The .358 Norma

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Exactly! I place the 358 NM and the 9.3x64 almost equal to the 375 h&h in performance, with the 375 Ruger a nose length ahead of them....with the 338WM nipping at the heels of them all....and Bob's 35 Whelen nipping at the heels of the 338 WM. However, the 358 NM, the 9.3x64, and the 338WM will shoot flatter and penetrate deeper, whereas the 375s have a tad more diameter.....and Bob's 35 Whelen beat them all in the recoil department! Boy oh boy, I love these mid-bores!

@Cspebuffalo
I get a chronoed 2,455fps out of the Whelen with the 310s and over 2,600 fps with the 275gn Woodleighs. Me thinks that places it in a class of its own.
Bob

 

[Capebuffalo]

@Cspebuffalo
I get a chronoed 2,455fps out of the Whelen with the 310s and over 2,600 fps with the 275gn Woodleighs. Me thinks that places it in a class of its own.
Bob

For sure! Combining those velocities with the heavy grains, it will definitely have the killing power on some big animals....Excellent for a non-magnum!

 

[EfRed]

While searching for .358 Norma Mag ammo, I came across some Norma factory ammo that is 232 grain FMJ. Why would they load it with FMJ bullets? Target shooting is the only thing I could see.

Any other suggestions? The price was right at $40 a box.

I found .358 Norma 250s on Ammo Search with no problem a couple years back....

 

[EfRed]

The .358 Norma is something like a thick goldchain around Your neck, its nice to have, but You really don't need it. The .358 is the same, too close to the .338 Winni and not too far away from .375 H&H.

To test it the ultimative way, built three guns, all the same with 338, 358 and 375H&H barrels fit and try to sell it:
Be prepared, because many will have the 375, lots want to have the 338, but nobody is even asking for the 358 Norma, because nobody knows it. If You look deaper, brass is problem, bullets are problem (because lots of are mainly made for 358 Win & 35 Whelen and so in my opinion too soft) and original ammo from Norma is far too expensive for a nice afternoon at the shooting range.
If I'm considering a new cartridge for my locker, those named circumstances just chase it out of competition. If You want to invest Your time and money, to shoot an exotic cartridge like that, so buy it, hug it, write us Your huntingstories and be happy.!!

Way back, shrouded in the mists of the past, there was no 300 Win Mag, and a brand new and more or less unknown .338 Win Mag. Norma then released the .308 Norma and the .358 Norma to fill an unoccupied niche. These two cartridges showed good ballistic performance and took up a good deal of my day-dreaming time. I saw no need for the .300 Win mag when it was introduced, saw little need for a .338 Win Mag or any other .338 cartridge. With 35% greater frontal area, the .358 just looks like a proper jump over the 30 cal line. Time settles these arguments and the .338 won out. Still, against a big bear, I'd rather have a .358 Norma in my hands thans .338 Win anytime. Some will argue that the big bear won't know the difference, but other knowledgeable people acknowledge that there is an observable difference in anchoring capability for the .358 cal. Of the .338s, I have only a .340 Wby, a fine cartridge that can take full advantage of the SD and BC gains of the .338 cal. But I have numerous 35 Whelens and an old Wby Safari Custom Mark V in .338 Win Mag rebored to .358 Norma. I guess I just like 35s....

 

[PerH]

The 232 grain is Jaktmatch , for training and feather / fur game . Not big game solid , small and medium game .

I never got to try them when I had the .358 NM . I used revolver bullets instead .

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Way back, shrouded in the mists of the past, there was no 300 Win Mag, and a brand new and more or less unknown .338 Win Mag. Norma then released the .308 Norma and the .358 Norma to fill an unoccupied niche. These two cartridges showed good ballistic performance and took up a good deal of my day-dreaming time. I saw no need for the .300 Win mag when it was introduced, saw little need for a .338 Win Mag or any other .338 cartridge. With 35% greater frontal area, the .358 just looks like a proper jump over the 30 cal line. Time settles these arguments and the .338 won out. Still, against a big bear, I'd rather have a .358 Norma in my hands thans .338 Win anytime. Some will argue that the big bear won't know the difference, but other knowledgeable people acknowledge that there is an observable difference in anchoring capability for the .358 cal. Of the .338s, I have only a .340 Wby, a fine cartridge that can take full advantage of the SD and BC gains of the .338 cal. But I have numerous 35 Whelens and an old Wby Safari Custom Mark V in .338 Win Mag rebored to .358 Norma. I guess I just like 35s....

@EfRed
You can certainly see what happens when a big 35 cal 250gn round nose ( even the humble Hornady) hits an animal. My PH actually saw the whole body of a big oryx bull ripple from the front to back from the impact of it. It was the first time he had ever seen it in his life and was totally amazed.
Bob

 

[ftrovato]

Way back, shrouded in the mists of the past, there was no 300 Win Mag, and a brand new and more or less unknown .338 Win Mag. Norma then released the .308 Norma and the .358 Norma to fill an unoccupied niche. These two cartridges showed good ballistic performance and took up a good deal of my day-dreaming time. I saw no need for the .300 Win mag when it was introduced, saw little need for a .338 Win Mag or any other .338 cartridge. With 35% greater frontal area, the .358 just looks like a proper jump over the 30 cal line. Time settles these arguments and the .338 won out. Still, against a big bear, I'd rather have a .358 Norma in my hands thans .338 Win anytime. Some will argue that the big bear won't know the difference, but other knowledgeable people acknowledge that there is an observable difference in anchoring capability for the .358 cal. Of the .338s, I have only a .340 Wby, a fine cartridge that can take full advantage of the SD and BC gains of the .338 cal. But I have numerous 35 Whelens and an old Wby Safari Custom Mark V in .338 Win Mag rebored to .358 Norma. I guess I just like 35s....

My two cents, at the end of the day the bigger the frontal area the better the terminal affect...as long as the bullet achieves the desired velocity upon impact for it to perform to its design specification.

 

[Rosch]

Way back, shrouded in the mists of the past, there was no 300 Win Mag, and a brand new and more or less unknown .338 Win Mag. Norma then released the .308 Norma and the .358 Norma to fill an unoccupied niche. These two cartridges showed good ballistic performance and took up a good deal of my day-dreaming time. I saw no need for the .300 Win mag when it was introduced, saw little need for a .338 Win Mag or any other .338 cartridge. With 35% greater frontal area, the .358 just looks like a proper jump over the 30 cal line. Time settles these arguments and the .338 won out. Still, against a big bear, I'd rather have a .358 Norma in my hands thans .338 Win anytime. Some will argue that the big bear won't know the difference, but other knowledgeable people acknowledge that there is an observable difference in anchoring capability for the .358 cal. Of the .338s, I have only a .340 Wby, a fine cartridge that can take full advantage of the SD and BC gains of the .338 cal. But I have numerous 35 Whelens and an old Wby Safari Custom Mark V in .338 Win Mag rebored to .358 Norma. I guess I just like 35s....

The Norma Sales Team would be happy to hire You! )
All Your arguments would fit also for 9,3x62, 9,3x64, 375 Ruger, 376 Steyr and her majesty 375 H&H !
Sure the 358 hits harder than 338, but if I was a big nasty brown bear, I would be terrified with the thought in mind being shot at even with a 338 Winni.
Often the love for a special cartridge oversees the real stuff to look at. Avaibility is in my opnion a much stronger argument than any other. What about a brandnew 358 Norma rifle, shiny and oiled in the gun safe, if no ammo or reloading components are available ?
338 Win ? Drive to the next gun shop and get Your 100 pack of ammo. Anytime.
I even believe without prove, that ammo for the 9,3 is better available in US gun shops than 358 Norma.
Get away from this specialmania, go get a mainstream gun and spent Your time better with shooting or hunting than searching food for a hungry 358 Norma!
Life is too short for stuff like this ….

 

[PerH]

Just get some distance on the .358 if you used factory loads Oryx so the soft bullet behave better .

As Kvale said back then it was no need for strong bullets as the moose was soft skinned . And the bullets used was for .358 Win they loaded with .


It took a local timber and moose area farmer aswell as many match competitions winner and gun authority to convince Norma to straighten up . Then they made some custom series pre Woodleigh and Swift days . Why they didn’t keep them going and a Barnes also is unknown.