I have needed to reach 400 yards, but never a whole bunch farther. 358 norma mag is a rarer bird but as I understand fire forming 300 win mag. Any of these will handle just about any big game one might hunt with a .358 Norma, where you want to employ its ample knockdown power. I have used this cartridge on moose with excellent results. Federal loads the 225-grain Trophy Bonded Bear Claw bullet with a muzzle velocity of 2600 f.p.s. That is quite a few cartridges considering that there is not a single best selling rifle cartridge in the bunch. Hunting Shack 358NORMA2N Game King 358 Norma 225 gr Sierra GameKing Spitzer Boat-Tail - 20rd Box. Can Coolers | An Official Journal Of The NRA, Find More Great NRA Publications Perfect For Every Interest, Discover Everything That The NRA Has To Offer. 10 GA. and the 6.5 mm Rem. Let's also compare the .358 with the other end of the spectrum. The 338/06 when compared to the .35 Whelen only beats it with the lighter bullets and not by much. The origins of the .35 Whelen are controversial even today. Most ammunition makers have a 200-grain load, and Remington also has a 150-grain load with a muzzle velocity of 2300 f.p.s. was designed for the American market, but sadly no American riflemaker ever chambered the cartridge in a cataloged gun. I could get brass easy from each by forming parent cases, 308 and 30-06. Compare practically any small bore cartridge (.32 caliber or less) with a .35 caliber cartridge of similar powder capacity and the result is pretty much the same. Head to the range this week with American Rifleman staff as they discuss a trim little repeater from Savage Arms that comes chambered for the .22 WMR cartridge. With todays interest in long-range shooting, big scopes are in, but powerful scopes add weight. The .358 Win. Back in the late 70's I picked up a custom 1903 in 358 Norma Mag, awesome rifle, very accurate and it put a thump on deer, I bought it hopping to get a moose tag back in MN, never did and sold the rifle. Kevin Steele of Petersen's HUNTING is at the Streamlight booth at SHOT Show 2023 to go over the Bear Trap light from Streamlight. We've got you covered. .450 Nitro Express .17 Hornet 7mm STW 6.8 Western .375 Ruger .223 Remington6.5x55 Swedish .416 Remington Magnum .300 Winchester Short Magnum 28 Nosler 6.5 PRC .22 WMR .458 Winchester Magnum .204 Ruger .22 Hornet .280 Ackley Improved .240 Weatherby Magnum .458 Lott.264 Winchester Magnum.348 Winchester.33 Nosler.260 Remington.30-30 Winchester.416 Rigby.358 Norma Magnum.22 LR7mm-08 Remington8mm Remington Magnum.338 Federal.224 Valkyrie.338-06 A-Square9.3x62mm Mauser.257 Weatherby Magnum.45-70 Government.300 H&H Magnum.25-06 Remington.30-06 Springfield6.5 Creedmoor.300 Remington Ultra Magnum7mm Remington Magnum.470 Nitro Express.280 Remington.300 Winchester Magnum.270 Winchester.222 Remington.45 ACP.404 Jeffery.44 Remington Magnum.41 Remington Magnum.243 Winchester.338 Winchester Magnum.357 S&W Magnum6.5-284 Norma8x57 Mauser.38 Smith & Wesson Special7x57mm Mauser9mm Luger.35 Whelen.454 Casull.375 H&H Magnum.45 Colt.22-250 Remington10mm Auto.308 Winchester. After ten years of not getting drawn I sold it it was too much gun for most of my hunting. Sierras 225-grain spitzer boat-tail, designed for the .35 Whelen, is a stellar performer in the .358 Norma. up to 0.358 inches and dubbed it the poor mans magnum.. Copyright 2023 National Rifle Association, Women On Target Instructional Shooting Clinics, Volunteer At The Great American Outdoor Show, Marion P. 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It will work in this action with ease and will be plenty cheap to feed and use if one simply sizes up 338 brass and goes along thier happy way. And the hunter must have full confidence in his or her choice. Ive obviously left the door wide open. Choose at least medium weight for caliber: 140 grains in 6.5mm and the lighter 7mms; 140 and 150 grains in .270s; 150 to 160 grains in faster 7mms; 165 or 180 grains in .30 calibers. A failed product is often said to be ahead of its time, which is usually just a polite way of saying nobody wanted to buy it. Real world, the Norma bitchslaps brown bears and moose as convincingly as the 375H&H. The .308 Winchester is a fine elk cartridge, and the grand old .30-06, with a bit more velocity and energy, is better. it is one nice gun and made for tight places. At 300 yds., the .358 Norma impacts only 0.96" lower than the .300 Win. Where the .338 Winchester drives its 250-grain bullet to 2650 fps, the .358 Norma beats that figure by 100 fps or so, delivering over 4,200 ft.-lbs. Where does the .358 Norma sit, in comparison to the more popular cartridges in its class? The .35's are just plain superior for CXP3 class game. They truly were ahead of their time, as they were short magnums back when being a short magnum wasnt cool. The .358 Norma Magnum, like the .358 Shooting Times Alaskan, generates a considerable amount of energy, but due to the caliber restrictions for dangerous game of most of the African countries, it falls shy of the markthe .375-inch bore is minimum for many countries. In the 80s, when Jack Carter was making his Trophy Bonded Bearclaw bullet by hand, I did some elk hunting with the 240-grain .375 version. It was verry expensive to shoot, lots of powder and expensive bullets and brass. In cartridges, as in boxing, what goes on behind the scenes often determines the outcome. The Remington Model 673 Guide Rifle was chambered in .350 Rem. Looking for previous installments of our "Behind the Bullet" series? An elk offers a large target, so extreme magnification shouldnt be necessary. 35 Whelen. Powders such as IMRs Trail Boss, Accurates 5744 and IMRs discontinued SR-4759 all work with lighter bullets, and sometimes accuracy is very good, even if the gas seal is not. Compare the Queen of the .35's, the .350 Remington Magnum--the original short (.308 length) magnum cartridge--with the new generation of short action magnums. It, as you know, can be loadeddown to be a 35 Whelen but the reverse is not true. Among my own favorites for the .358 Norma are the Nosler Partitions in both 225 and 250 grains, Swift A-Frames (225, 250, 280) and various Woodleighs, including the unique 310-grain Weldcore. That list, by the way, is in ascending order of power. I think Jack OConnor, the great champion of the .270, would agree. The .338-inch fans cite the advantage of the higher sectional density figures, while the .358-inch camp favors the better frontal diameter of the larger bore. To get started, click the link below to visit mymagnow.com and learn how to access your digital magazine. Also, after a few dozen elk hunts, Ive seen many taken effectively with lighter cartridges. Elk bullets must be tough enough to provide adequate penetration. This is comparable killing power to the long .375 H&H Magnum with a 300 grain bullet (ME 4331 ft. The .35 Whelen fires a larger .358 bullet and is therefore right at the cusp of being a big game caliber and is capable of handling everything except . in a rimmed cartridge that would work in a lever-action rifle. One can almost hear the echoes of Norma Mag. For a while Savage chambered it in the Model 99, and I am still looking for one I can afford. For example, take the most powerful of the factory standardized .35's, the .358 Norma Magnum. From there, you can work up until you find a load that gives you the accuracy and velocity you want. exlcusive user. .50 BMG. The "U.S. Rifle, Caliber .30, Model of 1903," better-known as the M1903 Springfield, has become one of the most popular U.S. military small arms to collect. Heeding the advice of American friends, Kvale worked on what would become the .358 Norma Magnum. but it does have the 22" barrel and the irons , looks and feels like a MTN rifle to me. The .350 Remington Magnum is the only cartridge that appears on both lists of current and obsolete calibers. from the 24" barrel of a Marlin 336XLR rifle. This is because it was discontinued in the mid-1970s, and reintroduced by Remington in 2003. Bottles & 12-oz. So, I've hunted elk with less ambitious rounds. The classic .350 Rigby Magnum load pushes a .358-inch diameter 225-grain bullet to a muzzle velocity of 2625 fps for 3,440 ft.-lbs. On a 600 pound animal like a big bull elk the optimum game range of the .308 (180 grain bullet at a MV of 2610 fps) is a useful 175 yards. Hornadys LEVERevolution pushes the performance up a notch with a 200-grain pointed bullet at 2225 f.p.s. A 358Norma is a good fit for this action. The company has chambered several rifles in the cartridge including models in bolt-action, pump-action and semi-automatic. The .35 Rem. It is a good choice for shooters who are very sensitive to recoil, since its free recoil energy is only about 4.5 ft. lbs. Blocker Outdoors Finisher gloves, headcovers and other accessories are available in Mossy Oak Bottomland and Mossy Oak Obsession NWTF camouflage patterns to match various turkey hunting terrain. The hunter from afar, journeying into unfamiliar country, must also accept the pressure of a limited period of time and the knowledge that it may come down to just one chance. Mag.-all with a bigger, heavier bullet that will punch a bigger hole and penetrate deeper. Faster 6.5sthe new 6.5 PRC, the old .264, or the super-fast .26 Nosler and 6.5-300 Weatherbywill deliver more energy and open the range envelope a bit. Included in that have been a whole bunch of deer, hogs and a bear or two. Three rivals: (1) .338 Winchester Magnum, (2) .358 Norma Magnum and (3) .375 H&H. He never questioned the adequacy of his .270 for elk, nor do I, but he was also a lifelong .30-06 fan and privately conceded its superiority for elk-sized game. From limited experience of loading for two different 358 Norma Magnum rifles (a Schultz & Larson Model 65 and a Custom Sako AV) I used to neck up new Winchester 338 Win. The .357 Magnum is ideal for light game like javelina and will do for the smaller species of deer and antelope at short range. ), but with considerably less recoil. Coming from me, this conclusion may shock you, so let me give you another surprise. Moderate, safe, bland and predictable. Back in 1983 Winchester introduced the .356 Win. Follow along to see exactly how. Make no mistake, the .30-06 is a powerful cartridge, but it doesnt beat you to death and can be built in the seven- to eight-pound range. of energy at the muzzle. I am also looking at building a 358 Norma Mag on a model 110 Savage action, formerly a 300 Win mag, and start from scratch with the stock ( bedding and pillar) and make it a tolerable shooter even if a bit heavy. Copyright 2000-2023 24hourcampfire.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved. X-Vision Optics long-range ImpactThermal Scope (TS300) boasts a 640 x 480 thermal sensor that can detect big game well past 3,000 yards. Unlike either the .338 or .375, the .35 (.358-inch) has been a standard American caliber since 1900. Folks who live in elk country may consciously seek a cow for the freezer. The original Schultz & Larsens were sold without iron sights, and they were installed on my rifle afterward. Pet Loads and Handloader are registered trademarks of Wolfe Publishing Company. factory load is a 250-grain Oryx bullet listed with a muzzle velocity of 2723 f.p.s. as a way to boost the power of the Model 94 lever-action rifle. This means that the momentum of a rifle's reaction will exactly equal the momentum of the bullet and powder gasses ejected from the barrel. I am not into the current long-range fad, especially on powerful animals like elk. The full spectrum of our many 7mms, from 7mm-08 and 7x57 on up to the fastest 7mm magnums, are also fine, but they are not magical giant-slayers. Looking for previous installments of our "Behind the Bullet" series? Not only that, many different bullet moulds were made for casting .358 bullets in some of the most fanciful shapes. Mag.They have almost identical case capacity, but the .358 Norma Mag. Even so, most experienced deer hunters have pretty good ideas on appropriate rifles. was introduced in 1955. We've got you covered. .22 LR7mm-08 Remington8mm Remington Magnum.338 Federal.224 Valkyrie.338-06 A-Square9.3x62mm Mauser.257 Weatherby Magnum.45-70 Government.300 H&H Magnum.25-06 Remington.30-06 Springfield6.5 Creedmoor.300 Remington Ultra Magnum7mm Remington Magnum.470 Nitro Express.280 Remington.300 Winchester Magnum.270 Winchester.222 Remington.45 ACP.404 Jeffery.44 Remington Magnum.41 Remington Magnum.243 Winchester.338 Winchester Magnum.357 S&W Magnum6.5-284 Norma8x57 Mauser.38 Smith & Wesson Special7x57mm Mauser9 mm Luger.35 Whelen.454 Casull.375 H&H Magnum.45 Colt.22-250 Remington10mm Auto.308 Winchester. As an experiment, I shot the nilgai five or six more times with different bullets, then hauled the carcass back to the cleaning station intact and carried out a necropsy. Ive seen many elk taken cleanly with a .270 Winchester, and my own longest shot on an elk was on a big New Mexico bull at 400 yards using a .270 Winchester with a 150-grain Nosler Partitionone step and down. Barnes has a Vor-TX load with a 180-grain TSX bullet and a muzzle velocity of 2900 f.p.s. This load uses a 200 grain Flex-Tip spitzer bullet and delivers a MV of 2225 fps and ME of 2198 ft. lbs. Twenty years ago, I might have said .338 Winchester Magnum was the perfect choice for elk. Don't like Rugers much had my fill of them and now they are gone down the road. These include some of my favorites, such as the .358 Winchester and .45-70. There was a time when I questioned the adequacy of the .270 for elk. Actual weight depends on subspecies, nutrition, and age, but 600 pounds is a good starting point for grownup bulls and twice the size of an unusually large deer. Yet, that bore diameter produces some of the best hunting cartridges available. Sometimes you get a point-blank shot; other times you need to stretch it a bit farther. Ruger made a few bolt-actions some years back, and Remington made rifles in the 700 Classic line, but they are long gone. Mag. Energy figures have it knocking at the door of 375H&H. In a letter written to friend Townsend Whelen during early 1920s, Leslie Simpson-- one of the first Americans to become a professional hunter in Africa--opined that the hunting world needed a .35 caliber cartridge . However, should a hunter who enjoys using cartridges that arent among the most popular find a rifle chambered for the .358 Norma Magnum? and .32 Rem. of muzzle energy. The .358 is vastly underated as the Whelen. Theres also a mindset difference. Essentially the .338 Winchester Magnum necked up to hold .358-inch bullets, the .358 Norma Magnum made all sorts of sense to a hunter in pursuit of large game, such as elk, moose and the great bears of the north. . Then come the .30s, and now were talking business. Today, it is strictly a custom proposition unless one of the original rifles chambered for it can be found. Nils Kvaleone of the chief designers at Normahad experimented with a shortened .300 H&H case, necked to hold 8mm bullets, with the rim turned down to match the 8x57 rim diameter. Everybody agrees that the .358 Win. [quote=encorerbHmmm, makes me wonder. There is certainly no lack of .358-inch diameter bullets to choose from but brass is limited. Not necessarily top dollar everything. As a comparison, the .358 Winchester with a 250 grain bullet at 2300 fps delivers 25.4 foot-pounds of recoil from a 7.5 pound rifle. Heres a look at 10 of the most flexible long-range hunting cartridges. It is easy to forget that the .358 bore comes in an extremely varied range of twist rates from 1:16 to 1:12. Normas original spec sheet for the .358 Norma Magnum when it was released in 1959 indicated the cartridges ballistics. By coincidence, in that same year, Norma Projektilfabrik of Sweden introduced its own heavyweight champion, the .358 Norma Magnum. It was recovered in bits and pieces. There are specialized situations where close shots are the norm, but most often, the ideal elk rifle should have enough versatility for shots out to 300 yards and change. R Rocky With such a variety of bullets, you would think the skys the limit in terms of different loads, but there are other factors to consider. Today, rifles can be made very light, but that can also be overdone because light rifles are whippy and hard to control when youre out of breath and have to settle in for a quick shot. Our editors have hand-picked these essential pieces of gear to make you a more successful hunter when you hit the game trails this season. The 6.5mm Creedmoor and the old 6.5x55 are sound minimal choices, adequate to 300 yards. At 300 yards, it has 19 percent more energy than the .300 Win. I am convinced there are better tools, and theres also that matter of mindset. These work, but my thinking has changed over the years. Mark Bansner is making one for me: synthetic stock on a left-hand Sako action. The case capacity of the .350 Rigby is very similar to that of the .358 Norma Magnum, and the performance is likewise similar. Even the obscure .358 Norma Magnum is the most efficient of the belted-magnum cartridges [note - by the author's own data the 350 Remington Magnum bests the 358 Norma]. Synthetic stocks arent always lighter than wood, but they are stronger and more stable, and elk hunting can be hard on rifles. The .35 Whelen is a necked up medium bore wildcat cartridge that was created by necking up a .30-06 Springfield case which is famously overpowered for the 30-caliber bullet it propels. zero-we see that contrary to popular belief, a 35-caliber can be a long-range cartridge. This wonderful efficiency of the .35 calibers is especially remarkable when one considers that most all of these rounds are verging on obsolescence today. While the American mainstream wont accept the .35, they are not unloved. All rights reserved. Whelen would not. The norma would cost more if I had to open the bolt face. of muzzle energy. As it stands, it is most certainly on the edge of becoming obsolete. Well, it betters the velocity of the .35 Whelen by at least 200 fps, much the same as the .338 Winchester Magnum does to the .338-06. In fact, the recoil of the .358 Norma Magnum, at about 35 ft. lbs. The 358 Norma is a sure mag round, but expensive ammo and brass. Shaw will make a rifle, as will any other custom, or semi-custom, riflemaker. Elk hunting can be extremely physicalnot only steep country, but also altitude and sometimes deep snow to buck. But there is no compelling reason to consider a caliber larger than .35. It never got up. That load actually produced 2825 f.p.s. The .351 WSL did grab a bit of fame, first as a popular rifle for prison guards and then as one of the rifles used to punch a lot of holes in Bonnie and Clydes automobile (although that accolade is in question). However, that may be changing, or at least the possibility of change may exist. The rivalry between the .338-inch and .358-inch bore diameters has a considerable history; both topped out at 300 grains (at one point in time in history), and both have a lower end of 180 grains. We owe a debt of gratitude to the engineers at the British firm of Holland & Holland; though it is lost to history who exactly designed the belted magnum cartridge, the .275 and .375 Holland & Holland Magnums were game changers. With the best loads, my Remington Model 700 is one-hole accurate. I was used to the 30-06 parent cases (.270, 25-06, etc) so that is what I decided on. I bought it as a moose rifle but never got drawn in ten years. was included in that party is a mystery, as it had no Winchester counterpart. The Remington Model 600 Magnum rifle, along with the cartridge it birthed, was just such a product. The .35 Rem. Give a Gift It will kill farther than that, of course, but that is its optimum range. The bullet was the then-new Trophy Bonded 250-grain Bear Claw. This is not enough to argue about, so Im not convinced that the 7mm is better than the .270, but you can stoke it with a heavier bullet. i have a 35 whelen and love it. The .350 Magnum has a case length of 2.742 inches, and an overall cartridge length 3.44 inches, so it will feel at home in a magnum-length receiver. Id mate it with a good 180-grain bullet, top it with a one-inch-tube scope (to save weight), and go elk hunting. | Posts: 46,063. The .350 Magnum has a case length of 2.742 inches, and an overall cartridge length 3.44 inches, so it will feel at home in a magnum-length receiver. The .358 Norma can be loaded down to duplicate the performance of either of the two smaller cartridges. from my E.R. 358 Norma runs 250gr partitions at 2810 with Norma 204 powder. I have become a 35 cal. But they are not essential, and despite their effectiveness, all magnums from .30 caliber upwards generate more recoil than many folks are comfortable withand are able to shoot well.