.358 Norma Magnum

Last updated
.358 Norma Magnum
358 Norma Magnum.JPG
The .358 Norma Magnum rifle cartridge.
TypeRifle
Place of origin Sweden
Production history
DesignerNils Kvale
Designed1950's
ManufacturerNorma
Produced1959–present
Specifications
Case typeBelted, bottleneck
Bullet diameter.358 in (9.12 mm)
Neck diameter.388 in (9.85 mm)
Shoulder diameter.490 in (12.45 mm)
Base diameter.513 in (13.03 mm)
Rim diameter.531 in (13.50 mm)
Rim thickness.050 in (1.30 mm)
Case length2.520 in (64 mm)
Overall length3.346 in (85 mm)
Primer typeLarge rifle magnum
Ballistic performance
Bullet mass/typeVelocityEnergy
250 gr (16 g) Bonded SP2,756 ft/s (840 m/s)4,217 ft⋅lbf (5,717 J)

The .358 Norma Magnum is a rifle cartridge introduced in 1959 by Norma. The cartridge is closely related to the .308 Norma Magnum and both cartridges share the same case head dimensions as the .300 H&H Magnum, but have far less body taper, resulting in the same internal capacity in a shorter case. [1] The cartridge case is the longest that will comfortably fit in a standard Mauser action, or any rifle action designed to chamber the .30-06. The .358 NM was the first .35 caliber cartridge commercially developed and sold to the American market since the decline of the .35 Newton in the late 1920s.

Contents

Uses

Though introduced by a Swedish company, the .358 Norma Magnum was designed for American hunters, due to Norma's chief designer Nils Kvale's close contacts with American colleagues. It is intended as a cartridge for the largest of North American game - elk, moose, brown bear, bighorn sheep, and bison, and shoots fast and flat enough to be useful to 400 to 500 yards on game the size of American elk (Wapiti). While it is needlessly powerful for deer-sized game, it can be used, at least with the heavier (and therefore slower) .358 bullets on such game without destroying too much meat. It would work well, with properly designed bullets, on most large African species. But laws prohibiting the use of bullets smaller than 0.375-inch (0.95 cm) on dangerous game, in most African countries, limit its use to "plains game," including the largest antelope, the one-ton eland. [2]

Norma took a gamble, introducing the .358 only as new empty cases for handloaders, and chambering-reamer specifications for gunsmiths who made custom rifles—there were no factory rifles available, and it was several months before factory-loaded ammunition appeared. [3] The cartridge proved immediately popular with hunters and custom gunsmiths, and within a year the Danish firm of Schultz & Larsen chambered its Model 65 for the round, and Husqvarna its Series 1600 and 1650 rifles. [4]


The .358 Norma is what is known as a "short magnum," designed to work in long rifle actions; many .30-06 rifles such as the 1903 Springfield rifle have been rebarreled to the much-more powerful .358 Norma. [5] Norma's factory ammunition for the .358 Norma drives a 250-grain bullet at 2880 fps and produces more than 4,600 ft-lbs (foot-pounds) of kinetic energy at the muzzle, while delivering a foot-ton of energy 500 yards downrange. [4]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">.460 Weatherby Magnum</span> Rifle cartridge

The .460 Weatherby Magnum is a belted, bottlenecked rifle cartridge, developed by Roy Weatherby in 1957. The cartridge is based on the .378 Weatherby Magnum necked up to accept the .458-inch (11.6 mm) bullet. The original .378 Weatherby Magnum parent case was inspired by the .416 Rigby. The .460 Weatherby Magnum was designed as an African dangerous game rifle cartridge for the hunting of heavy, thick skinned dangerous game.

A rim is an external flange that is machined, cast, molded, stamped, or pressed around the bottom of a firearms cartridge. Thus, rimmed cartridges are sometimes called "flanged" cartridges. Almost all cartridges feature an extractor or headspacing rim, in spite of the fact that some cartridges are known as "rimless cartridges". The rim may serve a number of purposes, including providing a lip for the extractor to engage, and sometimes serving to headspace the cartridge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">9.3×62mm</span> Rifle cartridge

The 9.3×62mm is a rimless, bottlenecked rifle cartridge designed in 1905 by German gunmaker Otto Bock. It is suitable for hunting medium to large game animals in Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America. At a typical velocity of 720 m/s (2362 ft/s), its 286 gr standard load balances recoil and power for effective use at 250m to 300m. The C.I.P. Maximum Average Pressure (MAP) for the 9.3×62mm is 390.00 MPa (56,565 psi).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">.458 Winchester Magnum</span> Rifle cartridge

The .458 Winchester Magnum is a belted, straight-taper cased, Big Five game rifle cartridge. It was introduced commercially in 1956 by Winchester and first chambered in the Winchester Model 70 African rifle. It was designed to compete against the .450 Nitro Express and the .470 Nitro Express cartridges used in big bore British double rifles. The .458 Winchester Magnum remains one of the most popular large game cartridges, and most major ammunition manufacturers offer a selection of .458 ammunition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">.257 Weatherby Magnum</span> Rifle cartridge

The .257 Weatherby Magnum is a .257 caliber (6.53 mm) belted bottlenecked cartridge. It is one of the original standard length magnums developed by shortening the .375 H&H Magnum case to approx. 2.5 in (64 mm). Of the cartridges developed by Roy Weatherby, the .257 Weatherby Magnum was known to have been his favorite, and the cartridge currently ranks third in Weatherby cartridge sales, after the .30-378 Weatherby Magnum and the .300 Weatherby Magnum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">.375 H&H Magnum</span> British rifle cartridge

The .375 H&H Magnum, also known as .375 Holland & Holland Magnum, is a medium-bore rifle cartridge introduced in 1912 by London based gunmaker Holland & Holland. The .375 H&H cartridge featured a belt to ensure the correct headspace, which otherwise might be unreliable, given the narrow shoulder of the cartridge case. The cartridge was designed to use cordite which was made in long strands – hence the tapered shape of the case, which, as a beneficial side effect also helped in smooth chambering and extraction from a rifle's breech.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">.300 Winchester Magnum</span> Rifle cartridge

The .300 Winchester Magnum is a belted, bottlenecked magnum rifle cartridge that was introduced by the Winchester Repeating Arms Company in 1963. The .300 Winchester Magnum is a magnum cartridge designed to fit in a standard rifle action. It is based on the .375 H&H Magnum, which has been blown out, shortened, and necked down to accept a .30 caliber (7.62 mm) bullet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">.338 Winchester Magnum</span> Rifle cartridge

The .338 Winchester Magnum is a .338 in (8.6 mm) caliber, belted, rimless, bottlenecked cartridge introduced in 1958 by Winchester Repeating Arms. It is based on the blown-out, shortened .375 H&H Magnum. The .338 in (8.6 mm) is the caliber at which medium-bore cartridges are considered to begin. The .338 Winchester Magnum is the first choice among professional brown bear guides in Alaska to back up clients where a powerful stopping caliber is required on charging bears. It is also the most popular medium-bore cartridge in North America and has the most widely available choice in rifles among medium bore rifles. The action length is the same as a .30-06, and most major rifle manufacturers in the United States chamber rifles for the cartridge including the semi-automatic Browning BAR Mk II Safari, making it a very powerful combination against charging dangerous game. The cartridge was intended for larger North American big-game species and has found use as for the hunting of thin-skinned African plains-game species.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">.30-378 Weatherby Magnum</span> Rifle cartridge

The .30-378 Weatherby Magnum is a .30 caliber, belted, bottle-necked rifle cartridge. The cartridge was developed in response to a US Army military contract in 1959. While still unreleased to the public, the cartridge went on to set world records for accuracy including the first ten 10X in 1,000 yards (910 m) benchrest shooting. It is currently the highest velocity .30 caliber factory ammunition available.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">8mm Remington Magnum</span> Rifle cartridge

The 8mm Remington Magnum belted rifle cartridge was introduced by Remington Arms Company in 1978 as a new chambering for the model 700 BDL rifle. The 8mm Remington Magnum's parent case is the .375 H&H Magnum. It is a very long and powerful cartridge that cannot be used in standard length actions, such as those that accommodate the .30-06 Springfield.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">.35 Whelen</span> US medium-bore rifle cartridge

The .35 Whelen is a powerful medium-bore rifle cartridge that does not require a magnum action or a magnum bolt-face. The parent of this cartridge is the .30-06 Springfield, which is necked-up to accept a bullet diameter of .358 in (9.1 mm). This cartridge is more powerful than its parent, especially in killing power on large game. However, with much wider availability, and the higher BC .30 caliber bullets of today, the power gap between the two cartridges has been decreased.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">8×68mm S</span>

The 8×68mm S rebated rim bottlenecked centerfire rifle cartridge was developed in the 1930s by August Schüler of the August Schüler Waffenfabrik, Suhl, Germany as a magnum hunting cartridge that would just fit and function in standard-sized Mauser 98 bolt-action rifles. The bore has the same lands and grooves diameters as the German 7.92×57mm Mauser service cartridge. This is one of the early examples where a completely new rifle cartridge was developed by a gunsmith to fit a specific popular and widespread type of rifle.

The 9.3×64mm Brenneke is a rimless bottlenecked centerfire rifle cartridge designed in 1927 by German gunmaker Wilhelm Brenneke. It is suitable for hunting medium to large game animals in Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">.404 Jeffery</span> Rifle cartridge

The .404 Jeffery is a rifle cartridge designed for hunting large, dangerous game animals, such as the "Big Five" of Africa. The cartridge is standardized by the C.I.P. and is also known as .404 Rimless Nitro Express. It was designed in 1905 by London based gunmaker W.J. Jeffery & Co to duplicate the performance of the .450/400 Nitro Express 3-inch in bolt-action rifles. The .404 Jeffery fired a bullet of .422 in (10.72 mm) diameter of either 300 gr (19 g) with a muzzle velocity of 2,600 ft/s (790 m/s) and muzzle energy of 4,500 foot-pounds force (6,100 N⋅m) or 400 gr (26 g) with a muzzle velocity of 2,150 ft/s (660 m/s) and 4,100 foot-pounds force (5,600 N⋅m) of energy. It is very effective on large game and is favored by many hunters of dangerous game. The .404 Jeffery was popular with hunters and game wardens in Africa because of its good performance with manageable recoil. By way of comparison, the .416 Rigby and .416 Remington Magnum cartridges fire .416 in (10.57 mm) bullets of 400 gr at 2,400 feet per second (730 m/s) with a muzzle energy of approximately 5,000 foot-pounds force (6,800 N⋅m). These cartridges exceed the ballistic performance of the .404 Jeffery but at the price of greater recoil and, in the case of the .416 Rigby, rifles that are more expensive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">.416 Remington Magnum</span> Rifle cartridge

The .416 Remington Magnum is a .416 caliber (10.57 mm) cartridge of belted bottlenecked design. The cartridge was intended as a dangerous game hunting cartridge and released to the public in 1989. The cartridge uses the case of the 8 mm Remington Magnum as a parent cartridge. When the cartridge was released in 1988, author Frank C. Barnes considered the .416 Remington Magnum to be the "most outstanding factory cartridge introduced in decades".

The .308 Norma Magnum (7.62×65mmBR) cartridge was created by Nils Kvale at Norma, Sweden. Like the larger .358 Norma Magnum it is based on a shortened 300 H&H magnum. It very closely resembled the wildcat .30-338 Magnum cartridge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">.375 Weatherby Magnum</span> Rifle cartridge

The .375 Weatherby Magnum (9.5×73mmB) is a medium-bore rifle cartridge. The cartridge is blown out, improved and provided with the Weatherby double radius shoulder – given the Weatherby treatment – version of the .375 H&H Magnum. Unlike other improved versions of the .375 H&H Magnum like the .375 Ackley Improved, the .375 Weatherby Magnum is not a wildcat and existed as a proprietary cartridge until the CIP published specifications for the cartridge.

The .416 Taylor is a rifle cartridge. According to Ken Waters in Pet Loads, it was created by Robert Chatfield-Taylor in the early 1970s, with the first rifle in this caliber being a factory barreled Winchester Model 70. The case is based on the .458 Winchester Magnum necked down to accept .416 caliber bullets.

The .300 Ruger Compact Magnum or .300 RCM is a rimless, short-length rifle cartridge designed for the hunting of Medium-to-Large-sized North American game.

References

  1. Kvale, Nils; Kulor, krut och älgar. Norma, Åmotfors, 1963.
  2. Massaro, Philip P. (22 June 2015). Understanding Ballistics: Complete Guide to Bullet Selection. Iola, Wisconsin: F+W Media. pp. 142–143. ISBN   978-1-4402-4340-0.
  3. Speer Reloading Manual for rifle and pistol (10 ed.). Idaho: Omark. 1979. p. 293.
  4. 1 2 Mann, Richard A. (7 September 2012). Cartridges of the World: A Complete Illustrated Reference for More Than 1,500 Cartridges. Iola, Wisconsin: Gun Digest Books. pp. 481–482. ISBN   978-1-4402-3063-9.
  5. Simpson, Layne (24 February 2005). Layne Simpson's Shooter's Handbook: 600 Questions Answered. Iola, Wisconsin: Krause Publications. pp. 75–76. ISBN   0-87349-939-5.

Norma