This is the next pet; an Enfield 1917 in 308 Norma.

I am no stranger to mangums but this caliber will be new to me.

Any pet loads? Any suggestions? What brand of brass is preferred?

If you want the correct headstamp you will pretty much be limited to Norma brass. Many people just take a 338Wmag case and neck it down. It will be a little short but will grow in a firing or two.

I use 180s and a full case of Rl22. Pressure is around 61000+/- and I get 3050.

Any starting-to-mid-pressure data you can lay hands on for the .30-338 will also work in the .308 Norma Mag. It would not be wise to use maximums listed for either cartridge designation without working up to them.

PM me during Xmas holidays, I will be up north around the homestead and I have a lot of 30-338 data. Nothing lighter than 180 grs though, and only a couple of those, Nosler Partitions, and I know I have another 180 gr load worked up, I just don't use it. My best loads are 200 gr Noslers, I also have a 190 gr load and 250 gr round nose.

I can't help you on 165 grains or lighter, I never worked up any light loads for my rifles.

Thanks for the heads up.

Schromf I will try to remember to email you during the holidaze. I am currently committed 7 days a week for 12 hour days in the attempt to buy my wife a car for Christmas.

I sure wish I knew an easier way to make money than hard work!

No, I don't plan on loading anything lighter than 180 grains. I have a 30/06 that shucks out every 165 grn pill known to man acceptably so that takes care of the lighter loads. I am interested in heavy loads for elk and such.

.308 Norma Mag is a great caliber ... inherently accurate with enough neck length to hold bullets well. Velocities are usually within 50 to 75 fps of the .300 Win Mag.

You can make cases from .338 Win Mag or .300 Win Mag. Just run them through the sizing die. Cases can be purchased if you need properly headstamped brass.

My Springfield likes bullets from 165 grains on up. The old 200 gr Nosler partition semi-round nose is about the best in that bullet weight I've ever used on heavy game. The spitzer works too.

.308 Norma Mag data is available on older Hornady and Hogdgon's manuals. Also available in the A-Square manual and Steve's reloading pages:

Steve's .308 Norma Data

Have fun with this great caliber.

quote:

I am currently committed 7 days a week for 12 hour days

I am not doing the weekends, but I hear ya. I am management so isn't much of a benefit to me, just wear and tear.

Back on your 308 Norma, my FFL dealer picked up one of these last year. He had never really worked with it before, I gave him some loads and his first time on the bench he was getting 1 MOA with my 30-338 loads. I am not maxed out on the pressure curve and I had him drop back a grain just to keep it safe, as the case volumes are real close but not exact depending on which brand brass is used.

Just let me know if your interested. I highly recommend the 200 Nosler partition load, accurate with a lot of energy, a fine big game load. Heads up your powders, H4831, RL-19, RL-22, and 4350 have all been excellent powder choices for me. The best is H4831 in my opinion, works for all the bullet weights I use. THe RL powders do some very accurate loads in the 180-190 gr bullets, but all things considered, H4831 is my favorite powder ith 180-220 gr bullets.

I have a 1956 Sako (they used the Belgium FN Mauser Action then, before they designed their own) in
.308 Norma Magnum. I use 78 gr. of R25 with the
180 gr, Northfork Bullet made in Glenrock, WY & get fine accuracy & around 3,000fps. Also, I tried
77 gr. R22 with a Sierra 180 gr. Spitzer which was real good, but not as good as R25. All things being equal, I get best accuracy from the Northfork Bullets...they are premium bullets.
Best Regards, Tom from Cody

Bisonland,

Have you chrono's your RL-25 loads? I am curious, I pretty much shoot 200 gr partions but this old dog is willing to learn some new tricks. Have you tried the H4831 if you haven't you should, I liked it better when it was surplus and cheap though. I miss that.

The loads sound good. Someone else I talked to here also suggested 30-338 loads as a starting point.

I am always in favor of running in the 90-95% area of maximum. I no longer need the most recoil possible and with three kids and braces etc... I care more about my things lasting longer.

All the suggestions about Reloader powder I have a question; how does it compare to the extruded Hodgon powder? I am a big fan of 4350 and I have been substituting Hodgon for IMR in a lot of loads and have had favorable results.

I like the "extreme" lines of powder for their lack of sensitivity to weather, is Reloader the same?

to schromf..yes I've used H4831 in the .308 Norma
mag. I like the powder for lots of useages, but in
my particular .308 Norma magnum, R22 & R25 gave me
better accuracy. I usually chronograph my loads, but the chrony sometimes doesn't work, & when I used R25 it didn't that time. I was getting 3115 fps with 77 gr. H4831SC All loads were with 180 gr. bullets. Each rifle is a little different in what it likes as you know, perhaps if I used the same Northfork bullets with the H4831, I may have gotten better accuracy too. My test was not all encompassing complete, as I used different bullets with different powders. So not that scientifically
valid. However, I had good sucess with R25 & the Northfork 180 gr, bullets so will stay with that. I'd assume my velocity with the R25 would be at least 3,000 fps, but as I said my chrony wasn't working that day.
Best Regards, Tom

quote:

Originally posted by reverenddan:
This is the next pet; an Enfield 1917 in 308 Norma.

I am no stranger to mangums but this caliber will be new to me.

Any pet loads? Any suggestions? What brand of brass is preferred?

I know you didn't ask this but if I found an Enfield in .308 Norma I'd get a chambering reamer and turn this into a .300 Win Mag in a heart beat.

vapodog,

I know what you are thinking, I had the same thought myself.

Its just that the Norma is different. 300 Win mags are a dim a dozen but I don't know anyone who has a Norma.

I would certainly carry a 300 Winchester if I was traveling and there was the possibility of needing to purchase ammo.

I choose the 308Norma over the 300Win when I had my P-17 rechambered,the Norma round is a bit shorter and much better fit in the 30.06 box.The velocities run very close as the 308Norma specs call for some freebore.Brass is easy,resize and trim 300WM.I use a caseful of N-560,but any 4831 class should work well.BTW factory load is 3080f/s,it's a good idea not to go over that.

As mentioned the 30-338 and 308 Norma Mag are ballistic twins. Load data is interchangeable. I have reloaded for the 30-338 and find that it is a very good cartridge.

I have used H4831 exclusively with this round. My standard load is 71.5gr of H4831 which Sierra list as the target loading. This has produced 3000fps in my rifle, and I don't need any more beans than that.

I have loaded beyond Sierra's max of 73grs of H4831 only once. It is a max!

I tried some RL 19 once, and used Reliant's starting data for the 300WM reduced by 5%, this worked well, but the load clocked only 2780fps. Kudude

quote:

if I found an Enfield in .308 Norma

Thats the first problem, an Enfield, chambering is OK the action is all wrong though.

quote:

Originally posted by reverenddan:
This is the next pet; an Enfield 1917 in 308 Norma.

I am no stranger to mangums but this caliber will be new to me.

Any pet loads? Any suggestions? What brand of brass is preferred?

My favorite .308 Norma load, used in a rechambered 03-A3 Springfield, is 73 grains of H4831 with a 200-grain Nosler Partition bullet. This load gives right at 2900 FPS from my 24" barrel. if you leave your 1917 barrel at 26", you can probably break 3000 FPS with a 200-grain bullet in that rifle.

This .308 Norma is probably the BEST of all the various .30 caliber Magnum cartridges - you will like it!

Funny, I saw a 1917 based .308 Norma Mag today too. Was at a shop in Gorst, outside Bremerton. Looked like a neat gun.

I've been in that gun shop. There's always one or 2 nice rifles there.

The .308 Norma Magnum has the reputation of being very accurate...was popular at Wimbledon and other long range matches well into the 1980's. Art Alphin of "A-Square" in his reloading manual plainly states "In the velocity spectrum of 3100 fps with a 180 gr. bullet, I prefer the .308 Norma Magnum over its other .300 Magnum rivals." Ditto.
I wouldn't part with mine. its an efficient cartridge, fairly short length. Very similar to the .30 Newton (except for the belt), and a little less case capacity. It is well designed, whereas the .300 Winchester magnum with its shorty neck is not. Best Regards, Tom

Shoot a P17 Enfield chambered in 308 Norma. Use CCI250 primers, 70gr IMR4831, 200gr speer GS, MV2941fps, book speed, unchroneyed. shoots 1.5 inch groups at 200yds from a Shooters Ridge gun vise. Have a leupy 8.5-25 VX111 with target cross hairs. I love it as it is such a tac driver, only complaint is that I sometimes get three shells popping up in the receiver when I chamber a round. Have to take it to a gunsmith and have the bedrails looked at.
Cheers and tight groups: Eaglesnester

This is a two year old thread.....I wonder if reverenddan really cares now

He does ;-)

He likes the Norma.

That being said, I have a lot of other options and the Norma is getting lost in the shuffle so to speak.

I'm thinking another stubby magnum cartridge would fit, like maybe a 458 Win.

The Enfield isn't very light and therefore not all that pleasant to traipse around the country with, therefore I think a rebarrel might be in the works.

The Enfield isn't all that difficult to convert to .375 H&H..... The weight of the action justifies the conversion and the .375 is surprisingly versatile.

As mentioned above, the 308 Norma Mag is the ballistic twin of the 30-338. I have been shooting the 30-338 (Custom Model 70 w/ 26" barrel)for a number of years and it is a favorite of my gunsmith. The following a loads from Sierra Manual for the 30-338. I think you will find these useful.

180 Nosler Partition, 71.3gr H4831SC WW WLR Prim 3100fps

180 Hornaday Sptz 71.5gr H4831 FC210M Prim 3000fps

200 Nos BT 69.7gr H4831 FC210M Prim 2800fps

I found that using mag primers "blew" groups here in our heat. You might want to stick with a mag primer in a colder climate. Kudude