I finally got my 358 Norma set up and after a couple range trips I love it.

I have had a variety of other medium calibers: 9.3x62, 8mm Rem Mag, 350 Rem Mag, 325 WSM, 338 Win Mag, and a 340 Weatherby. A magnum 35 caliber was an itch I had not scratched and it's an "obsolete" caliber so perfect for a rifle loony.

So it is kind of cool to be able to load such a wide bullet range in a single rifle. I loaded 158 grain JSP all the way up to 280 grain Swift A-Frame. Basically almost no recoil with the 158 grain to a decent shove with the 280 grain that feels close to a 375 H&H.

The barrel is a 1-12" twist as that seemed to work with everything available up to the 310 grain Woodleigh. I debated the 1-10" but it limited me a little on the lighter end, and 250 grain is typically the heaviest .358" you see.

I am guessing it kills game like a 350 Rem Mag or 35 Whelen but with an extra 100 yards of range which is to say everything I could need for the lower 48 and Alaska.

Meh, You are a borderline Loony. I, on the other hand, am certifiable. I took a 35 Whelen and rechambered it to 350 Rigby Mag, so I get to do lathe work to convert 375 H&H brass for it. The Rigby and the Norma are two peas in a pod and nothing in North America is safe from either of them. Good luck with your toy! Lee.

I salute both of you! I finally bought a 358NM a while back and haven’t shot it yet. I am a 35 Whelen nut (own 13), and (1) 358STA.

I’ve taken Elk & Moose here in the US with my Whelen, and Leopard, Kafue Lechwe, Oribi, Chobe Bushbuck, Warthog, Sable, & Sitatunga in Africa with the Whelen also. The Whelen will take anything in NA and just about anything in Africa as well, but it’s not legal on some of the Big Five in some countries. The 358NM & 358STA just add more range to the mix.

I find the Whelen good for anything out to 300 yds. for sure, and in Africa most shots are well under that range anyway. But, it couldn’t hurt to have more. I too think the the 358NM to be a SUPER round to cover all your bases. Only problem (to those who do not reload) is factory ammo. Of course, ammo is a problem these days for everyone. And, you’ll not find ANY 35 caliber ammo in Africa if yours does not make it across the pond. But I don’t worry too much about that, as I always take two or three rifles on safari.

Congrats on your new 358NM! I think you’re about to fall in love.

I should add, that I just returned from my 10th safari in Africa, and I used the 9.3x62 exclusively, taking five animals, including (2) Hippos.

If ammo over there is a worry for anyone, as much as I love my 35 Whelen, the 9.3x62 is basically an ‘improved’ 35W (basically the same), and 9.3x62 ammo can be found anywhere ammo is available in Africa, including your PH if he stocks ammo on hand for stranded hunters who show up with ammo missing. It is very common over there and any 35 caliber is not.

The 9.3x62 is the best of the lot for a standard action, hands down and a close push balistically to the 375 H&H in the field..but, Ive always had an itch also for the 358 Norma, but just too practical to replace by .338 thats so close...I do have this half done Enfield thats crying for something big but its been for sale awhile as an 06, maybe its time to do somethng fun..They are all elephant minimum, but a good minimum..Oh well just a thought process going wild, but thats what its all about. I mean, I don't even hunt elephants and DG anymore..

quote:

Meh, You are a borderline Loony. I, on the other hand, am certifiable. I took a 35 Whelen and rechambered it to 350 Rigby Mag, so I get to do lathe work to convert 375 H&H brass for it. The Rigby and the Norma are two peas in a pod and nothing in North America is safe from either of them. Good luck with your toy! Lee.

Yeah, this is where I am also. With a .350 Rigby I have to make cases from thr 375 H&H as well. That's what I get for wanting something different and having a penchant for Rigby I guess. Fine round though. Mine likes 250 grain Speers and I have had great success with the bullet.

Lee & Magnum, can you share what your best handloads are for this round? Not powder, etc., but results: bullet wt. (vs.) velocity?

Thanks in advance!!

quote:

Originally posted by webfeet:
I finally got my 358 Norma set up and after a couple range trips I love it.

I have had a variety of other medium calibers: 9.3x62, 8mm Rem Mag, 350 Rem Mag, 325 WSM, 338 Win Mag, and a 340 Weatherby. A magnum 35 caliber was an itch I had not scratched and it's an "obsolete" caliber so perfect for a rifle loony.

So it is kind of cool to be able to load such a wide bullet range in a single rifle. I loaded 158 grain JSP all the way up to 280 grain Swift A-Frame. Basically almost no recoil with the 158 grain to a decent shove with the 280 grain that feels close to a 375 H&H.

The rifle is a P17 action and the barrel is a 1-12" twist as that seemed to work with everything available up to the 310 grain Woodleigh. I debated the 1-10" but it limited me a little on the lighter end, and 250 grain is typically the heaviest .358" you see.

I am guessing it kills game like a 350 Rem Mag or 35 Whelen but with an extra 100 yards of range which is to say everything I could need for the lower 48 and Alaska.

Sounds good!

I have a penchant for Norma bullets and shoot them when I can get them. Too bad the big Norma won't clean up a 300 WinMag chamber or I'd have a rebore in progress.

I too have wanted a 358 Norma for ages and have a spare magnum faced Mauser action that has been sitting around for 20 years or so.

I was pretty much ready to start the build when I was at a farm auction last fall and 2 custom rifles were for sale. A 22/284 and a 358 STA.

I brought them home for roughly 1000 for the pair. I have managed to scrounge enough cases since then thanks to a buddy and folks here on AR to get it shooting this coming spring.

If the data is to be believed It should be a hell of an interesting Elk and deer hammer.

I remember reading about reloading the 350 Rigby Magnum in a old Handloaders Digest. I would agree that round takes a good lead in the loony rifle race, and my hat is off to all of you that are shooting it.

I could do without the belted case of the Norma, but I wanted something that had current factory brass and book loads. I considered the 35 WSM but getting a WSM case to feed in a P17 would be way more work. The Norma case even with its belt feeds very nicely in that action.

I am going to have to pull out my copy of Taylor's "African Rifles and Cartridges" and read up on the 350 Rigby. I remember one of the big 35 calibers he used came with a 225 grain bullet. He really loved the one with the 310 grain bullet. Was that the 400/350 Nitro?

I have a good supply of once fired 7mm Remington Magnum brass, and one pass through an expander die and a fire form load and presto: a .358 Norma Magnum case. I killed two white tail does in rapid succession with mine this season, loaded with 180 grain cast bullets and a light load of AA5744.

Rigby had three .35 caliber cartridges: first the .400/.350 with the 310 grain bullet that Taylor praised so highly, then the .350 No. 2, which is the same cartridge case, loaded with a 235 grain bullet, and finally the Magnum, which is a rimless cartridge also loaded with a 235 grain bullet.

quote:

I have a penchant for Norma bullets and shoot them when I can get them. Too bad the big Norma won't clean up a 300 WinMag chamber or I'd have a rebore in progress.

Why not simply rebore and use .300 Win brass for a "super" .358 Norma? Or, you could easily do a .358 STW.

The greatest advantage to the 358 Norma is that it is a commercial cartridge and not a wildcat. Anyway, 358 STW is a 3.6" long cartridge and too big for my 300 Win Mag action. If the Norma could've cleaned up the WinMag chamber I think there would have been a lot more interest in the cartridge.

Gentlemen there is no .358 STW it is a .358 STA as opposed to the 7mm STW. That is Shooting Times Alaskan. Good Shooting.

I mean you could “theoretically have a
258 STW. The 7 is the 8 mag necked down with no changes. If you necked the 8mag up with no changes that would be a 35 STW.

If you take the all possible body taper out of the case and change the shoukder angle for more case capacity you get Layne Simpson’s 358 STA.

My question is why someone would want a 35 STW over the 358 STA.

Each requires a long magnum action.
Die are there for the STA but they are special order. I would think the STW version would be an even more costly custom special order.
The STW version would give you a little less capacity and lower velocity.

I also love the 35 Whelen as here in central Europe we rarely shoot over 200 yards. But for African hunting I would like to have more reserve (e. g. Namibia) and for me the first choice would be 375 H&H necked down to 358 H&H (or 350 Griffin & Howe Magnum if you like). The 358 Norma Mag or 350 Rigby would be my next choice.

Surefire,
I have done very little load work. Under the gun, no pun intended, for an South Africa trip a couple of years ago I tried H-4831 and IMR-7828 with the Speer 250 grain Spitzer. The loads had pretty much the same result and since accuracy was 1" I left well enough alone. My gun liked 74 grains of H-4831 with a Fed. 215M primer. One thing I have to do that Lee did not mention is neck turning the brass. When you shorten the .375 brass it gets too thick at the neck. I use RCBS's neck turner and things worked perfectly. BTW, the Speer bullet was not only accurate but gave me great performance on game. Other than it , I would probably just use Nosler Partitions and be done with it but I could not get any in time to try and I used what was available locally.

Thank you for your reply Magnum Hunter.

Other than shortages of components in todays world I would own at least one 358 NOrma rifle, but in todays shortages of brass, bullets, powder and primers, I will just stick with the.338 Win and components have been fairly available. Ballistics for the 358 and 338 are very close and no one that knows come,er from sic'um could challenge that.

quote:

Originally posted by Grenadier:
I have a penchant for Norma bullets and shoot them when I can get them. Too bad the big Norma won't clean up a 300 WinMag chamber or I'd have a rebore in progress.

Who would you hire to do a reboring job? I may be needing just that!

http://www.35caliber.com/

They do a good job

358 Norma is a good round; done several of them; but really, the Whelen is enough.

quote:

Originally posted by ronco:
http://www.35caliber.com/

They do a good job

Thank you for this info!

For those of you with a 350 Rigby you might be interested in a couple boxes of original 350 Rigby ammo over on Proxibid that is coming up for auction in a couple weeks. It may be nothing or it may be neat...I saw them so I thought I would mention it as we had been talking about the 350.

350 Rigby Ammuntion

358 NM is a great hunting cartridge. Ive had one built on a Mauser action for a couple of decades now. Great moose gun. - dan

For that matter, I have some cowboy friends that think the 358 in a Savage 99 is the last word in elk medicine, and Ive seen them kill quite a number of bull elk with that caliber, it kills the big bulls rather well, about like my 338-06 or 35 Whelen as a matter of fact..Hard too find the 99F these days...I have a 99F in 308 and its near the 30-06 when handloaded so its been my saddle gun for both deer and elk..