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You goin' to the Bob & Rocco show in Waukesha?? I'll be there Saturday..... watch for an old, grey-haired guy, slightly overweight, beard, starting to go bald, red & black checked flannel shirt.

Ought to really stand out in the crowd, huh?

Blimey WWB, for a moment I thought you were trying to describe me. I'll probably head over to the show on Friday after getting out of work. I want to pick up some ancillary items that one of the vendors usually has but none of the local stores seem to have or carry at a price a bloke can afford to pay.

Off season is slow but I can't complain too much since the family and I have been eating some great protein I was blessed to obtain this year during my various forays. Kind of tough to get used to my #1 pard not being able to go out with me during the season. The off season also gives me a chance to reflect and genuinely appreciate the opportunity I have to get in a spot of hunting and shooting. I'm pretty much at the point where anything tagged or bagged represents a trophy and a memory to be cherished.

Hello Sir,
You're an expert when it comes to drillings, and if i may, I would like to ask you a couple of questions.

i am looking at a couple of drillings and i am trying to understand the calibers of the riffles.
it seems like the 8mm mauser is a fine caliber and will take anything up to a boar.
8x57jr
however i cant seem to get much info on the 9.3x72
what is this type of caliber? what can it be used for?
i thought initially it was a bigger caliber for bigger game... but im not so sure and it seems that its 3x the cost of the mauser.

both drillings are about the same age/german and in good condition with 16g doubles over the top.

any information/advise you can send my way would be greatly appreciated.
thanks for your time.
cheers
james

You might be better off asking this question in the drillings/double gun forum above but here goes.

The 9.3x72R is an old black powder round that has made the move to smokeless. It fires a sub-200 gr bullet someplace in the 2000-2200 fps range best as I can recall. This puts it in the category of a 35 Rem or a little above. Deer, boar, some close range elk and maybe moose would be its primary usage. Some have thought its performance closer to that of a 35 Whelen which may be true as I am not very familiar with the 9.3x72R's ballistics. Ammo is kind of hard to find, Sellier & Bellot is the only one I know of that has any distribution in the United States if that is where you are. Ammunition is going to be expensive due to low demand. It is a rather anemic round when compared to most of the rest of the 9.3 mm rounds available. This round should not be confused with the 9.3x74R which I find to be much more common and is considerably more powerful. The 9.3x74R falls between the 35 Whelen and the 375 H&H, typically closer to the 375 than the 35.

The other drilling you mention, the one in 8x57JS, it is the standard rimless version and not the 8x57RJS which is rimmed? I only ask as I have not seen a drilling in the JS but have seen several and even owned one in the RJS. S&B is the least expensive brand of ammo though I think Norma may also sell it. S&B also seems more easily found though Norma is no stranger to America.

As to which one to buy, I personally would pick the better quality or known name but if both are about equal, then I would likely pick the 8x57 as I know I can find ammo and inexpensive dies for it. The 9.3x72R would be in the same performance group but the few component sources would be a negative causing me to hesitate about buying it.

thank you for your reply, much help.
seems like they are roughly the same concerning the type of game they can be used on. just that one costs more and is harder to find.
cheers

What's the difference between hunting innocent animals as a sport and Vick's dog fighting scandal? I really don't get why everyone is so hot and bothered about animal abuse when hunting is a LEGAL SPORT . I have seen people kill innocent deer and not feel remorseful. Do we prize dogs over deer and ducks in this country....if people care that much about dogs then we should make it illegal to kill innocent deer and ducks.

Alright - I'll feed the troll - I just can't let this go ....

Whaaa innocent deer and ducks are being killed whaaa Get over yourself. I guess in your Walt Disney/PETA/HSUS utopia coyotes and foxes don't raid duck nests and eat those poor cutsie wittle duckies and wolves don't rip deer apart. What makes you so high and mighty to tell me how I can and can not provide food for my family? Does it even occur to you that some people actually eat what they kill? Here's a little tid bit for you .... In order for you to survive ... something else MUST die be it plant or animal. If you eat meat from a grocery store - you're just paying someone else to do your killing for you.

Killers kill to kill. Hunters kill for a purpose ....

Captn66,
You don't support PETA? LOL

My kids have "Support PETA" tee shirts....
of course theirs are spelled out as "People Eating Tasty Animals".

Salaama,
Hunting is a self funding means to control wildlife populations while providing a way for people to put food on the dinner table. If if weren't for the people paying for hunting licenses over the past decades, most of the areas that are currently set aside for wildlife would have been comercially developed years ago. By the way, don't you feel bad about some poor, inocent wolf or kodiak bear out there in the woods potentially starving because you won't go out there and present yourself as potential prey?

People Eating Tasty Animals is the only PETA I support!

There's plenty of room for all God's critters ... right next to the mashed taters!!

Back on topic ....

Anyone hunting anything?

I wanted to try some yote hunting in Feb, but the three feet of snow we got here kind of put a stop to that real quick.

Heading out this time next week to catch the Snows on their return migration through PA. Heard from a good source that they were just starting to pile into the refuge two days ago. About 20K birds there then. Hoping that will increase about 3 or 4X by the time we get out there.

anyone shooting any varmits???? Since I will not visit Pa. this year in the summer the chucks are getting a break from my harassment... but have shot a couple coyotes here in Wy. both with my .22-250 Improved and 40 grain Vmax...coyotes, prairie dogs, gophers, and Jackrabbits seem in very short supply here this years..have shot a few but the numbers are all down...Did bag a very nice gobbler in Pa. in May...my biggest beard ever...

Wyo, we got the hay fields cleared off last week, I've been keeping an eye out for the groundhogs but they seem to relocate once the tall grass is removed. Have a lot of red-tail hawks that I think keep them ducking their heads, they're not afraid of me. We have some crows that need to be harassed so I'll busy myself with that in the meantime. Turkeys are in abundance around here now, we have quite a brood moving around the farm. I remember when I was a kid it was SUCH a big deal to see one, now they are more plentiful than grouse and (sadly) deer. Glad you bagged one when you were out here, if you are in the neighborhood again. send a PM and look me up, always a spot at the shooting bench for you!

Pat T. thanks for the offer..I usually get back a couple times each year...my father is still in the state..so I try to make a couple visits each year to see him..usually, I try to go in the spring so I can hunt some turkey, and again in the fall ....sometimes I spent most of small game and deer season...lately it has mostly just been deer..as poor as it is, it is better than small game....thanks again..sounds like you have some good turkey hunting, but that is the thing now...what do you use on your chucks...??? I notice when the hay was first mowed they would keep sooooooo low in the fields sometimes binocs were required to spot them flattened in the field..

I don't have a dedicated varmint rifle, when the mood strikes I get the .30-06 out and just use it with the big game loads, I'm familiar enough with the trajectory and how it shoots that it's no problem, and I get to use it a little more during the year. Put a new scope on it a couple weeks ago, got a Nikon Monarch 2.5-10 with the BDC reticle to replace the Redfield Widefield that was on it. The Redfield was a good scope, but noticed that in low light the past few years it seemed to get dimmer (has absolutely NOTHING to do with me getting to the half-century mark!). So I settled on this as the best compromise between price and glass quality, so far I like it a lot. My brother and I had an impromptu long range shooting session down the field a week ago, shooting at a gallon jug filled with water at 600 yards. Using the BDC reticle made it easy to put some holes in it, he was surprised at how well it worked with the trajectory of the loads we use. Fun!

If we end up with some saber toothed groundhogs then I'll get the Weatherby .340 out after them!

Pat.T I used to use an o6 a lot until I was about 25,,,then I switched to a .300...still have two 06's...how do you like your 340??? I got one several years ago...it is a real elk killer but I don't think better than a good 300...but it is good...shot my biggest whitetail with the .340 of all things..mine is a rebarreled Rem. ...it is a great shooter for the size of the caliber...