A Little Trigger Time Today

CZ93X62

Official forum enigma
Well, yesterday, to be more precise.

Marie and I did a day trip on 7/19 out to the local desert to empty out some cartridges in the best possible manner--through the muzzle of firearms that fit them safely. 4 toys went along--East German Makarov, Walther PP x 32 ACP of about the same age (both made 1964), S&W Models 617 and 586, both 6" barrels and made in the early 1990s. Weather got decent today, no more 118* nonsense around Indio--it was about 30 degrees cooler this morning when we got in the area.

We got the shooting done early, and spent the rest of the morning 4-wheeling in Painted Canyon outside Mecca. A new sign is posted at its start point at Box Canyon Road--4x4 REQUIRED FOR ACCESS. THAT is a new development since last time we visited (June 2018). 13 months ago, families in Toyota sedans were able to run its entire length. Not so now. Floods have laid down very soft sand, and where that isn't a PITA the washboarding from over-speed on dirt surfaces is miserable. 4.2 miles took most of an hour going in, all uphill. Never got stuck, but did get bogged quite a bit and had to slog through that.

Worth it, though. This is a "slot canyon" at its upper end, and also a ladder canyon once you hike through the slot section and climb up the cataract wall. The scenery along the road is other-worldly......the geologist could spend a life here just viewing the uplifts, the extrusions, the layered sediments and twisted volcanics. There are Youtube videos of the area posted. The trip outbound (downhill) took a lot less time, about 25 minutes all told.

Well, OF COURSE a lazy drive up Box Canyon Road is de rigeur for any trip into this vicinity. This had to be rebuilt in almost its entirety after the October 2018 floods that washed the road out completely and had it closed for 7 months during the rebuild. This time of year can be BEASTLY HOT, but today was pretty mild--heat-of-the-day at the mouth of Box Canyon at 2:30 P.M. was 108* with very low humidity--two things not often seen in July when this close to the Salton Sea (about 4 miles, as the crow flies).

Box Canyon Road becomes Cottonwood Springs Road as it crosses I-10 going north, and is also the south entrance to Joshua Tree National Park. That beastly heat has an up-side. In Painted Canyon, we saw one other party the entire time we were there. They were driving out as we were coming in. Same story in Box Canyon and inside JTNP--next-to-zero traffic for the 47 miles we drove through the hoodoo rocks, Cholla Gardens, Joshua tree forests, quail, jackrabbits, raptors, doves, and (of course) snakes and lizards. No burro mulies or desert bighorns (this trip).

We exited from JTNP's north side/east gate at 29 Palms about 6 P.M. Homeward bound along SR 62 and I-10, traffic was light going westbound. Yes, there are good things about summer in the desert. Bring 3-days-worth of food and water on every trip, find shade or cover, and all will be well.

Tomorrow (er, today.....) will be busy. Oil change for the truck, wash the truck (it got filthy today), hit the pharmacy for 'scrips/distilled water/nasal spray, and pick up the new Ruger 22 Mag/LR Super Single Six x 7.5" at the toy emporium. Oh, and the Condor Cuddler rimfire ammo in 2 calibers--can't forget that.
 

Spindrift

Well-Known Member
By the way, something I have been wondering (and you might be able to answer :)
Have you tried Makarov bullets in 9,3x62?
 

CZ93X62

Official forum enigma
I certainly have! They were among the first j-words tried in the rifle!

Commersh jacketed bullets for the 9mm Makarov come in 3 diameters AFAIK--Speers are .363", Sierras are .364", and Hornadys are .365". My E/G Mak is a fat .364" throat--castings at .365" did good work yesterday, as did Hornady 90 grain JHPs.

I had almost 10 years with the Mak by the time the CZ-550 in 9.3 x 62 Mauser landed at my house (2002). Bullets and cases were rather scarce in the USA at that time, a sitch that has improved markedly over the past 15+ years. My rifle's first ammunition was made with Remington 35 Whelen cases expanded in the 9.3 x 62 sizer die. A healthy dose of milsurp WC-852/fast lot under Hornady 90 grain Makarov JHPs sealed the case mouths. Given the Mauser-system claw extractor, I thought it would be safe to fire-form the case shoulders--essentially 'blowing them forward' about 1/10" or 2.5 mm. The first five of these were "fixture-fired" at a discreet distance--all went very well, boringly so. Next came benchrest work with the rifle's open irons at 50 yards, and DANG--those bullets hit close together, and ran about 3050-3100 FPS. Jackrabbits were pretty thick that Fall during quail season, so once the quail season ended I elected to empty out the remaining fire-forming loads while varmint hunting. Ranges spanned 25 to 140 yards, and results were......graphic. 1 coyote and numerous jackrabbits generously assisted in this research project. A LOT of the coyotes I have taken over the years have come during jackrabbit hunts--they follow hunters a short distance behind, and feed well on the proceeds of your efforts. If you ever can't find a quail that you KNOW you dusted cleanly, look no further than Mr. & Mrs, Song Dog to find your suspect. A quick turn-about will sometimes surprise and flush out these "claimers".

So, YEAH--Mak bullets do good work in the 9.3 x 62. I use enough H-380 to produce 2900-3100 FPS, and cases last forever. I still have all 100 of the 35 Whelen cases I fire-formed in 2002-2003. Cast loads and Mak J-words treat them quite gently.
 

Spindrift

Well-Known Member
Thank you for a very good and detailed answer! So the Makarov bullets «fireformed» both the brass and the coyotes, two birds with one stone!
I don’t actually have a 9,3x62 at the moment, but I am considering adding a barrel to one of my switch barrel guns. For my hunting needs (moose, caribou, wild boar), a 30-06 with premium bullets kind of offer all the performance I need. But it would be nice to have a gun that would be big game- capable with cast bullets. Which, I suspect, the 9,3 with heavy bullet would be.
The CZ is a really nice gun, by the way.
 

CZ93X62

Official forum enigma
CZ-USA no longer imports the CZ-550 Mauser-system action models into the USA. They "Went Winchester", and now offer a push-feed 557-series bolt rifle. Winchester figured out their mistake--hopefully CZ comes to similar conclusions.

The 30-06 is a fine game caliber, no two ways about it. I spent a lot of bandwidth on The Prior Site singing the praises of the 9.3 x 62 caliber, and since so many here were also at that old location I will not re-inflict that upon you all. I will sum things up as follows--the 30-06/180 grain has become a North American big game standard of sorts, when its bullet is a good spitzer form it 'ranges' quite well for longer shots and delivers decisive power at all practical hunting ranges.

The 9.3 x 62/250 grain spitzer combination tracks VERY closely with the 30-06/180 combo--similar velocities and trajectories from muzzle to 400 yards. The telling difference is this--at any range to 400 yards, the 9.3 x 62 delivers 1.5X the striking energy. When I hunted Alberta in 2005 with Bruce B and NV Curmudgeon, the 9.3 x 62 went along with the 30-06 using those 2 loads. One trajectory solution for two rifles is a beautiful thing indeed.

For our uses with cast bullets, the 9.3 x 62 does superb work with castings. Its traditional bore form of 3 turns/meter twist rate is VERY lead-friendly while working well with j-words up to 286 grain spitzer lengths. My rifle prints both 250 grain BalTips and 286 grain Partitions into 1.25" to 1.5" groups at 100 yards. The Makarov bullets shoot almost as well at 100 yards.

Here I go again. Time to SHUT UP.
 
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CZ93X62

Official forum enigma
Both canyon drives are certainly worth making, as are other routes less-traveled in the vicinity. If someone comes to the area for this sort of travel, it would be my pleasure to go along and show off some of our natural treasures.

Another route that requires 4x4 in spots is the Bradshaw Trail, which runs roughly from North Shore near the Salton Sea to the Colorado River and AZ border. We are a little late to see the 19th Century ferries that my ancestors likely used to cross the Colorado in 1865, though archeologists have probed the sites over the years. The current crossings used by Interstate freeways and older U.S. highways placed their bridges close to old ferry sites and Amer-Ind crossings. A natural crossing point is a natural crossing point, no need to re-invent the wheel. And our indigenous peoples didn't want to work any harder than necessary to get where they wanted to go. Their routes--some thousands of years old--have made the leap to modern times pretty seamlessly. The Bradshaw Trail is one such expansion, as is the Mojave Trail that parallels it about 140 miles north. It is no mistake that modern freeways and their predecessor U.S. highways parallel both trails rather closely. We are unsure which of the two mentioned routes Murrell Paine took after he was paroled out of the 2nd Texas Cavalry in mid-1865, but he and his large family arrived in San Bernardino by the year's end. I am currently exploring some questions along this line, and those ramblings are far outside the scope of this site. I have long thought that my career choices were a grave error. I definitely should have taught Western American History at a university somewhere, since I am a product of much of it.