Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats My 308 Norma story

I wouldn't kick that out of bed.

Try the 165 and 180 grain barnes ttsx in the Norma, own three at the moment, 2 of them on 98 mausers and the third on a '03 that was built by some guy in PA named Jaeger LOL they all really shoot well, I have only shot the 165 side by side with a 300 wm and see no appreciable difference. I do think Norma's vision was producing enough reamers to put alot of '06 guns in the magnum mode. Mine by chance are rebarrled. I did buy one lemon '03 on a late night auction on gunbroker that was a real mess, kind of a gunsmith special I guess, but the troubles evaporated with a trip to JES and a 358 norma was born. In these heavier rifles they are a pleasure to shoot at these grain bullets. Only bullet i could never make work was the 165 grain sst, they shot accurate but they seemed to implode on impact, maybe it was the early lots of sst's but I just drifted away from that bullet. I have a bunch of norma ammo new in the box in 180 grain if someone favors that.

It's great to see all the replies on here... it seems the 308 Norma still gets some love!

Last week l got a packet of 175gn Atomic 29 projectiles to try in the 308 Norma.
The Atomic 29 is an all-copper monometal hollowpoint designed and made in Australia.
I really like these projectiles and they are what l use in my 425 Express.
They have an outstanding reputation for both accuracy and performance in the field and I was eager to give them a whirl in the Norma.

I was originally going to use the the 155gn projectile but Cameron (the owner of Atomic 29) suggested the 175gn for the .30 magnums, so that's what l went with.

With the 180gn Woodleigh l got a velocity of 2917fps with 73gn of 2213SC with no pressure signs.
l decided to up the powder charge to 73.5gn with the marginally lighter 175gn projectile and l was hoping to get around 2950fps.
Also, thanks to a mate of mine l now had a Lee Factory Crimp Die for the Norma (which he made - thanks Farmboy) and I reckon putting a nice tight crimp on them might bump up velocity a bit too.
It was an exciting drive to the range to see what the brutally honest chronograph was going to tell me...

Well the 175gn were actually a fraction slower than the 180gn averaging spot on 2900fps - which l was still happy with, but a little surprised they were slower.

After l finished sighting the rifle in l went home and punched my data into a ballistic program and got the following:

Caliber: .308 Norma Magnum
Ammunition: 175gn Atomic 29
(175gn Atomic 29 – 73.5gn AR2213SC – Norma Case - CCI mag primer)
Muzzle Velocity: 2900 fps
Ballistic Coefficient: 0.450
Muzzle Energy: 3269 ft/lbs
Recoil Energy: 26.99 ft/lbs
Firearm: Enfield M17 22.75” barrel

50mtrs = 1.75 - 3015ft/lbs
100mtrs = 3.5 - 2779ft/lbs
150mtrs = 4.0 - 2557ft/lbs
200mtrs = 2.75 - 2350ft/lbs
250mtrs = 0.0 - 2156ft/lbs
300mtrs = - 5.0 - 1975ft/lbs
350mtrs = - 12.0 - 1806ft/lbs
-----------------------------------------------
400mtrs = - 21.0 - 1648ft/lbs


So I've now got my 308 Norma all set up and sighted in.
With the shorter barrel it may not be the fastest .30 Mag out there (more of a souped up .30/06) but it's got a nice useable trajectory out to 350m and it should be plenty for any deer.

All that's left now is to use it in the field... so keep your eyes peeled for a hunt report real soon!

Russ

You guys are too much. Mine has been stored for probably twenty years. I used it to shoot a cow elk. You all are getting me thinking of pulling it and shooting it. I still have a target with three shots at three hundred yards right at an inch. What a wonderful caliber.

Warren

My 308 Norma (rebarrel 03A3) just arrived back in Texas last Saturday night from a successful Montana Mule Deer hunt, the buck stood up, received a dose of 165 Barnes TTSX, and looked for a place to collapse. Worked as intended.

During leaner times ... I used one rifle for everything, deer, elk, bear, antelope..... the rifle was a Browning safari grade Belgium Mauser. It was an early model with a 3 digit serial number.
Originally in 30-06 that was rechambered in 308 Norma magnum. 22" thin barrel. My load was a 180 gr Nosler partition at 2900 fps. It was the most accurate I had ever owned at the time.
And most importantly it was a vey lucky rifle...

Neat old rifle! Thanks for the story. Looking forward to some Sambar pics.

I have owned a couple of .30-338s and always thought highly of them. One was a nice custom I picked up in an estate collection that shot everything well but was too heavy to pack up mountains. The other was a P17 that had been sporterised with a synthetic stock. Was just getting to know it when someone wanted it worse than I did.

I have a magnum 700 action from a rusted 7Mag here screaming to be something else when it grows up. A .308 Norma would pair nice with my .358 Norma but owning multiple ‘06s, a .30 Gibbs and a .300 Win Mag already kinda makes it feel like splitting a pretty fine hair

My only ..308 Norma Mag rifle is a Husqvarna 1600 series. A rifle that, on good authority, never factory chambered. But if faked, someone's gone to effort to make it appear so. Rifle with NO serial number which "should be on barrel" & no indications of removal. This Model potentially dating to latter fifties+ era in reflection of introduction of "alloy" bottom metal it wears. Whatever, its a handsome rifle. My barrel here is 24" and that the only downside as such chambering seems to me to benefit from a 26" tube!

Pix below.

Best!
John

I don't see any reason to doubt the originality of that rifle. I would place it as a Mid-sixties rifle. Most factory 308 Normas were 24 inch barrels and factory ammo usually achieved right around 3100 fps from that length. GD