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.300 Norma Magnum

Perhaps the most widely used hunting bullet is the 30-caliber bullet, usually fired from a 308 Winchester or a 30-06 Springfield, but the options are endless. While these cartridges enjoy widespread hunting usage, there remains a strong community of competitive target shooters as well. The typical games that are hunted with a 30-caliber bullet fall into the medium game category, but even large herbivors like Moose are apropriate to hunt with this caliber.

One year after the introduction of the .358 Norma Magnum in 1959 Norma necked down the case to accept .308” bullets and the .308 Norma Magnum was born. In spite of its slightly smaller case capacity it is actually a more well-balanced design than most of the other .300 magnums as it is better suited to standard length actions and covers the same range of hunting purposes. However the decisive factor to the success of a cartridge is whether the large American manufacturers decide to chamber rifles for it, and like its parent cartridge this was unfortunately not to become the fate of the .308 Norma Magnum.

The 300 Norma Magnum represents Norma's pursuit of perfection in accuracy. It builds on the legacy with the 308 Norma Mag designed in the 1960's. The 300 NM is one of the most capable long range precision cartridges on the planet, capable of staying super-sonic well beyond 1000 meters. The superior balistics of the 300 Norma Mag. make this cartridge an excellent candidate for long range hunting as well, as the energy delivered at great distances is significant enough to take down even large game.

Every cartridge has its own designation. In this case, the number 300 stands for the caliber, i.e. 0.3 inches = 7.62 mm. The nomenclature used by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency can be confusing at times, as it gives cartridges as caliber x case length. There are several cartridges with the same designation, which does not lead to clear classification.

Short (light) projectiles require less rifling in the barrel than long ones to achieve gyroscopic stability. Every bullet has a specified twist rate that is designed for certain projectile weights. Problems occur when you use extremely long (heavy) bullets and the twist rate is not high enough to stabilize the projectile. Example: the .308 Win has a twist rate of 12 inches. All bullets up to around 12 g are suitable. Heavier projectiles may result in an oval bullet path and reduce accuracy. Lighter projectiles receive more spin than they actually need, which is however practically without significance. A long barrel results in a higher velocity, as the propellant pressure is significantly higher than the friction in the barrel. The velocity generally increases by 2-3 m/s per cm.