The .338 Norma Magnum is a cartridge first introduced in 2008 and came into production in 2009, designed by Norma of Sweden.

Design history

The .338 Norma Magnum was originally developed as a long-range sport shooting

wildcat cartridge A wildcat cartridge, often shortened to wildcat, is a custom cartridge for which ammunition and/or firearms are not mass-produced. These cartridges are often created in order to optimize a certain performance characteristic (such as the power, s ...

by the American sport shooter Jimmie Sloan with the help of Dave Kiff, owner of Pacific Tool and Gauge, who made the reamers and headspace gauges. Barrels were supplied by Rock Creek Barrel Inc. Various twist rates were tried with 5R rifling. It was designed as a way to optimize shooting the 19.44 g (300 gr) 8.59 mm (.338 in) caliber Sierra HPBT MatchKing projectile from actions and magazines that lack the length to handle cartridges exceeding 91.44 mm (3.60 in) in overall length. The 19.44 g (300 gr) .338 caliber Sierra HPBT MatchKing projectile was not available when the

.338 Lapua Magnum The .338 Lapua Magnum (8.6×70 mm or 8.58×70 mm) is a rimless, bottlenecked, centerfire rifle cartridge. It was developed during the 1980s as a high-powered, long-range cartridge for military snipers. It was used in the War in Afghanistan and ...

was originally designed (it was optimized for shooting 16.2 g (250 gr) projectiles) and .338 Lapua Magnum cartridges intended for military use are generally loaded with shorter 16.2 g (250 gr) to 18.47 g (285 gr) projectiles. Later the design was purchased by the Swedish ammunition manufacturer Norma. The .338 Norma Magnum cartridge was C.I.P. certified on 26 May 2010 and thus became an officially registered and sanctioned rifle cartridge.

Cartridge dimensions

The .338 Norma Magnum prior to C.I.P. certification had a shorter cartridge overall length (91.44 mm (3.60 in) compared to the cartridge overall length of the

(93.50 mm (3.681 in). The .338 Norma Magnum loaded with 19.44 g (300 gr) .338 caliber Sierra HPBT projectiles will have these projectile less deeply seated compared to the .338 Lapua Magnum when both cartridges are loaded to 91.44 mm (3.681 in) overall length. To achieve this the .338 Norma Magnum cartridge utilizes a shorter case (about 63.30 mm (2.492 in) with less taper and a slightly sharper shoulder angle with a slightly longer neck, resulting in about 6.5% less case capacity. However the cartridge overall lengths of the .338 Norma Magnum and .338 Lapua Magnum were, as of 2013, determined at 93.50 mm (3.681 in) by the C.I.P. rulings for these cartridges.

U.S. government market survey and ammunition availability

On June 17, 2008, the U.S. government issued a market survey to support a requirement for a

Precision Sniper Rifle The Precision Sniper Rifle (PSR) was a program by United States Special Operations Command to replace all bolt-action sniper rifles in use by United States special operations snipers with a single bolt-action rifle chambered for a large caliber Ma ...

(PSR) to possibly replace the currently fielded Bolt Action SOF Sniper Systems MK 13 (.300 Winchester Magnum) and the M40 and

M24 M24, M.24 or M-24 may refer to: Military * HMS ''M24'', a Royal Navy M15 class monitor * HMS ''M24'', Royal Swedish Navy ship, (see List of mine warfare vessels of the Royal Swedish Navy) * M24 Chaffee, an American light tank * M24 mine, an Ameri ...

(7.62×51mm NATO) chambered to safely fire factory produced "non-wildcat" .338 caliber ammunition. The .338 Norma Magnum was designed to improve upon the .338 Lapua Magnum when loaded with 19.44 g (300 gr) Sierra very-low-drag bullets in magazines and actions that restrict the .338 Lapua Magnum's maximum cartridge overall length. In long range precision sport shooting rifles, which the .338 Norma Magnum cartridges were designed for, the chamber and throat area of the barrel are often custom made by a gunsmith for a particular cartridge, meaning the rifle (system) is consciously constructed for optimal use with a particular cartridge case and projectile combination. If projectiles with differing dimensions are to be used this will generally erode such a custom made system's accuracy potential. This makes objective comparisons between cartridges hard, since cartridges are essential parts of a larger rifle system. Since the .338 Lapua Magnum can be loaded to its C.I.P. overall length or even somewhat longer, the practical difference between the two cartridges gradually becomes negligible. Some manufacturers of .338 Lapua Magnum actions, magazines and rifles have indicated that they intend to offer products that will allow the use of .338 Lapua Magnum cartridges that can handle overall lengths that exceed the current C.I.P. .338 Lapua Magnum maximal overall length standard of 93.50 mm (3.681 in). In May 2017 the United States Special Operations Command, in conjunction with the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

issued a sources sought notice for 5,000 Lightweight Medium Machine Guns (LWMMG) chambered for .338 Norma Magnum

polymer-cased ammunition Polymer-cased ammunition (PCA) is firearm ammunition (cartridge) with casings made from synthetic polymer instead of the typical metallic casing. PCA is considered a new alternative that potentially reduces production cost and weight for long g ...

. The aim is to identify a machine gun with a long barrel weighing or less, which offers sufficient accuracy out to to engage area targets and vehicles. In 2019 the

U.S. Special Operations Command The United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM or SOCOM) is the unified combatant command charged with overseeing the various special operations component commands of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, and Air Force of the United States Arm ...

awarded Barrett Manufacturing a $50,000,000 contract, ordering the Barrett MRAD, designated MK22 Advanced Sniper Rifle (ASR), chambered in .338 Norma Magnum (designated XM1162) as well as

7.62×51mm NATO The 7.62×51mm NATO (official NATO nomenclature 7.62 NATO) is a rimless, bottlenecked rifle cartridge. It is a standard for small arms among NATO countries. First developed in the 1950s, the cartridge had first been introduced in U.S. service fo ...

and

.300 Norma Magnum The .300 Norma Magnum, also known as .300 NM or "300 Norma" for short, is a centerfire magnum rifle cartridge developed by Swedish ammunition manufacturer Norma Precision. The .300 Norma Magnum uses a .338 Norma Magnum case necked down to the ...

. In 2020 the

awarded SIG Sauer a contract, ordering the MG 338 machine gun chambered in .338 Norma Magnum.

Chambering availability

The .338 Norma Magnum chambering is offered for these factory rifles: * Accuracy International ASR * Albert Arms ALR * Barrett MRAD (Mk 22 ASR) *

Cadex Defence Cadex Defence is a Canadian firearms manufacturer based in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec. It produces high-end bolt action rifles, precision sniper rifles, rifle chassis and defence accessories. History The company was founded in 1994 as Cad ...

CDX-33 * Desert Tech SRS-A2 * FORTMEIER M 2002 *

General Dynamics General Dynamics Corporation (GD) is an American publicly traded, aerospace and defense corporation headquartered in Reston, Virginia. As of 2020, it was the fifth-largest defense contractor in the world by arms sales, and 5th largest in the Uni ...

Lightweight Medium Machine Gun (LWMMG) * Remington Modular Sniper Rifle (MSR). *

Sako TRG M10 Sako or SAKO may refer to: People with the surname * Bakary Sako (born 1988), French-born Malian footballer * Hygerta Sako, Albanian beauty pageant contestant * Louis Raphaël I Sako (born 1948), Iraqi cleric, head of the Chaldean Catholic Church ...

- Multi-caliber rifle *

SIG Sauer Several brother companies that design and manufacture firearms use the brand name SIG Sauer . The original company, ''Schweizerische Waggon-Fabrik'' (SWF), later ''Schweizerische Industrie-Gesellschaft'' (SIG), went through several selloffs, ...

MG 338 SLMAG - belt-fed medium machine gun which is highly analogous to the LWMMG. * S.W.O.R.D. International Mk-18 Mod 1 Mjölnir

Notes

References

External links

Norma Ammunition Homepage

C.I.P. TDCC datasheet 338 Norma Mag.

Lightweight Medium Machine Gun (LWMMG)
{{DEFAULTSORT:338 Norma Magnum Pistol and rifle cartridges Magnum rifle cartridges