Of the three, only the .358 Norma has not become a standard chambering. One can almost hear the echoes of Norma Mag. Winchester and Hornady both offer 200-grain loads at 2475 f.p.s. At the same time, it will do almost everything the .375 will but with vastly more versatility. The .358 Norma established its reputation in high-end hunting rifles like this Schultz & Larsen Model 65DL. 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. Far more alternatives, in fact, than exist in several more popular caliber families. Another vote for something different.The 358 STA would be the one. Many western hunters annually take elk with 6mms and .25s. I have one, of course, and it is fun to shoot, but I would never use it on a serious big-game hunt. 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 2003, 2012 by Chuck Hawks. 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. Heres how to avoid the poseurs and choose the right one. These work, but my thinking has changed over the years. and is a good cartridge for hunting the thick woods for deer, hogs, black bear or even elk. If you handload your ammunition, it will make feeding a .358 Norma that much easier, just realize you wont find ammunition at a general store, or even at most gun shops, for that matter. The .35 Rem. With modern powders the muzzle velocities can certainly beat those of the Cordite loads a century ago, especially in a modern rifle. of muzzle energy. My 35 Whelen will run 250gr partitions at 2700 fps with power pro 2000 powder. Its spawn, the .351 Winchester Self Loader, fared a little better, but it was never in danger of greatness. The company has chambered several rifles in the cartridge including models in bolt-action, pump-action and semi-automatic. The 600 Magnum suffered from a barrel that was too short at 18 inches. I am often criticized for following the Elmer Keith school in suggesting powerful cartridges. Norma offers factory ammunition, E.R. I've owned several Magnum Mediums338 RUM, 340WBY, 375 H&H, 375 WBY, 358NM, 338WM. and the 6.5 mm Rem. This was not the factory bullet from the 1960s, with its mild-steel jacket, but a later one. Let's also compare the .358 with the other end of the spectrum. But starting in the late 1950s, the .338 bore size gained considerable tractionthanks to the emergence of the .338 Winchester Magnum. The 250-grain .358-inch bulletwith a sectional density of 0.279if properly constructed, has enough length to handle the brown bear and bison, and all of the African plains game species, plus lion and leopard. There werent many factory .358 Norma Magnum rifles mademost were Husqvarnas or Schultz & Larsensbut many American gunsmiths converted the Mauser 98, Springfield 03-A3 and the like to the big .35, as it made an absolutely perfect choice for those headed north to Alaska. Kevin Steele of Petersen's HUNTING is at the Streamlight booth at SHOT Show 2023 to go over the Bear Trap light from Streamlight. 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. This is in sharp contrast to the overwhelming success of the .357/9mm handgun cartridges, whose popularity dates right to the beginning of the self-contained cartridge era. factory load is a 250-grain Oryx bullet listed with a muzzle velocity of 2723 f.p.s. Ive obviously left the door wide open. For a while Savage chambered it in the Model 99, and I am still looking for one I can afford. Oklahoma. Either of the other two cartridges mentioned will work just fine also. This is a particularly apt comparison because the re-introduced .350 is available in the Remington Model Seven rifle, which is also offered in .300 short magnum calibers. The .35-caliber cartridges usually top out at 250 grains, though if a 300-grain bullet at a slightly faster twist rate were employed, it would certainly be in the same class as the .375 Holland & Holland. [1] The 338/06 when compared to the .35 Whelen only beats it with the lighter bullets and not by much. At 400 yds., the .358 Norma impacts 3.1 inches lower than the .300 Win. R Rocky All rights reserved. THe 35 whelen did have a little more power than the 358. of muzzle energy. 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. Not only that, many different bullet moulds were made for casting .358 bullets in some of the most fanciful shapes. The .270 WSM and .270 Weatherby deliver more energy, but all three are fine. The .35 Whelen is accurate, hits hard, penetrates deep, shoots flat and recoils mildly. But there is no compelling reason to consider a caliber larger than .35. The Norma factory load, with Normas own 250-grain bullet, performed poorly, coming apart in the chest cavity. The .350 Rigby Magnum is, in the words of veteran Professional Hunter Robin Hurt, a perfect caliber to hunt lion and leopard. With a few exceptions, most African countries require a minimum of .375-caliber cartridges for thick-skinned dangerous game like Cape buffalo and elephant, and that makes sense in most instances. It is easy to forget that the .358 bore comes in an extremely varied range of twist rates from 1:16 to 1:12. Thinking of a medium bore with a bit of thump.9.3 x 62 holds some exotic mystique for me being its use on African large game but I am thinking realistically .366 cant be that much of an advantage over .358 can it? At 300 yards, it has 19 percent more energy than the .300 Win. It was an 03 Springfield action, unknown barrel, very nice piece of wood, all the fancy metal work done (custom trigger, side safety ala Rem 700, cocking knob and safety removed, milled floorplate, forged bolt, speedloader slots removed, D&T'd ,polished and blued). Synthetic stocks arent always lighter than wood, but they are stronger and more stable, and elk hunting can be hard on rifles. They include both the AccuBond and the Partition 225-grain bullets with a muzzle velocity of 2800 f.p.s. The .318 Westley Richards was a highly popular choice at that time, and it drives a 250-grain bullet of .330-inch diameter, with a SD of 0.328, and the .375 Holland & Holland uses a 300-grain bullet of nominal diameter with a SD of 0.305; both are renowned for their penetration. Shaw will make a rifle, as will any other custom, or semi-custom, riflemaker. The .357 Magnum is ideal for light game like javelina and will do for the smaller species of deer and antelope at short range. Folks who live in elk country may consciously seek a cow for the freezer. figure of 0.300 is desirable, and comparing similar cartridges, youll see the .350 Rigby comes in a bit behind the other popular choices of the day. The better ones create mild gallery or small-game loads that are economical, quiet, virtually without recoil and best of all a lot of fun to shoot. 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. In an age of ultra-specializatio in every field, and especially rifles, such versatility is almost an anachronism. An elk is bigger than anything most deer hunters have encountered, but theres still a variance; a cow for the freezer isnt much bigger than a very large deer, but a mature bull elk is different. The trouble is, they didnt sell. Heres a look at 10 of the most flexible long-range hunting cartridges. a good brush buster and good to 300 yards. Twenty years ago, I might have said .338 Winchester Magnum was the perfect choice for elk. With a 200-grain bullet the .35 Whelen actually shoots a bit flatter than the .30-06 Sprg. Mag. Wolfe Publishing Company | 2180 Gulfstream Suite A | Prescott, AZ 86301. They live in steep, rough country, and their long legs cover a lot of ground. Everybody agrees that the .358 Win. 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. 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. They are a little short initially and after two firings they were just fine. The Remington Model 600 Magnum rifle, along with the cartridge it birthed, was just such a product. The only rifles I can find in production are from Nosler, Remington and CVA. The company made its humble start in 1963in Gussago, Italywhen Giuseppe Pietta made a commitment to produce guns as authentic and true-to-original as possible. Looking for previous installments of our "Behind the Bullet" series? 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. Cartridges that in many cases cannot match the killing power, at normal hunting ranges, of comparable .35's. But perhaps youre not after thick-skinned dangerous game. into the deer woods, and I pine for what could have been. Im going to rule out short-range cartridges that have the power because theres no sense in making the shot more difficult than necessary. The guide professed to be dumbstruck: I never saw a nilgai knocked down like that, he said, And we use some big rifles here!. I have built all 3 several times for various customers and owned both the 358 Norma and the 9.3X62. The .350 can drive a 250 grain bullet to a MV of 2500 fps. The .358 Win. Looking for previous installments of our "Behind the Bullet" series? Read today's "The Armed Citizen" entry for real stories of law-abiding citizens, past and present, who used their firearms to save lives. So, I've hunted elk with less ambitious rounds. lbs. On June 26, 1959, Sweden's Ingemar Johansson demolished Floyd Patterson in the third round of their first heavyweight title fight in New York. 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. The .25 Rem., .30 Rem. For this reason, anyone acquiring a .358 Norma should start low with every load and work up slowly and carefully. Loved by gun guys and rejected by the huddled masses, this is perhaps the most underappreciated cartridge of them all. .50 BMG. Give a Gift The big issue with the .350 Rigby Magnum is the lack of available ammunition. PerH AH fanatic Joined May 8, 2021 Messages 536 Reaction score 813 Location Norway Articles 2 Jun 4, 2021 #5 And the hunter must have full confidence in his or her choice. With a 200-grain bullet at 2460 f.p.s., it is a heavy-hitter on whitetails. Meanwhile, the .358 Norma fizzled, for lack of a better term, because rifles were not readily available, ammunition was expensive and hard to get, and it found itself in direct competition with one of the great American cartridges of the twentieth century, Winchesters .338 Magnum. and .32 Rem. I am convinced there are better tools, and theres also that matter of mindset. I have shot a few critters, including a tough South Texas Nilgai, and have been happy with the performance. And for the larger antelope species, like any of the eland, wildebeest, zebra and roan, the .350 Rigby Magnum is a sound choice. Here are the features to watch out for. This is basically a deer and black bear (CXP2 class game) cartridge, although it is reputed to be superior to cartridges in the .30-30 class for game weighing over about 400 pounds. For the one perfect all-around elk rifle, Im not sure you can beat the good old .30-06. Movement is more random in big country. 10 GA. Petersen's HUNTING Publisher, Kevin Steele is in the CZ booth with Dylan Rice at SHOT Show to talk about CZ 600 Series Trail rifle. In the mid 70's I picked up a 358Norma. But in 2003 Remington decided to attempt a resurrection. And, as any fan of the .35-caliber cartridges knows, there are quite a few bullet weights to choose from within the caliber. I was wrong. In its 112-year lineage, it has probably taken more elk than all other cartridges combined. Copyright 2000-2023 24hourcampfire.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Its also worth noting that, in spite of its relative obscurity, the cartridge appears in many of the most recent loading manuals, including Normas own, a worthwhile addition to anyones reloading library. | For the next year, comparisons were inevitable between Johanssons Hammer of Thor and the .358s powerful 250-grain bullet. 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 . I own several rifles in this cartridge and all my .35 Whelen rifles are accurate. 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. 358 norma mag is a rarer bird but as I understand fire forming 300 win mag. There are many good choices, and shot placement is more important than case dimensions and bullet diameter. Follow along to see exactly how. Mag. However, should a hunter who enjoys using cartridges that arent among the most popular find a rifle chambered for the .358 Norma Magnum? Original Schultz & Larsens had substantial freebore to keep pressures down, and Normas specifications for the cartridge called for it. However, the small bore cartridges from .24 to .32 caliber have proven quite reliable on these smaller animals, so I am not going to argue that anyone needs a .35 to hunt CXP2 class game. in an 8.5 pound rifle, is comparable to the much more popular but less effective (on CXP3 class game) .300 Weatherby or .300 Remington Ultra Magnums. loaded with a 180-grain Oryx bullet to the .358 Norma Mag. Mag. Either way, the Newton is the unbelted twin of the .358 Norma. The .358 is vastly underated as the Whelen. it is complicated further by a requirement for different burning rate powders. Even so, most experienced deer hunters have pretty good ideas on appropriate rifles. From the Green Goblin (a bolt-action rifle I built on a Remington action), both will produce groups that are sub-minute-of-angle. The Whelen is a more sensible choice, but the Rigby isnt about sensibility, its about nostalgia and a connection to a bygone age. Mag. The numerous magnum .30s are also excellent, but they deliver more recoil. With the best loads, my Remington Model 700 is one-hole accurate. 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. But there is another Rigby cartridge, vastly overlooked even among rifle cranks, but which was at one time as popular as the .375 H&H Magnum: the .350 Rigby Magnum. However, the optimum game range of the .358 (250 grain bullet at a MV of 2300 fps) is 240 yards. A cross-section of loads for the .358 Norma Magnum include the (1) Sierra 125-grain JHP, (2) Sierra 170 FMJ, (3) Speer 180, (4) 200-grain cast bullet and a (5) Sierra 200 roundnose. 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. Had the .358 Norma Magnum been chambered in an American rifle, or at least promoted by an American company, the popularity of the cartridge may have been much greater than it is. as a way to boost the power of the Model 94 lever-action rifle. The Hornady Superformance load for the .35 Whelen launches a 200-grain bullet at a blistering. Lyman lists 47 different moulds that were available at one time or another, ranging in bullet weight from 70 to 282 grains. Of the bullets used, several performed extremely well, including the Bear Claw and a Nosler 250-grain Partition. Mag. Contributor Brad Fenson takes to the grill, to cook up some delicious venison burgers. I have one, and I like it a lot. If you happen to have a .35 and don't mind the extra recoil, there is no denying that it will flat get the job done. My .375 H&H seemed quite adequate. Todays Norma factory ammunition is loaded with the companys excellent bonded-core 250-grain Oryx. Likewise, so do experienced western elk hunters. Opening up a boltface on a standard action is NOT a difficult job for a decent gunsmith and does not affect the strength or viability of the action one WHIT. .358 Norma brass is a snap to make from 338 Win Mag brass. 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. While I generally prefer the former over the latter, I think that both choices are effective. Kali Parmley of Gun Dog Magazine talks to George Thompson from Benelli USA about the new features from the Benelli line in 2023. Every time I use it I ask myself, Whats not to like? Beats me, but nobody liked it enough to keep it in production. it is one nice gun and made for tight places. The Swedish firm of A.B. My 35 Whelen will run 250gr partitions at 2700 fps with power pro 2000 powder. In cartridges, as in boxing, what goes on behind the scenes often determines the outcome. I'm sending my 270 tikka off to JES rebore to get it punched out to 35 whelen. Cartridges of .25 caliber and below are not ideal elk cartridges, especially if a big bull is a potential. Can this be made into a .358 Norma Mag or must I do a .35 Whelen. 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]. This new model featured two new cartridges, the .350 Rem. Now, I have to go out on a limb and say that sensible elk cartridges arent all about power. However, that may be changing, or at least the possibility of change may exist. Three rivals: (1) .338 Winchester Magnum, (2) .358 Norma Magnum and (3) .375 H&H. I will go with the 35 Whelen BUT 9.3x62 will be cool due that you already have a 350 Rem mag, if you're opening the bolt face the 358 STA better option than Norma and 338-06 could be a nice choice too. The fortunate few who own them want to keep them, and these are the core admirers who make it worth Normas while to continue offering brass and loaded ammunition. Years of development and pushing the limits of what is possible in a rifle optic have led up to this moment. These are elk cartridges, and as Jack Atcheson Jr. likes to say, the .338 numbs them. Gun guys recognize the potential in the .358. The .35 Whelen is a powerful medium-bore rifle cartridge that does not require a magnum action or a magnum bolt-face. With cast bullets, A-5744 and Trail Boss are usually the best choices, although H-4895 is a good powder for midvelocity hunting loads. 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. All in, it weighed over 11 pounds, which is too heavy. with a 250-grain Oryx bullet-both with a 200-yd. Perhaps thats how it should be, the masses rarely embrace true greatness. The case capacity of the .350 Rigby is very similar to that of the .358 Norma Magnum, and the performance is likewise similar. Your rifle is your most important hunting tool, and knowing how to properly clean and store it when hunting season comes to a close is critical in keeping it in tip-top shape. Thought about that 375 Ruger but nah. 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. In Johanssons case, disdain for serious training left him vulnerable when the superbly conditioned Patterson came back a year later, gave him a dazzling boxing lesson and reclaimed the title. Publisher, Kevin Steele is with Brett Marquardt from Streamlight Inc. discussing the new Streamlight Pro Tac 2.0, the latest edition in the Pro Tac series. Released in 1908, the .350 Rigby Magnum is an entirely original design, with no parent cartridge. Somehow, years ago, I got the notion that it is not prudent to be opening the bolt face of a 700 from standard (270W) to magnum (358N). Elk hunting can be extremely physicalnot only steep country, but also altitude and sometimes deep snow to buck. I have never lost an elk, and I do not recall ever tracking one for recovery. 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. All Petersen's Hunting subscribers now have digital access to their magazine content.

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