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Old 02-22-2012, 10:19 AM
Leeper Leeper is offline
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
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As far as the 308 Norma is concerned; what's not to like? The only problem is that it has become rare enough that it has almost achieved wildcat status. It is a nicely designed cartridge which is relatively efficient, for a big thirty.
The 308 Norma was introduced as a means to turn your 30/06 into a magnum. By rechambering your Springfield, Enfield, or Model 70 Winchester, you could have a rifle which actually outperformed the 300 H&H yet fit into the magazines of these rifles without alteration. The dimensions of the 308 Norma were such that the 30/06 chamber would clean up entirely when reamed out to the Norma (this was not the case with the 30/338 wildcat which required that the barrel be set back to ensure that it would clean up the neck).
When Winchester brought out the 300 Winchester Magnum, it would have made more sense to bring out the 30/338 as the 300 Winchester Magnum. The only problem was, the 30/338 was a physically smaller cartridge than the already well established, 308 Norma. Winchester's marketing people felt that, in order to be successful in the marketplace, the Winchester offering had to be larger so as to appear more powerful than the Norma. At the same time, they wanted to have the cartridge fit into the standard length model 70 magazine (pre-64). The result was the 300 Win mag with it's very short neck holding bullets which were deeply seated to fit the magazine. The marketing ploy worked though and the 300 Winchester was ascendent. That American manufacturers chose to chamber for the Winchester and that US ammo makers elected to not manufacture Norma ammunition certainly helped in this regard.
The 300 H&H is a pretty nice cartridge in some respects and was the first thirty caliber magnum which was commonly available to the North American shooter. I say commonly available because the 30 Newton, a cartridge remarkably similar to the 308 Norma but without a belt, appeared several years prior to the 300H&H. The 300 H&H is a full length magnum cartridge (like the 375) but it's body is so tapered as to reduce the powder capacity to a little less than that of the 308 Norma. Happily, this is a good capacity for a thirty caliber so the 300 is a good performer. Because of it's length, rifle actions available at the time had to be lengthened in the magazine and loading ports to accept the cartridge. That this weakened the actions (in the case of mausers and pre-64 Model 70's) is indisputable and it is difficult to understand why Winchester would have chosen to go this route rather than to chamber for the Newton cartridges (Winchester western was already making ammunition for the Newtons). I suspect it had a lot to do with friction between Charles Newton and Winchester's management at the time. Perhaps Newton wanted royalties or maybe they just couldn't get along.
I like the 308 Norma and consider it to be the best of the 30 caliber belted magnums. It easily exceeds 3000 fps with 180 grain bullets and this is enough for any North American hunting situation. It's a good looking cartridge and easy to reload for. Leeper
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