308 Norma Magnum

welshwarrior

Well-Known Member
Ok I've got an old Mauser 308 barrelled action that I picked up at auction to use to build a nice classic stalking rifle on. The auction house didn't spot this nor did I at the time But its not a 308 win but 308 N MAG.


The barrel looks quite good whats your thought could this be a nice odd ball stalking rifle, I believe very similar to 300 WM? or will it be a horrible kicky thing, that needs rebarreling?
 
within reason it's stock shape and rifle weight that causes recoil to affect you in a bad way , I run a 300rum and its a pussycat but it's really heavy and has a massive moderator or a good brake when I fire it.

so I say go for the 308 norma mag and enjoy yourself but check on ammo availability before you commit if your not a reloader.
 
It's very similar to a 7mm Rem Mag necked up to .308. So it will have a bit less powder and a longer neck than a 300WM. I would definitely give it a go, brass can be ordered from Norma, or factory ammo for that matter, or you can form it from readily available 7RM brass. It has a good reputation for accuracy, I'd suggest looking the round up on longrangehunting.com, there's a few reviews on there that I know of.
 
if you cant find brass for it the best option appears to be sizing 300wm brass which is more readily available

I run a sporter 300wm that is not much heavier than my .270 Mauser which is light!

kick is a fit issue but the 308nm is less punchy than the 300wm
180gr for example sees
308 NM - 63-67g N160 for 27-2900fps

whereas I am feeding the 300WM
69gr for 3000+
 
Well it'll kick less than your 404 so can't be that bad.

Rig her up on a bench, see how she shoots and go from there. It'll only be better with a properly built stock.
 
It was ,once , popular on the continent. Countries like Belgium and France had a ban on the 30-06. I've Always heard that 30-06 rifles could be rechamberd to 308 Norma Magnum and so many military 30-06 rifles could be cheap transformed in legal sporting rifles.
Dumoulin, wich is easely comparable to Rigby, made lots of sporting rifles in 308 Norma Mag. A friend has one and it shoots and kills like a dream.
 
Thanks guys sounds interesting ironically my 404 is a dumoulin, however it not a rifle that I shoot much or you ever continplate shooting large strings from.

Does sound interesting over another 308 win and you have to love a belted case!!!
 
I've always thought it's a great cartridge that is worthy of holding more of the market share in the 300 magnum world. I like Greener Jim on this...get some range time and see how you like the cartridge and rifle.
 
The .308 Norma Magnum is what the .300 Winchester Magnum would have been in Norma had not go there first. The concept was to take the .338 Winchester Magnum and neck it down to take a .308" bullet. So that .30-06 rifles could be altered to take the new .30-.338 Magnum cartridge make from these necked down .338 Winchester Magnum cases.

So it is a European made cartridge for the American market.

So the first cartridge was a wildcat, as above, the .30-.338 Magnum. Norma came along and made a very, very, similar factory version that they called the .308 Norma Magnum. What you have...although it might conceivably be a .30-.338 Magnum wildcat.

Winchester were keen to get in on this new market. But the real profit, of course, is in ammunition sales. Having a cartridge with you name on it doesn't make you rich if you aren't also the seller of the ammunition to go in it.

So what can Winchester do? Copy Norma? Or make a cartridge with a longer neck? Or make a cartridge with a shorter neck (and so a longer body) can be used not only in altered .30-06 rifles but also altered .308 Norma Magnum rifles?

The answer of course is the last action. So that is why the .300 Winchester Magnum isn't just, as offered by Winchester, a .338 Winchester merely necked down to take a .308" bullet as both the wildcat fraternity, and Norma, go there first.

Which will mean that you can run a .300 H & H Magnum through a .308 Norma Magnum die set to get cases that, once trimmed, will work.

What I would not advise is to do this with .300 Winchester Magnum cases. Why? Because any such cases will now be dangerous to use in any .300 Winchester Magnum as they will still chamber but will have excessive headspace. And yet the headstamp will still indicate them as being .300 Winchester Magnum ammunition.
 
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I make all my 308 Norma from 300WM. I just can't afford Norma's insane pricing. ($60 for 20 cases, here) There is a larger problem than the mis mark of the headstamp -I mean, if the gun is sold, keep the brass and destroy it. I reform cases all the time (7-08 from 308, 9.3x57 from 8x57, 8.15x46R from 30-30) and the brass dies when/if the gun leaves.

The big problem with the reforming of Winchester 300WM (the example I use because it's what I use) is that the old WM shoulder ends up at the base of the 308NM neck. I was compelled to ream this out in the forming process. If you can't, or won't do this, don't bother reforming brass.~Muir
 
That's good advice from MUIR. Destroy the brass if you sell the gun.

Re the reaming...this is why the Forster trimmer is far better than the Sinclair that some think so good. Good, or not, the Sinclair can't inside neck ream, outside neck turn, hollow point, primer pocket chamfer, and etc., etc..
 
That's good advice from MUIR. Destroy the brass if you sell the gun.

Re the reaming...this is why the Forster trimmer is far better than the Sinclair that some think so good. Good, or not, the Sinclair can't inside neck ream, outside neck turn, hollow point, primer pocket chamfer, and etc., etc..
Yes indeed! I use a Forster with a neck reamer attached. It can't be beat. If you want some very precise necks, you can take the fired brass, lightly size it in a Lee Collet die (just until the reamer meets resistance) and then neck ream with the Forster. After the reaming, FL resize or neck size as you normally would. I even do this to military 308 brass. I clean, partial size in a 308 collet die, ream, then FL resize. Makes excellent brass for my 308's or as a prelude to reforming to 7mm-08.~Muir
 
The 308 NM is still pretty common around here . I had an early Parker Hale 98 chambered in it . I used 338 WM brass to form my cases with no problems . The cases were a few thou short but worked perfectly . An old friend of mine has a FN Browning in 308 NM , it's a beautiful old rig and shoots extremely well . We tried reformed 338 WM brass in his unsuccessfully , his chamber is a bit tighter than my old PH's was .
It really is a good cartridge , and as Enfield Spares pointed out , is less common because Winchester flooded the market with their version . I have run into a few rifles that had their chambers rearmed out to 300WM from the original Norma clambering . One local gunsmith , now long gone , told me he rechambered many rifles back in the late 60's and early 70's to 300M . I guess Winchester had better marketing .


Oh , I almost forgot , buy the rifle Daff lol .

AB
 
Mine is a Parker Hale 98 originally marked as a "308 Win" on the tag. When I pointed out the error the shop keeper (in Yuma Arizona, of all places) was really miffed because he's never sell that odd ball SOB. He gave me a give-away price and I bought it. I have since fit a Boyds stock to it and set aside the high comb cheek-buster it came with. It is a very fine rifle.~Muir
 
Mine is a Parker Hale 98 originally marked as a "308 Win" on the tag. When I pointed out the error the shop keeper (in Yuma Arizona, of all places) was really miffed because he's never sell that odd ball SOB. He gave me a give-away price and I bought it. I have since fit a Boyds stock to it and set aside the high comb cheek-buster it came with. It is a very fine rifle.~Muir

Mine was a very early PH that was built on an ex military action ( thumb slot in the receiver ) that had been scrubbed of all original markings . The stock design wasn't like the later ones that had the rollover comb . It was actually quite comfortable to shoot . They're actually still a bargain if you're a reloader . One in decent shape , a PH I mean , will go for about $350 to $400 Canadian . That's pretty reasonable for 98 actioned sporter that shoots a round as powerful , and usually as accurate , as the 308 NM . They still have a small , but faithful , following around here .

AB
 
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AB don't worry it's bought and Muir sounds like I've your old stock huge roll over comb but cracked in a few places.

Had a look for ammo a couple of boxes will cost me more than the rifle!!!

But it sounds a fun experiment if not I've always now got a spare magnum bolt face!
 
Get some once fired 300WM and make brass. Too bad you aren't in my neck of the woods: I ended up somehow with three sets of RCBS 308 Norma Mag dies. I'd let you have a set.~Muir
 
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