Don't need one, as I have perfectly good rifles in .338 WM, .330 Dakota, 9.3x62 and .375 H&H...but, I have always wanted to find a good Husqvarna chambered in .358 Norma Magnum. Passed on a few over the years that had seen a few too many miles. Finally found one that has had very few rounds through it and came with a set of Redding dies and some brass. It is a great cartridge that received very little attention over here due to it originally only being chambered in a couple of European bolt-actions and nothing produced in North America. Same can be said for the .308 Norma Magnum, which I also shoot...but it got a bit more of a push getting chambered by a few more companies like Parker Hale.

Now I need to get some good .358 bullets for loading, and these days that is not a slam dunk with all the shortages.

I had great luck in the accuracy and killing department with 225-grain Barnes-X bullets in my Husqvarna .358 Norma. The 250-grain Hornady bullets also worked well and you should be able to find them in stock in Canada. If not, several reputable U.S. suppliers list the Hornadys in stock.

One thing I found out after having a rifle converted to .358 Norma is that it's unbelievably easy to convert 7mm Remington Magnum brass to fit it. That is one caliber of once fired brass for which there has been very little shortage. I experimented with shooting cast bullets in mine at the white tail deer, of which there is no shortage hereabouts and they wourk beautifully. Very cheap shooting!

I just picked up my second 358 Norma today. A converted Ruger MkII, with a 24” SS match Shilen barrel, Timney trigger, and HS Precision black stock, never fired. Best trigger I’ve ever experienced. Can’t wait to mount a Leupold scope on it and take her to the range. Now, to try to find some more ammo…

Lets hope the new Norma factory over here will make life a bit easier for components and ammo. I found a store up here in Canada that has some Norma ammunition, but have yet to find one with any brass.

quote:

Originally posted by Skyline:
Lets hope the new Norma factory over here will make life a bit easier for components and ammo. I found a store up here in Canada that has some Norma ammunition, but have yet to find one with any brass.

Good luck finding factory 358 Norma brass , I lucked out a few years back and found 3 boxs of factory Norma 358 unprimed brass along with 6 box's of Norma factory loaded 250 gr bullets .
See the odd box of loaded ammao at the gun show but most running at $100.00 for a box of 20 .
Enjoy your Husqvana , I sure enjoy mine .

quote:

Originally posted by sjr:

quote:

Originally posted by Skyline:
Lets hope the new Norma factory over here will make life a bit easier for components and ammo. I found a store up here in Canada that has some Norma ammunition, but have yet to find one with any brass.

Good luck finding factory 358 Norma brass , I lucked out a few years back and found 3 boxs of factory Norma 358 unprimed brass along with 6 box's of Norma factory loaded 250 gr bullets .
See the odd box of loaded ammao at the gun show but most running at $100.00 for a box of 20 .
Enjoy your Husqvana , I sure enjoy mine .

I have now found two stores with factory Norma ammunition, loaded with 250 grain A-frames. Funny thing is that the ammunition is not a whole lot more per round than new brass. One store has new Norma brass for the .308 NM and it is $209 for 50 rounds of brass. A box of 20 rounds with the A-frames is $99.99. May as well buy the factory ammo and once it is used I have once fired brass to reload.

The price of everything has just gotten ridiculous.

i want to build one from a 7mm magnum but its been tough trying to find a 7 magnum

Always wanted a .358 Norma just haven’t put the effort to really find one. Looking forward to seeing how yours works out.

Brass is not an issue. 338 Win brass is not hard to find. If you want proper heastamped brass check with Raynor Shine in Sask. 225 gr Barnes TSX and 250 gr Partitions are very good in the big Swede.I have had several 358's and the 250 gr Speer bullet would group very close to the partitions with the same load but they don't hold together at close range.The Speer is good for working up loads and practice. Hope that helps

Finished end of 21. L61R 7mm RM converted to 358 norma with 26" factory profile barrel. Increased LOP and duplicated stock. Finishing 250 gr Norma Oryx loads


https://photos.app.goo.gl/XnuJRJvrmVVV3Fhq8

quote:

Originally posted by snowman:
Brass is not an issue. 338 Win brass is not hard to find. If you want proper heastamped brass check with Raynor Shine in Sask. 225 gr Barnes TSX and 250 gr Partitions are very good in the big Swede.I have had several 358's and the 250 gr Speer bullet would group very close to the partitions with the same load but they don't hold together at close range.The Speer is good for working up loads and practice. Hope that helps

I actually had a .358 NM years ago. It was a Schultz and Larsen, but sold it a long time ago. Now that I am retired from ranching and outfitting I have more time to screw around with things, so set out to find a Husky in good shape and low round count. Not always an easy thing to do as lots of them have been many miles and the stocks are often cracked in the tang area, etc, etc. But I have found a good one finally.

Reloading supplies are rather tough to find right now and a lot of the big stores have next to nothing, at least when it comes to the supplies I need. I will check with Rayner Shine, I have dealt with him before...maybe I will get lucky and he will have brass, but so far no one has brass for it, not even Reloaders International which is where I got brass for my .308 NM a few months ago.

As I mentioned, I may have to knuckle under and buy loaded Norma ammo. A store in Quebec and Prophet River have Norma ammunition with 250 grain A-frames.

I specifically want to get some Barnes TSX for reloading, and as you suggested, I do plan to get some Speer just to use for 'plinking'. I don't use Partitions too much these days. Used them a lot in the past, but there are other bullets I prefer these days.

quote:

Originally posted by Austin Hunter:
Finished end of 21. L61R 7mm RM converted to 358 norma with 26" factory profile barrel. Increased LOP and duplicated stock. Finishing 250 gr Norma Oryx loads


https://photos.app.goo.gl/XnuJRJvrmVVV3Fhq8

Very nice! I have had a few Sako AV's over the years and really like them. Be interesting to hear how it shoots. The Norma Oryx are good bullets.

Not a problem, some are looking for love in all the wrong places, find any good bolt action and re-barrel it to a 358 Norma..Rem 721, Win. mod 70, A 98 Mauser, and a long action will work and let you seat your bullets way out yonder and get more powder in her..and never overlook a rebore and save some bucks.

Well $370+ dollars later, I have three boxes of Norma ammunition loaded with 250 grain A-frames. Will be interesting to see how they group. I'd like to get some TTSX for it, but haven't found any boxes of those bullets at the dealers yet.

quote:

Originally posted by Skyline:
Well $370+ dollars later, I have three boxes of Norma ammunition loaded with 250 grain A-frames. Will be interesting to see how they group. I'd like to get some TTSX for it, but haven't found any boxes of those bullets at the dealers yet.

Well at least you found some !
On a side note , what model of Husqvarna rifle is your 358 Norma in ?

You mentioned having had a Schultz & Larsen rifle (probably a M65) in .358 Norma. I have seen a number of these over the years. As a Schultz & Larsen fan, I'd be interested in hearing your views of your S&L and how it compares with your Husqvarna. Did the rear locking cause you problems with the S&L? Its weight?

quote:

Originally posted by sjr:

quote:

Originally posted by Skyline:
Well $370+ dollars later, I have three boxes of Norma ammunition loaded with 250 grain A-frames. Will be interesting to see how they group. I'd like to get some TTSX for it, but haven't found any boxes of those bullets at the dealers yet.

Well at least you found some !
On a side note , what model of Husqvarna rifle is your 358 Norma in ?

It is a 1651 standard. Has a 26 inch barrel.

quote:

Originally posted by South Pender:
You mentioned having had a Schultz & Larsen rifle (probably a M65) in .358 Norma. I have seen a number of these over the years. As a Schultz & Larsen fan, I'd be interested in hearing your views of your S&L and how it compares with your Husqvarna. Did the rear locking cause you problems with the S&L? Its weight?

South Pender.....it was a Model 65. There was nothing wrong with it, but I got talked out of it by a friend that collected S&L's. That was a long time ago, but I guess I prefer the Husqvarna because I am use to them, having had many of them over the years. Mostly in the 1600 series and the 3000 Crown Grades. Lots of people back then didn't like the rear locking, but I never had a problem with it.

Skyline,

Did you ever get a chance to shoot your 358NM?

How did it group?

quote:

Originally posted by surefire7:
Skyline,

Did you ever get a chance to shoot your 358NM?

How did it group?

Sorry, just noticed your post. I have not had a chance to do any handloading for it yet, but shot some of the factory stuff with the 250 A-frames. Pretty happy with the results as I am getting about 1 1/4 inch groups. I have never found the A-frames to be tack drivers in most of the rifles I have used them in, but they usually are "hunting" accurate.

I just have a 2.5 Leupold on it right now. Plan to stick a 2.5-8 or 3-9 on it. I managed to find some Barnes 225 grain Barnes TSX to work up a load with after I get the optics sorted.

All in all, very happy with it. By the way the Norma ammunition is averaging just under 2800 fps. Can't complain about that.

Thanks for the reply Skyline.

Good to hear the velocity of that Norma ammo.

The Leupold 2.5-8VX is my go-to scope for all calibers 375 and under. Super scope! Like you, I have gone to the Leupold fixed 2.5 for everything else above 375.

Keep us informed on any more news with your 358NM!

Why couldn't one just rebore a .338 win, components woud be easy to come by and powder capacity might be a tad more?? The358 norma is a grand cartridge, but never was real popular..

Ive made do for years with the 9.3x62 and x64, prefer the 9.3x62 however..

Like you Ray I have been shooting the .338 WM for many years and I have the 9.3x62 as well. Like them both.

As for reboring a .338...certainly doable, but where I live getting something rebored is a major endeavour and very costly. By the time the dust settled it would be more (probably a lot more) than I spent on buying the .358 NM.

The 358 Norma is about as close to the 9.3x64 as you can get

And both give the 375 H&H and 375 Ruger a run for the money ballistically, but that's the main reason I chose the 375 Ruger over the wildcats, and hard to find components like the 9,3x64, and 358 Norma...It just suited me over those grand calibers to get past the component problems that cropped up from time to time..I only kept the 9,3x62 as bullets and brass are as easy to get as 30-06 stuff, and close enough to the others to suit me..but such reasoning is personal and users choice as it should be.

All true Ray. No doubt that some of these are hard to find brass for, which is why I load up on it when I can find it. It can be a pain in the rear at times.