358 NORMA MAGNUM

Research notes

This cartridge was developed by Nils Kvale of Norma early in the 1950s, but. 35 years before that however the nearly identical .35 Newton already arrived on the scene. Unfortunately factory rifles were only made for this round by Husqvarna of Sweden and Schultz & Larsen of Denmark and had Norma been able to persuade any of the larger American rifle manufacturers to make rifles for this round when it was developed it would undoubtedly have taken the place of the .338 Winchester as the two cartridges are suited for exactly the same range of game and types of hunting. They even both use the same case but due to the ratio between the bullet diameter and the case capacity the .358 can utilize slightly faster burning powder a little better and get even more power out of the limited space available.

For all practical purposes the .358 Norma Magnum delivers the same performance as the .375 H&H, but does not need a magnum length action. During the latter years a good number of premium bullets have been made in .358” diameter and that has added to the versatility of the .358 Norma Mag.