Category: Ammo
The 264 Winchester Magnum is a 6.5mm cartridge that was ahead of its time when created in 1958. It slipped into a coma in the mid-1960s and has been at death’s door ever since.
But it could revive, perhaps even thrive because it produces better ballistics than all but one or two of the current crop of 6.5mms.
Given today’s mania over all things 6.5mm, the 264 Winchester Magnum should be a top performer in these long-reach hunting rifles everyone seems to covet. This belted magnum cartridge bests the 6.5 Creedmoor by about 400 fps.
That’s like stepping from a 308 Winchester to a 300 Winchester Magnum in performance improvement. If you want a 6.5mm with flat trajectory, maximum power, and minimum wind deflection, you want a closer look at the 264 Win. Mag.
Despite it’s 21st century ballistic performance, the 264 Win. Mag. is old. Many would say doddering. They’d be wrong. With today’s powders and bullets, it could finally realize its rich potential. Before that can happen, however, more shooters need to understand the cartridge.
And more ammunition manufacturers need to begin loading to reach that potential. Currently Winchester doesn’t even come close, limiting its 264 Win. Mag. to just one load, a 140-grain Power Point (B.C. .384) at 3,030 fps. Nosler does a much better job with a variety of great loads featuring bullets from 100-grains to 140-grains. Hornady has one load pushing a 140-grain InterLock with a B.C. of .465.
This is an adequate start, but a good handloader will get the most from the 264 Win. Mag. because, ballistically, anything the 6.5 Creedmoor can do, the 264 Winchester Magnum can blow out of the water.
The quickest route to appreciating the 264 Winchester Magnum is through the 7mm Remington Magnum. Both cartridges were formed from the belted 375 H&H Magnum case.
You can nit pick and say it was the 300 H&H Magnum case, but that was itself squeezed down from the 375 case. What matters is the head diameter, that belt around it, and the basic body diameter. You can easily reshape the length, neck diameter, shoulder angle, and taper of a case, but not its head diameter.
The belted .532-inch head of Holland & Holland’s 375 of 1912 is considerably wider than the .473-inch head of the 30-06 Springfield, which is what the 6.5 Creedmoor stands on. The 264 Win. Mag. case is .58-inch longer than the Creedmoor, too. It fits the same actions as the 270 Win. and 30-06. Bigger case, more powder… Boom. There you go.
Roy Weatherby mined this volume beginning with his 270 Wby. Mag. in 1943. Winchester came to the 375 belted magnum party in 1956 with the release of its 458 Win. Mag. They straightened the 375’s walls and cut its length to 2.5” for an easy fit into Model 70 magazines.
In 1958 they necked this big case down to create the 338 Win. Mag. and then necked it even smaller to make the 264 Win. Mag. Few hit the streets until 1959, but then…
Right away this “overbore” belted magnum created a stir. It came in a M70 Westerner rifle with a 26-inch barrel. Winchester advertised muzzle velocity at 3,200 fps with a 140-grain, .264” diameter bullet. SAAMI specifications for the cartridge allowed it a maximum pressure of 64,000 psi, same as the 300 Win. Mag. which came later.
With these numbers, the 264 Winchester Magnum was the immediate long-range, high-velocity, flat-trajectory answer to the western hunter’s prayers. And it came in affordable M70 rifles. The cartridge and rifle enjoyed immediate success and everyone was happy until…
Remington unleashed its 7mm Rem. Mag. It was 1962, the same year the first Wal-Mart opened, John Glenn first orbited the Earth, Marylin Monroe died, and Decca Records turned down the Beatles.
Nobody appeared to turn down the 7mm Rem. Mag. Here was the same belted magnum case, same length, and same shoulder slope as the 264 Winchester Magnum. Just a slightly wider neck, one that would hold a .284” bullet. Subtract .264 from .284 and you enjoy a mere .020” diameter advantage with 7mm Rem. Mag. bullets.
Doesn’t seem like much, but Remington wisely offered its new 7mm magnum with bullets as heavy as 175-grains. To hunters familiar with 150- to 180-grain bullets in 270 Winchesters and 30-06 Springfields, that sounded like serious elk, moose, and bear medicine. Winchester’s heaviest (140-grain) .264 bullet didn’t quite match up.
It probably didn’t help that Remington was chambering its new 7mm in its equally new M700 rifle advertised as “the world’s strongest” (three rings of steel surrounded the cartridge head.) If you didn’t mind a push-feed bolt action, the 7mm Rem. Mag. was an easy pick. Throw in the more convenient 24-inch barrel of the 7mm and it was no contest.
At about this same time so many bullets had already scorched the barrels of 264 Winchester Magnums that shooters began to notice early accuracy declines. Many were shooting the rifles fast and furiously at various rodents. After all, the 264 Win. Mag. could fire 85-grain hollow points 3,700 fps and 100-grain projectiles 3,600 fps.
With such light bullets, recoil wasn’t bad in an 8-pound rifle, just 15.4 f-p of free recoil energy compared to 20 f-p of punch with a 140-grain bullet. There’s nothing like blasting big doses of hot powder down a narrow bore in rapid succession to encourage throat erosion. The 264 Winchester Magnum got branded a barrel burner and was soon placed on life support.
But that was then and this is now. The incredible popularity of the 6.5 Creedmoor has inspired interest in any and all cartridges that spit a .264” bullet. Today we have the 26 Nosler and 6.5-300 Wby. Mag. Both of these burn much more powder in much larger cases than does the 264 Win. Mag. This gives them roughly a 100- to 150-fps muzzle velocity advantage over the 264 Win. Mag. But they also raise an important question…
If the 264 Winchester Magnum is a “barrel burner,” what should we call these larger cartridges? Barrel vaporizers?
While we are questioning speed, powder consumption, and barrel life, let’s address this issue with the 264 Winchester Magnum versus the 6.5 Creedmoor. One of the major selling points of the CM is its conservative consumption of powder and concomitant light touch on bores.
On average 6.5 CM barrels are supposed to maintain stellar accuracy through 2,000 to 3,000 shots, depending on the barrel steel and how “hot” the barrel was shot. In comparison some 308 Win. barrels have been reported to remain acceptably accurate for 5,000 shots, some 243 Winchesters just 2,000 shots, 25-06 Rems. 1,500 to 2,500 shots.
I’ve heard claims of 600 to 1,000 shots for the 26 Nosler, 1,000 to as many as 2,500 for 264 Win. Mags. This all varies depending on the barrel, whether it was cryo-treated, and how quickly subsequent shots are sent down the tube. The hotter you shoot them, the faster they deteriorate.
Obviously, shooters must ask themselves what they value most in a rifle. If you want to shoot 20 rounds in a minute and 200 rounds in a day, you don’t want a fire-breathing magnum.
If you want the flattest trajectory, least wind deflection, and most downrange energy for terminating bucks and bulls, you do want the larger powder capacity magnum. One to three shots at game every few weeks each fall aren’t going to destroy rifle accuracy until you’ve put a decade or more of hunting behind you.
By then you should have saved up enough $ for a replacement barrel. They make those by the thousands. Someone once compared throttling back bullet speed to driving your truck 20 mph so the tires would last longer.
Another consideration is how far you wish to target game and whether or not you use a laser rangefinder. Our ability to precisely measure distance-to-target contributes more to the success of long range shooting than the fastest magnum and highest B.C bullets.
What do we care if we dial an extra few MOA or select sub-reticle 6 instead of 4 to score on a long poke? Now, if you’re old school and like to hunt with MPBR, the flattest shooting magnum can make a big difference.
With a 6.5 Creedmoor sending a B.C. .529 bullet at 2,700 fps, you can aim dead center on a 10-inch target and hit it clear out to 334 yards. Send that same bullet 3,021 fps from a 264 Win. Mag. and you stay on target all the way to 372 yards.
By the way, all these 6.5mm cartridges shoot the same (.264”) bullets. The only differences among all them are powder capacity, head and body size, Cartridge Overall Length, and cost.
Go with the short ones if you find benefit in a short bolt throw and lighter, more compact rifle at lower cost per loaded box. Go with the long ones if you want maximum ballistic performance and hang the cost. Go small and short if you want long barrel life, big and long if you want – you guessed it — maximum ballistic performance.
Stated another way, when shopping for ballistic performance in a 6.5mm hunting cartridge, the main thing to compare are average muzzle velocities with any bullet weight.
Today’s fashion is to fling the longest projectile with the highest B.C.s, so let’s compare some MVs using a reasonably high B.C. Nosler Custom Competition 140-grain match bullet. There are some 2- to 7-grain heavier hunting bullets out there, but this is close enough for consistent comparisons.
We will take this opportunity to gently chide our bullet makers to raise the weight limit on high B.C. .264-caliber bullets so we can enjoy the long range possibilities with our higher velocity 6.5mms.
If they can stretch .284 (7mm) bullets to 180-grains, surely they can get .264s to 160-grains. In conformations like Berger VLD’s, Hornady ELDs or Nosler AccuBond LongRanges, B.C.s might approach an incredible .700.
But I’m a hunter, not a metallurgist/bullet maker. Perhaps they can’t draw jackets long enough for that. Longer bullets will require faster twist barrels. You might want to order your 264 Win. Mag. with a 1:8 or even 1:7 twist barrel. Sierra recently announced an exciting new 150-grain Hollow Point Boat Tail MatchKing.
It needs a 1:7.5 twist or faster. Matrix Ballistics recommends 1:8 twist for both its VLD 150-grain Match bullet and its 160-grain hunting bullet. Wait a minute! 160-grain? They can build one! And it’s rated B.C. .685. That would be one to try on a 264 Win. Mag. Serious elk, moose, kudu hammer.
Do be aware that some magnum 6.5 shooters are reporting extreme copper fouling with some bullets. They’re also seeing disintegration of light, thin-jacketed bullets at extreme velocities. When you start playing the extreme velocity game, you can find yourself skating thin ice.
For comparison purposes, here are some popular 6.5 cartridges showing muzzle velocities with 140-grain bullet (B.C. 529) taken from Nosler Reloading Guide 7. Barrel lengths vary. All zeroed at 250 yards. 500-yard ballistic performance data includes 10 mph right-angle wind.
Other Reloading Guides may list different top end velocities. Recoil energies are calculated in an 8-pound rifle. Shooters should realize that these top MVs can vary as much as 100 fps from barrel to barrel, rifle to rifle, but this should provide a good basis for comparison.
Cartridge M.V. 500-yd drop “ /Drift “ /Energy fp. Free Recoil Energy/fp
6.5 Creedmoor 2730 -38/16.2/1252 12.34 fp
6.5×55 Swede 2790 -36/15.7/1316 14.19 fp
260 Rem. 2830 -35.2/15.3/1359 13.24 fp
6.5-06 2906 -33/14.7/1444 14.59 fp
6.5-284 Norma 2953 -32/14.4/1497 15.30 fp
6.5 PRC 960 -31.8/14.4/1505 16.96 fp
264 Win. Mag. 3021 -30/14/1576 16.95 fp
6.5 Rem. Mag. 3059 -29.6/13.7/1621 17.37 fp
26 Nosler 3300 -25/12.3/1918 26.25 fp
6.5-300 Wby. Mag. 3395 -23.5/11.9/2041 26.40 fp
As always, burning ever more powder behind a given diameter bullet increases costs in ammo, recoil, noise, and barrel life. But it also maximizes ballistic performance.
It’s up to each individual shooter to determine what works for him or her. From where I sit, the old 264 Win. Mag. is starting to look like a pretty reasonable, middle-of-the-road cartridge in the 6.5mm cartridge line up.
If you’re not fixated on extreme barrel life, short-action rifles or joining the 6.5 Creedmoor flock, the under-appreciated 264 Win. Mag. might be your baby. Just don’t expect to find rifles or ammo on every corner or at discount prices. Check premium brands and semi-custom rifles like Fierce, Bergara, Rifles, Inc., Cooper, Hill Country Rifles, Bansner, etc.
The 264 Winchester Magnum is a cartridge for serious riflemen/women who appreciate its power and reach in the pursuit of big game.
I wouldn’t call it a good option for plinking or high-volume target shooting. If I found a used rifle in good condition at a good price and it was chambered 264 Win. Mag., I’d probably buy it, especially if it was a pre-64 Winchester M70. (You can read about another great 6.5mm option, the 6.5-284 Norma, in this article. )
Much as author Ron Spomer admires the 6.5mm cartridges, he’s used them the least for his hunting. He hopes to change that over the next few seasons.
There are many guns designed and marketed to the hunting folks that are really good guns and are recognized as such.
However, on the other side there are also a number of highly overrated guns that do not live up to their reputations.
They used to be great but are now just trucking along on their past reputation or living off their fans nostalgia.
Here are the guns for hunting that we see as not measuring up to the media hype due to poor performances.
- Weatherby Magnum Cartridge
Weatherby has some fine high velocity magnum cartridges such as: .270, .300, .378 and .460 magnum.
The most popular among hunters were .257 Weatherby, .300 and .30-378 Weatherby. - These cartridges provide a flat shooting cartridge that can still hit hard at long range. A necessary cartridge for hunting elk, mule deer, sheep and mountain goats.
However, it is also true that the gap in performance between the Weatherby magnums and their closest competitors is often overstated. - For instances, the .300 Weatherby Magnum shoots a 180gr bullet about 300 feet per second faster than the .300 Winchester Magnum.
- Yes, it shoots a little bit flatter and hit a little bit harder, but no elk will be able to tell the difference and I’ll bet that there isn’t much you can do with the .300 Weatherby that you can’t do with the .300 Win Mag.
- Post-2007 Marlin 1895
This Marlin is a big bore gun commonly used by hunters going after large tough game in North America. This gun is also known as the “guide gun”, used to defend against an angry bear at close range is ideal.
That reputation helped Marlin sell guns in the market. However, since 2007 Marlin was acquired by Remington. The quality assurance declined, complaints of wood on the stock and feeding malfunctions reports begin pouring in.
If you’re looking to still get a lever action 1895 Marlin, get it before the 2007 production. - Holland & Holland Double Rifle
Double barreled firearms first became widespread during the days of the muzzleloader.
The ability to fire two shots quickly without the lengthy reloading process required by a muzzleloader is a great advantage for hunters.
Breech loading double rifles, chambered in big bore cartridges like the .450/400 and .577 Black Powder and Nitro Express rounds were popular in the late 1800s and early 1900s among hunters in India and Africa hunting large species of dangerous game like tiger, buffalo, and elephant.
These rifles were a big deal to have and proved their worth during these close range encounters.
Holland & Holland rifles were (and still are) regarded as the the cream of the crop among double rifles. They were advertised as fully hand made by master gun makers that put in 850 man-hours of work that were put into each rifle.
One of the custom feature on their double rifles was the custom built size specifications this allowed the rifle to fit the shooter and points perfectly. Thus, this rifle became known as the most reliable and best “feeling” rifles available.
First downside to this rifle is its small magazine capacity.
A competent shooter with a bolt action can get off two shots no problem plus modern bolt-action rifle can hold up to 5 big bore cartridges in the magazine.
Second downside is that being a great equalizer at close range, its not that great at 50 plus yards whereas a different rifle can do a better job.
Third downside is the weight of this beast comes in at 13 pound. The heaviness was great for reducing the recoil, but when you have to lug it for 10-20 miles through the woods, its not likely for most hunters.
Last downside is the price unless you’re Bill Gates. Holland double rifle goes for $100,000 and every year the price keeps going up.
There you have it, a few overpriced hunting guns. What other overpriced hunting guns have you come across?
By and large, we shooters seem to gravitate to the middle of the road; to bland, yet predictable, mediocrity. In rifle cartridges, we usually take the safe route and .30-caliber has emerged as the American shooter’s choice.
The most popular cartridges for hunting and even target shooting begin and end with the thirties. Sure, we “experiment” a bit with other bore sizes, but in the end it always comes back to the .30 caliber. Moderate, safe, bland and predictable.
Sadly, my favorite bullet diameter, the .35 caliber, doesn’t even rate a blip on the American shooter’s radar screen. Yet, that bore diameter produces some of the best hunting cartridges available.
Of course, not all .35-caliber cartridges approach greatness. The quest for an acceptable .35 has inspired such impotent wastes as the .35 Winchester Self Loader, once labeled a candidate for the title: “World’s Most Useless Center-Fire Rifle Cartridge.”
Its spawn, the .351 Winchester Self Loader, fared a little better, but it was never in danger of greatness. It’s said that the French used it in World War I, but it probably didn’t see much action.
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 Clyde’s automobile (although that accolade is in question). I have one, of course, and it is fun to shoot, but I would never use it on a serious big-game hunt.
There have been many others, such as the .35-30 Maynard (both in the 1865 and the 1882 versions) and .35-40 Maynard.
I’ll bet it’s been awhile since those cartridges have been seen in a hunting camp. The .35 Win., .35 Newton and .350 Griffin & Howe Mag. all were more powerful-and may have been excellent hunting cartridges-but they are gone; rejected by the shooting public and banished to the junk heap of obsolescence.
The sad truth is that the active list of current .35-caliber rifles and cartridges is tragically short.
.35 Remington
This stumpy little cartridge was introduced to the hunting public in 1908 and is the only surviving member of the early class of Remington rimless cartridges. It arrived with three other cartridges designed to compete with Winchester’s popular lever-action lineup. The .25 Rem., .30 Rem. and .32 Rem. were to go head to head with the .25-35 Win., .30-30 Win. and the .32 Win. Spl.
Why the .35 Rem. was included in that party is a mystery, as it had no Winchester counterpart. Perhaps that’s why it has survived. You can never lead if you always follow; the other cartridges were designed to chase Winchester’s success, while the .35 Rem. plowed fresh ground. The .35 Rem. was also the only cartridge of that original Remington family that was based on a different parent case.
The .35 Rem. was initially chambered in Remington’s Model 8 autoloader, soon followed by the Model 14 pump-action. In the years since, the .35 Rem. has been offered in just about every rifle action type ever conceived and a few handguns. Sadly, I can’t find a single major gunmaker chambering this cartridge today.
The .35 Rem. pushes a 200-grain bullet to just more than 2000 f.p.s. and is probably a better deer and black bear cartridge at “woods ranges” than the more popular .30-30 Win. 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. Hornady’s LEVERevolution pushes the performance up a notch with a 200-grain pointed bullet at 2225 f.p.s.
On those gray, moody November days when I am feeling blue I take my Remington Model 141 pump-action rifle in .35 Rem. into the deer woods, and I pine for what could have been.
.356 Winchester
If the .35 Rem. is on the threatened list, this one is on a path to extinction. Back in 1983 Winchester introduced the .356 Win. as a way to boost the power of the Model 94 lever-action rifle. The .356 Win. offered the performance level of the .358 Win. in a rimmed cartridge that would work in a lever-action rifle. Everybody agrees that the .358 Win. is a wonderful cartridge, but nobody buys them. It was predictable that the .356 Win. would follow that tradition.
I have a .356 Win. in the Big Bore Model 94. It is very accurate, easy to carry and fast on the target. With a 200-grain bullet at 2460 f.p.s., it is a heavy-hitter on whitetails. Every time I use it I ask myself, “What’s not to like?” Beats me, but nobody liked it enough to keep it in production. Winchester still offers ammunition, but the guns are history.
.358 Winchester
Loved by gun guys and rejected by the huddled masses, this is perhaps the most underappreciated cartridge of them all. The .358 Win. was introduced in 1955. The .358 Win. was simply a .308 Win. necked up to .35 caliber. It is capable of driving a
200-grain bullet to almost 2500 f.p.s. and is a good cartridge for hunting the thick woods for deer, hogs, black bear or even elk.
It was introduced in the bolt-action Model 70 in which it was trustworthy, but boring. But when Winchester chambered the .358 the following year in its unique lever-action, the Model 88, it became a really interesting cartridge.
For a while Savage chambered it in the Model 99, and I am still looking for one I can afford. Right now, I think that the Browning BLR lever-action rifle is the only production gun left on the market in .358 Win.
Winchester and Hornady both offer 200-grain loads at 2475 f.p.s. From the “Green Goblin” (a bolt-action rifle I built on a Remington action), both will produce groups that are sub-minute-of-angle.
.350 Remington Magnum
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. The Remington Model 600 Magnum rifle, along with the cartridge it birthed, was just such a product. As many hunters know, the Remington Model 600 carbine, which was introduced in 1964, was one of the first short, light, bolt-action rifles to find success with deer hunters. When chambered for cartridges such as the .243 Win., 6 mm Rem., .308 Win. and .35 Rem., it was an excellent woods rifle for hunting whitetails. In 1965 Remington took it to the next level with the introduction of the Model 600 Magnum Carbine. This new model featured two new cartridges, the .350 Rem. Mag. and the 6.5 mm Rem. Mag. They truly were ahead of their time, as they were short magnums back when being a short magnum wasn’t cool. The trouble is, they didn’t sell.
The 600 Magnum suffered from a barrel that was too short at 18½ inches. In 1968 the 600 Magnum was replaced by the Model 660 Magnum, which featured a 20-inch barrel, but it was never a big seller, and Remington dropped the rifles.
The ammunition hung on a while longer, but eventually Big Green abandoned her babies and stopped making both cartridges. But in 2003 Remington decided to attempt a resurrection. The .350 Rem. Mag. is still not burning up the sales records, so maybe ahead of its time is the wrong description. It’s a decent cartridge, but American hunters just won’t flock to it.
The Remington Model 673 Guide Rifle was chambered in .350 Rem. Mag. The barrel is a full 22 inches, like it always should have been, but the foolish design with the huge “shark fin” front sight turned hunters off, and it was dropped.
Remington currently lists a Model 7 rifle with a 20-inch barrel; today’s version of the 600 in .350 Rem. Mag., and I think that’s the only current production rifle in that cartridge. I have one, and I like it a lot. It shoots well and is light and easy to carry while hunting. I have shot a few critters, including a tough South Texas Nilgai, and have been happy with the performance. Ruger made a few bolt-actions some years back, and Remington made rifles in the 700 Classic line, but they are long gone.
Remington loads a 200-grain PSP Core-Lokt bullet at a muzzle velocity of 2775 f.p.s. Nosler offers the .350 Rem. Mag. in its NoslerCustom line with a 225-grain Partition bullet at 2550 f.p.s. And Barnes makes a 200-grain TSX bullet designed for this cartridge that, when handloaded to 2850 f.p.s., allows the .350 Rem. Mag. to achieve its potential.
.35 Whelen
The origins of the .35 Whelen are controversial even today. The long accepted story was that James V. Howe developed the cartridge in 1922 and named it in honor of his friend, gunwriter Col. Townsend Whelen. That version is in some dispute, with evidence that Whelen himself developed the cartridge or at least worked with Howe on its development. All we do know for sure is that it was either Howe or Whelen, or both, who necked the .30-’06 Sprg. up to 0.358 inches and dubbed it “the poor man’s magnum.”
In 1987 Remington made an honest cartridge out of the .35 Whelen. The company has chambered several rifles in the cartridge including models in bolt-action, pump-action and semi-automatic. Ruger briefly chambered the M77 rifle in .35 Whelen. Also H&R 1871, Inc., offered single-shot rifles in .35 Whelen from 1994 to 1996. They have almost all abandoned the cartridge. The only rifles I can find in production are from Nosler, Remington and CVA.
The ammunition situation is a little better than the rifles. Remington continues to offer factory ammo, and its 200-grain factory load has a muzzle velocity of 2675 f.p.s., while the 250-grain load’s muzzle velocity is 2400 f.p.s. Federal loads the 225-grain Trophy Bonded Bear Claw bullet with a muzzle velocity of 2600 f.p.s. Fusion Ammo has a 200-grain with a muzzle velocity of 2800 f.p.s. Hornady has a Superformance load with a 200-grain SP at 2910 f.p.s. Barnes has a Vor-TX load with a 180-grain TSX bullet and a muzzle velocity of 2900 f.p.s. Nosler has three loads in its Custom line. They include both the AccuBond and the Partition 225-grain bullets with a muzzle velocity of 2800 f.p.s. and a 250-grain Partition load with a muzzle velocity of 2550 f.p.s.
If you match the bullet to the game, this is one of the all-time great hunting cartridges. I have used the .35 Whelen on critters from bobcats to moose. Included in that have been a whole bunch of deer, hogs and a bear or two. It has never failed me. I believe it never will.
I own several rifles in this cartridge and all my .35 Whelen rifles are accurate. With the best loads, my Remington Model 700 is one-hole accurate. With a 200-grain bullet the .35 Whelen actually shoots a bit flatter than the .30-’06 Sprg. with a similar 180-grain bullet. The .35 Whelen is accurate, hits hard, penetrates deep, shoots flat and recoils mildly. Why the public abandoned it so quickly is a mystery to me.
.358 Norma Magnum
The .358 Norma Mag. was designed for the American market, but sadly no American riflemaker ever chambered the cartridge in a cataloged gun. It’s often thought that if they had it would have gained popularity over the .338 Win. Mag.They have almost identical case capacity, but the .358 Norma Mag. can drive the same weight bullet a bit faster. One can almost hear the echoes of Norma Mag. crying, “My kingdom for a rifle.”
The .358 Norma Mag. factory load is a 250-grain Oryx bullet listed with a muzzle velocity of 2723 f.p.s. That load actually produced 2825 f.p.s. from my E.R. Shaw rifle’s 24-inch barrel. Norma offers factory ammunition, E.R. Shaw will make a rifle, as will any other custom, or semi-custom, riflemaker.
If we compare the .300 Win. Mag. loaded with a 180-grain Oryx bullet to the .358 Norma Mag. with a 250-grain Oryx bullet-both with a 200-yd. zero-we see that contrary to popular belief, a 35-caliber can be a long-range cartridge. At 300 yds., the .358 Norma impacts only 0.96″ lower than the .300 Win. At 400 yds., the .358 Norma impacts 3.1 inches lower than the .300 Win. Mag. The .358 has 24 percent more energy at the muzzle than the .300 Win. Mag. At 300 yards, it has 19 percent more energy than the .300 Win. Mag.-all with a bigger, heavier bullet that will punch a bigger hole and penetrate deeper. I have used this cartridge on moose with excellent results. I would also expect it to handle anything in North America from deer to the big bears.
While the American mainstream won’t accept the .35, they are not unloved. Gun guys recognize the potential in the .358. Perhaps that’s how it should be, the masses rarely embrace true greatness. No matter if it’s books, art or hunting cartridges, it’s only those with a deep understanding of the subject who can fully understand the greatness often buried in obscurity.