Elk Cartridge

T

Turk

New member
I got a CZ550 FS in 9.3x62mm for Christmas last year and plan to use on an Elk hunt in 2002.

My friend what's to buy a rifle for his 13 year old son. This young man is average in size. This will be first experience hunting with a HP rifle and needs practice. My buddy wants to make the practice fun not a shying away from a hard recoiling round. Max. shot would be 300 yards.

So what would be minimum caliber for him to use? I think a 308 would fit the bill but what are your thoughts.

Thanks,

Turk
 
Hi Turk,

The 9.3 X 62 sounds interesting. It must be something like what we have in the US called 35 Whelen.

About the 308 as an elk rifle; I would think it is a good centerfire rifle for a boy to start with (low recoil) but a poor ELK rifle in the hands of less than an expert as it is underpowered for a less than ideal shot. If it must be shot other than broadside it may fail to penetrate to the vitals. JMHO

The 35 Whelen or 9.3 X 62 would be better for elk IMHO.
 
In a way, the gun is the easy part. A rifle which will fit him properly in .308 would do. 180-grain bullets will do nicely on elk.

After that, it's the practice and training. The padded clothing of winter weather is a help, of course, in dealing with recoil; a "sissy pad" for the early bench-rest shooting is not sissy at all.

Then, he shouldn't hunt solo. Further, whoever's with him should control whether or not he attempts a shot. This should prevent trying for "way over there" with the package of new shooter/hunter and buck fever and low-end cartridge.

There oughta be a lot of togetherness on a first hunt.

:), Art
 
BG,

The 9.3 is a very interesting round. When I was first considering a new rifle over my Win. 70, 06 one of the guys here stated the 9.3 is basically on par with a 35 Wheelen but with wider types of bullets. Actually the 9.3 predates the Wheelen. The first three shots out printed 1/2' center to center of the 270 gr. Speer SP bullets. It also has very good ballistic's.

You can make 9.3x62 brass out of 06 case if the need arises.

Art sound advice concerning calling the shot.

Thanks,

Turk
 
I agree with Art, a 308 in the proper bullet would be fine. Federal recommends the 165 and the 180 grain bullets for large, heavy game (such as Elk). Also, the 308 is fairly low in recoil at 17.90 pounds of recoil for the 180 grain bullet. The 35 Whelen, for comparison since I could not find the 9.3x62, shows 24 pounds of felt recoil. Good luck, whatever you decide.
 
Something else to consider would be a 358 Winchester. The 250 grain bullet is pretty much an all aspect load for elk-in fact, its not too far behind a 35 Whelan. If you hand load, you should be able to work the boy up from starting loads to something with some respectable power.
 
Well, for a handloader there's no recoil problem at all, during the training phase.

For .30-30 through .30-'06, almost any .30 jacketed bullet ahead of 20 grains of 2400 will give just zilch for recoil. In a .308 or '06, you can go up a bit to just past factory .30-30 performance and still not have bad recoil.

For house-breaking a new-shooter youngun, 100-grain .30 plinkers and the 2400 on a 50-yard target is a good teaching package. It's a confidence builder.

Then, up the oomph and add padding.

:), Art
 
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