During my life, I have owned two rifles in 9.3x62mm. One was a custom job with a Lothar Walther barrel built on the Remington Model 700 action. Soon after I carried the rifle on a bear hunt in Alaska, a good friend of mine talked me out of it, and since then, he has used it to take a couple moose, several elk, and a truckload of deer.

The 9.3x74R is a rimmed cartridge designed for use in single-shots, double rifles, and combination guns.

I still own the other nine-three—a Sako Model 75—and like most of my hunting rifles, it has a story or two of its own. I first hunted with this one in Finland, the country where it was made. It had been issued to me at the Sako factory in Riihimaki, and when I checked it out at a shooting range near where I would be hunting with Sako ammo, it immediately began to stack three bullets inside an inch at 100 yards. I liked the rifle then, and I liked it even more after using it to take a nice moose. Fact of the matter is, I became so fond of it that I asked my friends at Sako to ship it to me upon my return home. It is one of those rifles that I don’t get around to using a lot, but I enjoy owning and shooting it so much, I doubt if I will ever part with it.

9.3 x 62mm MAUSER LOADS
BULLET	POWER (Type	POWER (Grs.)	VELOCITY (fps.)
	Sako Model 75
Norma 232-gr. Oryx	N-202	60.0	2577
Norma 232-gr. Vulcan	N-201	59.0	2582
Barnes 250-gr. Triple Shock	IMR-4064	57.0	2519
Nosler 250-gr. Ballistic Tip	Varget	56.0	2468
Swift 250-gr. A-Frame	Reloder 15	58.0	2538
Lapua 270-gr. Naturalis	H335	58.0	2455
Speer 270-gr. SS	W760	60.0	2431
Barnes 286-gr. Triple-Shock	H414	57.0	2379
Nosler 286-gr. Partition	VV N140	56.0	2310
Swift 300-gr. A-Frame	Reloder 15	57.0	23.55
Lapua 220-gr. Naturalis	Factory Load		2610
Norma 231-gr. PPC	Factory Load		2586
Sako 225-gr. RSN	Factory Load		2588
Sako-250-gr. X-Bullet	Factory Load		2401
Lapua 270-gr. Naturalis	Factory Load		2334
Lapua 285-gr. Mega	Factory Load		2251
Norma 286-gr. Alaska	Factory Load		2378
Nosler 286-gr. Partition	Factory Load		2325
Notes: Velocity is the average of five or more rounds measured 12 feet from the muzzle of a 23-inch barrel. Lapua cases and CCI 200 primers were used in all handloads. Powder charges are maximum and should be reduced by 10 percent for starting loads.

I enjoy hunting with the 9.3x62 for the same reason I enjoyed hunting with the .25-06 and .35 Whelen back when they were wildcats; it is different, and you don’t see every hunter in camp toting one. Of course, this puts you on your own if for whatever reason you need to borrow some ammo, but since this has never happened to me, I seldom give it a second thought.

9.3x74R
Whereas the 9.3x62mm was designed for bolt-action rifles, the 9.3x74R was developed during the early 1900s for single-shots, double rifles, and combination guns. Its long and slender rimmed case has about an eight percent advantage in capacity. This allows it to be loaded to the same speed as the 9.3x62mm but at lower chamber-pressure levels.