User:Smaugmra/9.3x53R Finnish (Sako)

9.3x53R Finnish (SAKO) is a Finnish Big Game hunting cartridge. The 9.3x53R Finnish cartridge, aka the 9,3 x 53 R Finnish or the 9.3x53R SAKO, is a cartridge derived from the Russian Empire and Soviet Military 7.62x54R cartridge. Here in the United States it is considered a "Wildcat cartridge", but in Finland a standard Factory or commercial cartridge produced by SAKO and other firms. The cartridge is essentially a 7.62x54R Russian cartridge case with a larger 9.30mm diameter (.366" caliber) bullet in place of the original Russian 7.62mm (.311 caliber) bullet. NOT to be confused with the similar Russian 9×53mmR cartridge which has a shorter length and has a very slightly smaller 9.22 mm (0.363 caliber) bullet, but most importantly a significantly lower pressure rating. After Finland had gained its independence from Russia, they were left with a variety of military rifles and supplies, mostly the 1891 Mosin-Nagant and other rifles provided by the Russian Imperial military when Finland was still a Grand Duchy of the Russian Empire. Those rifles were repurposed for use by the Finnish Military and Home Guard. Over the years, many Mosin-Nagant rifles were newly manufactured or substantially rebuilt within Finland by Finnish organizations and companies to fulfil their requirements. Soon enough, surplus rifles eventually found their way into private hands to be used as hunting rifles. Hunting in Finland includes Deer sized game such as Reindeer (or Caribou) as well as larger game animals like Moose or Bear. In order to humanely hunt those larger game animals a larger bullet in a high power rifle cartridge was considered more appropriate for the purpose. After WW2, Finnish hunting regulations also changed to prohibit hunting large game with anything smaller than 8mm. Alterations to existing surplus rifles was the least expensive option and gunsmiths began re-barreling, or re-boring, re-rifling, and re-chambering to accommodate larger caliber bullets. The most common caliber bores used were an 8.22mm (0.323 cal. to form the 8.2x53R Finnish cartridge) or a 9.30mm (0.366 cal. for the 9.3x53R Finnish cartridge), both bore sizes were the same as was already being used in some well established and relatively common Mauser 8mm"S" and 9.3mm hunting cartridges. Thus the change would be more economical with barrel and ammunition components able to be obtained relatively easily from commercial sources. The 9.30mm corresponds to what the US designates as 0.366 caliber as used in the 9.3x62mm cartridge.

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