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The 9.3X62 Mauser cartridge, is a light big-bore cartridge. With 286gr to 325gr bullets @ 2360fps and 2195fps Muzzle Velocities, it should be obvious that it was intended as a less-recoiling classic big bore cartridge. The 9.3 cartridge is not just the 30-06-case necked up! The 30-06 was designed along the lines of both the 7x57mm Mauser and 9.3X62 put together on the 9x63 Hessmer Berlin DWM case No. 491D.
Although the 62mm case of the 9.3 cartridge is frequently compared with the 30-06 case of 63mm length, the 9.3X62 was in fact independently developed as a hunting cartridge on DWM case No. 474C with its own unique dimensions and dynamics. Fairly, should one not rather compare the ’06 case with that of the 9.3 instead?
The 30-03/6’s primary and initial intention was to kill people, a rather frail and flimsy creature. The 30-03/06 has been in use since, well, 1906 as a military cartridge, but was later adopted as a sporting cartridge. The only legitimate comparison between the 9.3 and the -06 is that “it is barely possible” to use -06 brass to make-shift a workable but not ideal case for the 9.3.
One of the few arguments against the design of the 9.3X62 cartridge, indeed, is its relatively short neck. Actually, after cutting back and necking up and fire-forming the 63mm -06 case to the 9.3 cartridge dimensions, it measures only 61mm. Yet another full 1mm gets “lost in translation”. In other words, it becomes too short and thus not ideal for use in the German 9.3 chamber. I have never had to revert to such drastic measures as to pervert my 9.3 chamber with a 30-06 case yet, but those who did, testifies about a bulge above the case head, and that, noticeable to the naked eye! Which means that the case can rupture right there.
[2 x 9.3X62 cases left, next to two 30-06 cases necked up to 9.3 and a 30-06 case far right. Note the 1mm/.039" difference.]
[Courtesy Vitas Lesniauskas]
[Note the bulge in this 30-06 case. Please use proper 9.3X62 cases when reloading for the 9.3X62, preferably European cases or South African PMP cases.]
The German 8x57 cartridge is x57mm DWM Case No. 561 with a base dia. of .469” and the much later American standard cartridge, being “hybridised” between the x57mm and x62mm, would become x63mm of the Hessmer Berlin DWM Case No.491D with a base dia. of .467”. This 63mm case would later become the American 2.5” (63mm) standard with the same base diameter, .467”- 0.469”.
0.0054 of an inch, might not seem significant, but considering minute tolerances of a rifle chamber, .0054 of an inch is significant enough to NOT consider make-shifting brass for the 9.3X62 from -06 brass. Not unlike the 8mm-06, the 8.5x63 (338-06) and the 9mmx63 (35 Whelen), and a myriad of other cartridges too, share the common denominator of being “hybridised” onto the x63mm 30-06 case by necking it up (or down). Further, all these USA-born cartridges, including the 6.5-06, 270 Win and 30-06 Springfield, retain the exact same tell-tale shoulder angle of that of the 9.3X62, namely 17˚30’.
The 9.3X62 cartridge, on DWM Case No. 474 C, has its rim slightly rebated, its shoulder moved forward, and its taper largely reduced, exactly as is done with an “improved” cartridge, and that way back before 1905 already. It is obvious that the minute taper Herr Otto Bock did retain in his prodigy cartridge was done with slick and controlled feeding in combination with the proven Military 1898 Mauser action in mind, for life-threatening battle situations that might dwell in the dark jungles and plains of Africa. Taking this information into account, it’s obvious that Otto Bock was a visionary or wizard – take your pick. No one in this day and age could “improve” on his cartridge without sacrificing a whole lot of other desirables.
Considering the above-mentioned revelation, it becomes evident that the 30-06, and thus all its siblings, have their origins from the 8x57 DWM Case No. 561! The 30-03/06 is a slightly taller 8x57 on a downsized 9.3X62 case… [Not necked down, there is a difference]. If you ever had difficulty to understand the success of the 30-06, here is your answer: the 30-03 derives from these two German cartridges. The 30-03 was a German designed cartridge and royalties had to be paid on German patents!
[All three mentioned medium wildcats that get associated with the 9.3X62 retained the 7.62x63 Springfield’s body taper, borrowed from the 7x57 Mauser, as well as neck length.]
he “Ball Cartridge, caliber .30, Model of 1906” became the 30-06 Springfield that was plagiarized from the 30-’03 by shortening the neck by .007”. The real American cartridge of 1906 was a cartridge named, 405 Winchester, a straight-wall cartridge typical of American straight-walled cartridge design.
“However, both the Springfield rifle and the Springfield cartridge infringed on Mauser patents, which led to the US paying infringement royalties to Mauser.” – W Todd Woodard on the 30-06 cartridge in Shooter’s Bible Guide to Cartridges (2011).
Courtesy of 9.3 x 62 Mauser Journal that is available here https://93x62journal.co.za/
Very informative post, Martie - and very valid on safety too: I was told by a friend in Virginia, USA, about a friend who fireforms 30-06 cases in his 9,3x62.
The 30-03 was a 1.1: 1 enlargement of the 7x57 Mauser after the Cuban embarrassment, as the .50 Browning was a 1.77 :1 enlargement of the Mauser cartridge.