was hoping for input from you - I'm kinda liking the idea of roughly 375 H&H power and 7 rounds in the old bolt action...

Guy
 
Guy Miner":7hg0yhpv said:
Cleveland48":7hg0yhpv said:
Well Guy you know I'm a huge fan of the 9.3x62, so thats what I would choose. Although the Whelen and 338/06 are great as well. Those 286 grain bullets loaded too or close to 2500 fps is magic though.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

Was hoping for input from you - I'm kinda liking the idea of roughly 375 H&H power and 7 rounds in the old bolt action...

Guy
Thats true and those 230-250 grain bullets at 2600-2700 fps are plenty flat for some mule deer and elk at some distance also.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
 
Guy Miner":xm15dif6 said:
I've got this old sporterized 30-06 1917 that sometimes gets used for black bear or deer. The barrel is bobbed to 21", it's got a 6x Leupold in Weaver rings, and sits in a Bell & Carlson stock. Good old rifle that's been in our family more than 60 years.

Danged thing holds 7 cartridges. Six in the magazine, one in the chamber.

What do you think of sending this to JES and getting it re-bored, re-chambered to 9.3x62 for a rough & tumble medium bore?

I can't really see any drawbacks. Might top it with a fixed 2.5x, 3x, or 4x Leupold. Seems like a pretty good idea to me. Not that there's anything wrong with leaving it as a 30-06 either. It's certainly been one for a very long time now, over 100 years.

Thanks, Guy

Well Guy...You'll need to reload for the 9.3x62.
You'll have great wide range of bullet choices:
250 NAB
286 NPT &
300 Swift-A

If you don't plan to reloading, leave it as the 30-06.
 
Back
Top