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Joined: 30 Sep 2019 Posts: 167 Location: Colorado

PM sent.

Joined: 08 Feb 2009 Posts: 1356 Location: Western WA

This is why I carry the 16x8mm when grouse hunting on the Olympic peninsula:

Good Hunting,
B.

Joined: 17 Jan 2014 Posts: 1457 Location: Denver, Colorado

Good argument.

Lloyd3,

A sidelock 16 gauge Drilling is one of the guns I have been looking to acquire for quite a while. The last one I tried to purchase, I was out bid on unfortunately. Here in Pa we do have over lapping seasons, Bear and Grouse run at the same time during the over lap. Also its nice to have the rifle along just for safety. One year my good friend Ken Graft had a Big Black Bear stand up right in front of him in our Potter county, Pa mountain, while we hunted Grouse. Ken definitely would have been a lot safer, if he would have had a nice Drilling gun, instead of his 28 gauge Parker. Lucky for him the big Bear only looked at him and walked away up one the mountain. Ken was less than 3' away from that big Bear.

all the best,

Pine Creek/Dave
L.C. Smith Man

Joined: 17 Jan 2014 Posts: 1457 Location: Denver, Colorado

What I found when I was looking last winter was that the key to it all is finding one with a rifle caliber you can live with. Many (if not most) were made with 9.3 x 74R (which isn't awful, mind you) but you'll have to buy your ammo online from RWS or some other exotic caliber ammo dealer (at 1st anyway, you can then reload the brass of course). The ones with American calibers are inevitably very-pricy (exorbitantly so) which was enough to finally put me off on them. They are a bit complicated as well (when being discussed they always seem to be compared to cuckoo clocks) and, of course, one wonders how they have (or will) age. Repairing one would be nightmarish.

Joined: 21 May 2015 Posts: 135

I've a J.P. Sauer 16 / 7x65R with claw mounts and a 6x scope.

It weighs in at 6lbs-8oz without the scope, so it carries well for birds.

But, I hunt in places with overlapping seasons and some pose a danger to my pup.

If you take your time, flip the sight (select rifle barrel) and remember the front trigger it serves well.

BTW the 9.3mm is the big game caliber in Europe for moose, boar, and big deer. Some in S. Africa use it successfully on cape buffalo.

Good luck,

Joined: 12 May 2022 Posts: 14 Location: Texas & New Mexico

your original post mentioned a gun with 9.3 x 72r chambering, and then recently you mention a gun with 9.3 x 74r chambering. the 72mm cartridge is an earlier development - and going back far enough it was made in several different variations, that can cause problems with both fitment and availability of ammunition.

the 9.3 x 74r is a much more powerful round (as stated, it still sees african usage currently)....while the 9.3 x 72r is a comparable round to the 38-55, or 35 remington round - and typically will be found in older and perhaps less robust guns.

another consideration that i would keep in mind, is the fact that "proper" drilling cartridges are rimmed cases - that offer simpler extraction systems. modern drillings chambered for rimless cases rely on a more intricate extractor, that comes at costs in building and functioning.

Joined: 17 Jan 2014 Posts: 1457 Location: Denver, Colorado

After walking trails up here for the last week, that 9.3 x 74R is sounding pretty handy about now. I'm seeing wolf scat on just about every trail this year, even in the northern part of the forest (closer to what goes for civilization here).