Mr. Harry Bonar

[el Divino]

Harry I have built a whole bunch of rifles in military actions and I do have a 416 Taylor in a Mauser 98k action since 1995 and shot a Bufalo with it (the photo you can see it in "The Hunt") for the moment it will take time so I can build the Double and the 9.3x74R is a perfect choice, Harry by the way taking advantage of your knoledge & experience, What do you think of the .458WinMag neck down to .366, just bought a 9.3x62 barrel for a 98k that was chambered in 8mm-06 but I'm thinking in rebarreling a 1917 Enfield action with this 9.3 magnum wildcat, what do you think of it?

[Jim Watson]

I'm not Harry B., but there are some wildcat rifles in 9.3x.338 which would be the same thing; a .366 on a 2.5" belted case. I guess they thought it would be easier to neck a .338 up than a .458 down. You can probably find out about them on some of the hunting boards.

[Harry Bonar]

Sirs:
That 9.3X64 case would lend itself to a number of wildcats! So would the 9.3X62. The 9.3X62 is easier since it has the .473 range bolt-face. I love the 416 Taylor - I built one on a light Savage (bought an adams&bennet bbl) and the recoil isn't bad at all! Ive built several of them, one on a Turk 38 action!

Currently, due to the A-Square Manual I'm building the 9.3X64! Got a Boyd stock and the bbl. is a Douglas and the bolt has been opened up and a handle welded on - ready to stock - I'll put a "limb-saver" pad on it at 131/2 lop. Have shot it with the max load in the book and still need to open the magazine well a little bit as the OAL is 3.37. This thing is right at the energy the 375 has - and on 98 Mauser length!
Your 458X366 might be a little overbore but with modern powders it might be a sizzler! I've built 5 0r 6 338X06s. and they're AOK. I think you might have a real wild, wildcat there! Also the others listed. After reading the A-Square Manual I got the African caliber bug - will I ever go to Africa - No! Will I ever shoot a Cape Buffalo - probably not! but what I can do is sight-em in, hang them on the wall, sit in my chair and fantacise - picturing myself as a great African hunter:)
Harry B.
The 9.3X64 is a great sniper cartridge I read, too.
The 9.3/458 would be a great wildcat for the 300 gr. bullets you can get for the 9.3. I just love the big calibers and handguns.

[el Divino]

project 9.3/458

[el Divino]

next project using a 1917 Enfiel action will be the 9.3/458, making research I found that someone called this wildcat 9.3 USA & that it's what I'm looking for, the Enfield action has the bolt already open due that it was barreled with a 300 win mag barrel, thanks

[Harry Bonar]

Hey!
That ought to be a boomer. That 458 case is starting to be wildcatted alright and 366 is a big enough bore, I think, to go with the 458 case.
Are you able to get loading dies and load data for it? If you do let me know - I'm interested in building that myself! So many people think these calibers we're working with are too big for deer, etc. But those big tough bullets give less meat damage than a 270 or 06! I love them.
The Germans had some good calibers; the 8X57JS is a fine one and I just built one on a Turk action and Douglas bbl. Sometiomes I need to open up the magazine for them to an actual 3.4" but the 9.3X64 OAL is 3.7.
I don't have my 9.3X64 done yet for that reason and the flu. I'm getting old enough to like summer!
Hope you have fun doing this project - that 458/366 sounds real good.
I've got some Capr Buffalo and Lion here behind the house in Ohio and I'm scared!:)
Harry B.