Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Who knows the real history of the short action magnum?

Tejano - I might be wrong but I went thru this thread & didn't see any
mention of the 30 Super.

If I did miss it, I didn't bring it up. Also I don't know the answer to your
question.

edited to supply a mising word.

Royce - I don't know you, but you seem like a guy I'd like to know and hunt with.

I have a different point of view than yours about magnum being a meaningless term.

'magnum' or 'express' means bigger, larger, or stronger. It seems to me that many of the 'magnum' cartridges are just that compared to their counterparts.

I.E. 7mm RM compared to 7X57, 280 Rem. etc.

Also 300 MagnumS compared to 300 Savage, 30-30, 308, 3006, etc.

Think of all we would NOT have w/o the 'magnums', + the cartridges wildcated from the BIGGER cases.

Food For Thot ! !

Just curious.

The Belted Rimless Nitro Express was to differentiate it from the black powder cartridges. They hit like a freight train but it was too long a name.

Veloplex just didn't make it but somewhere the 30 super became the 300 H&H magnum. So I guess the 350 Rigby was the first to use the term magnum.

Tejano - 10/4, Remember that in Britain - Express - means the same as Magnum in the U S.

Todays short action magnums especially the Winchester case can DNA themselves back to the 425 Westly Richards.

""1964 Gun Digest page 299.
American Bulleted Cartridges by Kenneth L. Waters

284 Winchester

"An entirely new short-cased cartridge designed to give short action rifles ballistics fully equal to the longer 270 Winchester and 280 Remington rounds.

Case Length of the new round is 1/2-inch less than a 270, but a larger body diameter with decreased taper and sharper shoulder provided the same powder capacity. (same concept for the wsm)

This increase in body diameter introduced somewhat of a problem; it was necessary to keep rim diameter the the "standard" size (common to such caliber as the 308, 270, and 30-06) in order to permit use of the 284 with the existing bolt-face dimensions.
This sub-diameter rim is founded on the 425 Westley Richards cartridge, and was also used in the past in various German calibers."

I received a bunch of 600NE yesterday. Would it be a magnum?
Butch

I did a little reading on this subject a few years ago. Here is what I remember from all the articles and books that I read.
The term express began in the black powder era in the British Empire. It was used to describe a lighter bullet load with more velocity to get flatter trajectory. Kind of like our current trend to high velocity light bullets. The express cartridges developed a poor reputation in the bush. They tended to give shallow, less than lethal wounds. The hunters of the time were doing the same things we are doing these days, stretching the capability of cartriges. When express cartridges were used on big game (read that dangerous game) the client often suffered as much as the game. When smokeless powder came along the Nitro Express cartridges came into being. These cartidges used cordite which required a large capacity case. They achieved high velocity with higher preassures. So while many of the cartidges were the same size as their BP predessors, the guns needed to be stronger, so they added the Nitro Express to denote the need for a nitro proof gun. The magnums from this era on through to WWII were limited to big cases. It wasn't until the powder and primer developments in WWII that the progressive burning characteristics and their ignition could be accomplished consistantly without periodic strange pressure excusions. These developments coupled with the postwar economic boom. The result was the wild west wildcating of the fifties. This was the spawning bed for our current crop of commercial cartridges. As MuleDeer said, the guys that did the work on the modified 348 cases were the first short magnums. The 6.5 and the 350 were the first who got serious commercial marketing. The 300 savage was developed for military application as a shortened 30/06, when the 99 and the 300 did not get selected, there was a great promotional campaign to sell the rifle cartridge combination. There have been some well researched articles witten on that campaign, but none that I have read included the words short magnum. That does not mean it wasn't used, just that in my readings, I didn't see it. The term Magnum really became a big marketing tool in the hands of folks like Roy Weatherby. The typical magnum had large case capacity and a belt. There were exceptions, but, at the time, it meant more, lots more, power. In reality, it was just marketing. By the sixties, it sold rifles like the word 'tactical' does now. Remington had the first big commercial marketing campaign to introduc the 'Short Magnum's 350 and 6.5 to introduce their 600 series rifles.
That is what I gleaned from a bunch of reading. I could be all wet, but that's what I remember.
Bfly

Blackfly 1 - Not being an expert nor authority, I'd say that is a good SUMMATION and description of the development of the N E and into Magnum here in the U S.

+ 1

Jerry

Naw those are wimpy it has to be the .60x50 BMG or 700 Nitro Express to be a magnum.

A more relevant question might be "Who knows the real point of the short action magnum?"

TC

TopCat - from ALL I've read & heard the point of a short action magnum is;

to SAVE 1/2 INCH in overall gun length & SAVE no more than FOUR OUNCES
in gun weight. All the while TRYING to equal the L A magnum or GET CLOSE.

Doesn't seem worth the effort for 1/2" & 4 oz.

Good question TopCat. A WSM in a short action Remington will not allow a bullet seated out far enough to feed from the magazine. I know I'll get all kinds of screams about this, but you have to seat the bullet past the neck to make it work. Probably some exceptions as I have some 118Grain 30 cal and 112 grain 30 cal on 1" jackets that might work.
Butch

Topcat, if I recall all the hoopla correctly (from writers like Sundra and Boddington, etc) the reason for the short magnum was to take advantage of the accuracy advantages purported to shorter PPC like cartridges (stiffer actions, etc), more efficient powder burn (short fat column), slightly shorter rifle length, and slightly less rifle weight. So... "magnum performance in a shorter, lighter, instrinsically more accurate platform" or something like that. And of course, the bullet companies had to choose their components carefully to get that magnum performance... the 180 at 2960 fps. Some hit it (300WSM) and some missed it by a small margin (300 RSAUM).

I drank the koolaid and bought a 300 RSAUM and I like it, just because so many people choose not to like it. Being a contrarian sure is fun.

Dogger,
I built 2 300SAUMs. Both are excellent shooters. They are shorter than the WSM and will work in the SA Remington. My oldest Son still has his and loves it.
Butch

Amen!

I am so contrary that I went with the .300 RCM.

jim

nasqam - THANKS !

I'd like to add that for all the criticism & complaints about the belted mags;

I've NEVER had one SINGLE problem associated w/belted cases. Also I like getting ALL the velocity not just CLOSE.

Ignorant statement of the month. Do you put on your camo and then go sit it a box 20' up waiting for a deer to hit on your feeder?

Or, do you backpack mountains a good distance to get into an area?

Also, what good does that belt and an extra 1/2 of length and extra ounces do for you?




Butche, you above all people should know better than that.

Different strokes but SA cartridges do nothing for me either.

Then I like 24" barrels too.

SU35 - If 1/2" of lenght & 4 oz of gun weight kept or hindered me from hunting, stalking, whatever, I'd take up knitting.

The belt on the case DOES NOT hinder or hurt and the SAMs that don't have the belt or case lenght DO NOT EQUAL the REAL magnums.

As nasqam said, "different strokes", what I stated is FACT and no one said ANYBODY had to agree or like it. And I don't need your approval and could care less.