doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Jos Zeller Drilling??

I believe the faux pas occurred when the smith removing the cosmoline mic-ed it and surmised it was 9,3X74R without a chamber cast.

Kind Regards,

Raimey
rse

As cases for the 9.3x72R readily available I suspect it is the 9.3x72R Sauer cases that are being made from 9.3x74R as they are much closer in size. It could be that the rifle is actually a 9.3x72R Sauer, it would have the same 8.8 over 72 markings and without a chamber cast it would measure closer to a 9.3x74 than a common 9.3x72R. My 6.5x58R Sauer is only marked 6.3 over 58 1/2. The only marking as far as maker/retailer is H Wilmes with Suhl proofs on my drilling.

Thanx for all the info guys,I was going by gunsmith measuring and noting on receipt
noted 9.3x 74r but now looking at barrels it looks like I have 8.8mmx72r

The 9.3 calibers were named for their bullet diameters. The proof houses stamped the Bore diameter on the barrels. 9.3 barrels are often found with 8.8m bores. The regular 9.3x72R is a long straight tapered case while the 9.3x72R Sauer is a bottleneck case & as stated is very similar in size & shape to the 9.3x74R case, though of course 2mm shorter.

'Tis what makes these old firearms so very interesting and fun to work with. Nice piece btw.

The thought that it may be a 9.3x72R S&S certainly is worth considering, but rifles in this caliber are pretty rare and are mostly limited to JP Sauer guns. The standard bullet was 187 grains, as I recall, so the proof for a 13 gram bullet seems to indicate it is not the Sauer round.The Sauer and the 9.3x74R are close enough in case dimensions that they are ,in fact, sometines confused.One that I bought as a 9.3x74R and used with that caliber ammo, for years, turned out to be 9.3x72R S&S.The fact that it wouldn't stabilize a bullet longer than the 286 gr.RN, should have been a giveaway, as should a blown primer. Now, I just trim 2mm and still use 9.3x74R dies to load it. I have heard of others using the wrong ammo also.
Mike