I inherited an FN .308 Norma Mag. when my stepfather passed away. I have reloaded quite a few rounds for this rifle, but I was looking for more information from anyone who has experience with it. I have some Norma brass but after looking around the internet for more, I have a hard time justifying $1.00+ per round just for the brass. I know that Norma makes makes exceptional brass, but I am looking for something more economical for casual shooting.

I know that you can neck down .338 Win. Mag brass to .308 and fireform, but just wondered if there was any more to it than a simple neckdown and fireform. I love the rifle and I'm just looking for a way to shoot it more without using up my high dollar brass for plinking and hunting if accuracy is up to par with the Norma brass).

Thanks

Dennis

That's all there is! Haven't played with mine in years (03 Springfield), but never bought factory brass. Always used Winchester brass. Had one box of factory loads someone gave me and they shot great, but you could not tell fired factory from my fired handloads. You can also neck up 7 Mag. but may be a hair short but that doesn't hurt.

I haven't done this, but I suspect that you could use .300 Winchester Mag brass, run it through a .308 Norma full length sizing die, and then trim it to the proper length.

Re LE270's point: I've seen it done. I met a fellow who simply formed his .308 Norma Magnum brass by running .300 Win. Mag. brass through a .308 Norma full-length sizer die and trimming to length. He swore by it, and it worked for him. That's whay I'd do if I was in your shoes.

The other alternative I might consider is having a gunsmith open the chamber up with a .300 Winchester Magnum reamer and then just using it as a .300 Winchester Magnum.

Keep it as a 308 norma. it will do everything the Winnie will do, and it has a lot more (dare I say it?) class. Brass is easy to make, as mentioned, from 300 Wm or 338 WM. - Dan

Whats the diffrence between the 308 norma case and the 30-338 case? The guys I hunt with all shoot 30-338's and form brass from 338wm or the 7mm rem mag becuse they have it on hand. 30-338wm. brass is the same price as 338wm. brass at the local gun shop.
Jamie

DennisF, I got one from my father when he passed. It is built on a Remington 03A3 action and is one of the best shooters in my collection. I have tried both 338 and 7mm brass, but have decided that I get better results with using 300 Mag brass and trimming after running through my sizing die. I have done about 300 rounds that way without any problems. You will enjoy the round.

Jaime,
The 308 Norma is lightly longer and has less taper than the 30-338. So it does have a very slight capacity advantage over the 30-338.
If I had the rifle I would not dream of rechambering, the 308 Norma is a great round, and in it's day won many long range target events.

Rechamber - no way it will stay a Norma as long as the barrel lasts, which will be long after I have left this world. I like having something just a little different. There is a gunshow in town this weekend and I was going to get some brass to neck up or down, depending on which brass I decided on.

Thanks

Dennis

When the 308 Norma first came out we would take 300 H&H cases and run them into a 308 Norma file type trim case die then load them with 3 Gr Bulls eye and corn meal to fire form the cases. Before Norma came out with the 205 powder I loaded H4831 with a H 165 Gr bullet for big game hunting after neck sizeing and trimming length. It still is a good round and with modern powder and bullets you can take most N. America big game. How prices have changed, when Cabelas first moved to Sidney NE I purchased ten boxes of Norma brass for about $ 3.75 per box . Necksizeing belted cases will extend number of times you can reload them.

If you look you can find the brass cheaper, I have a 308 and my stepfather and his brother both have one. i have found brass for them for around 55 cents before watching auctions on ebay and gunbroker.

4831 with a 180g bullet is real good too. Excellent cartridge. i think it was Winchester that had an opportunity to buy the rights to the 308 and 358 norma's, talk about a fantastic pair.

Red