Are there any really differance in these chamberings ballistic wise?Does the 308 Norma Mag have a better designed case then the 300 Winchester or I'm I just beating my head against the wall.
Everyone, mostly gun writers who need something to write about, took shots at the WinMag because the length of it's neck is less than 0.308......it's a fine round and will get slightly more velocity than the .308 Norma but not really enough to notice in the field. The main benefit is the large variety of quality factory ammo available plus of course you can find ammo for the WinMag almost anywhere in the world.
Posts: 4360 | Location: Sunny Southern California | Registered: 22 May 2002
The Winchester version probably has enough additional case capacity to get you an additional 50 to 75 fps, all things being equal. If you put it in a true full length action with a 3.6 inch magazine, it might outpace the Norma by 100 fps.
Making up some of that difference, the Norma SAAMI specs call for a freebored chamber, a la Weatherby. In effect this increases the capacity of the chamber, and allows a slighly heavier load than would otherwise be the case, and therefore a bit higher velocity.
My read on the two: In a "standard" action (about 3.35" magazine), the Norma is the better design, although I prefer my chambers without excessive freebore. With a 3.6" magazine where the bullets can be seated out where they belong, the Winchester seems better suited. I really hate to see the Winchester crammed into one of those short magazines, even though that's exactly its designers intended.
Posts: 13267 | Location: Henly, TX, USA | Registered: 04 April 2001
IMHO, the added costs of the dies, and brass for the Norma are not justified for the minor "ideal" qualities of the case design, vs the winchester. If you are going to the effort and expense of something other then the win mag, then consider the 300 Dakota.
Posts: 7213 | Location: Alaska | Registered: 27 February 2001
The .308 Norma is a great cartridge, no doubt about it - it's just not very popular. If you have the chance to buy a nice, older rifle like a Belgian-made Browning Safari Grade in that caliber (yes, they made a few), you can end up with a high-quality, semi-exotic rifle that will take in a whole lot of hunting.
In all reality though, the .300 Winchester will out-perform it by a comparatively small margin, and ammunition and cases are much more widely-available. Inherent accuracy should be about the same with either cartridge.
Can't cases for the norma be formed easily by resizing 338 WM? (or is it 300 WM?) I guess I should find out more about this, as my dad wants me to start reloading for his 308 Norma.
I have a soft spot for this round, since it's what I started out with. One thing I can say is that's it's hell on Michigan whitetails and black bear.
Todd
Posts: 1248 | Location: North Carolina | Registered: 14 April 2001
You can neck down 338 Win Mag cases to get 308 Norma Mag cases, but they end up just a bit short. They'll still function, though. Cases are pretty easy to get by mail order from the big companies anyway, so i think you would be better off just ordering some. FWIW - Dan
Posts: 5285 | Location: Alberta | Registered: 05 October 2001
I have a Sako L61 in 308 Norma converted from 30.06. The best it will do is about 13/4". It is also the most punishing recoil I have ever endured. 20 round of 450 Dakota from the bench didn't hurt me like that Sako did. It has been in my closet for 8 or 9 yrs and will not emerge for ME to shoot.
Posts: 1275 | Location: Fla | Registered: 16 March 2001
I believe that the whole contraversey over these cartridges (and the 30-338) came about because of the the widely held opinion when these cartridges came out that you needed a long neck for proper bullet tension and alignment. For practical purposes, there are no real differances between them. You'll as much variation between the cartridges as you would between two rifles chambered for the same cartridge. I have both a 308 Norma and 300 Win mags, and I can't see any real differance, except when I go to buy brass. Theoretically, I agree that the 308 Norma/30-338 are better designed cartridges, but outside of a finely tuned target rifle (and maybe not even there)there really is no differance. It's always cool to have something a little differant though. FWIW - Dan
Posts: 5285 | Location: Alberta | Registered: 05 October 2001
I like the Norma just because it came out when I was first starting to hunt big game and was exposed to the Norma offerings. The 300 Winchester seemed like a strange cartridge to me at the time just because it was an unnecessary developement since a short magnum already existed in the Norma. Also it seemed strange to me that Winchester would bother bringing out a slightly larger cartridge then load it so that it was inferior to the 308 Norma (in factory loadings). The reason the 300 was made the way it was, with it's short neck and deeply seated bullets, was so that it would appear physically larger and more powerful than the Norma. So the cartridge was designed by the advertising execs. Otherwise they would probably have produced the 30-338 as the Win Mag. Now, many years later, there is no practical reason to choose the Norma over the Winchester. The winchester shoots as well and performs as well and brass is cheap. By the way I form my 308 Norma brass by sizing 300 Win and trimming. Regards, Bill
Used a 300 Win. mag. for several moose hunts, and several moose. ( very effective with 180 Nosler partitions) No experience with the Norma Mag., but just bought one today at a local gunshow, very nice Husqvarna at a very reasonable price. (low even for Canadian gun prices) Also found some dies and Norma brass, after asking around a bit. I expect it to be every bit as effective as the Winchester Mag.
