.338 Norma Magnum
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The .338 Norma Magnum is a cartridge first introduced in 2008 and came into production in 2009, designed by
Norma Norma may refer to: * Norma (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) ** Norma Lizbeth Ramos, a Mexican bullying victim Astronomy *Norma (constellation) * 555 Norma, a minor asteroid * Cygnus Arm or Norma Arm, a spiral ...
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-made cartridge (weaponry), cartridge for which ammunition and/or firearms are not mass-produced. These cartridges are often created as experimental variants to optimize a certain ballis ...
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 caliber Sierra HPBT MatchKing projectile from actions and magazines that lack the length to handle cartridges exceeding in overall length. The caliber Sierra HPBT MatchKing projectile was not available when the .338 Lapua Magnum 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. The .338 Norma Magnum exhibits slightly reduced ballistic performance compared to the .338 Lapua Magnum on average, due to the .338 Lapua Magnum offering a variety of cartridges that use lighter bullets, and also due to the reduced case capacity of the .338 Norma Magnum. However, the performance of both cartridges are very close, making the .338 Norma Magnum more efficient.


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 .338 Lapua Magnum (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 Mag ...
(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 America ...
(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 bullet A very-low-drag bullet (VLD) is primarily a small arms ballistics development of the 1980s–1990s, driven by the design objective of bullets with higher degrees of accuracy and kinetic efficiency, especially at extended ranges. To achieve this, ...
s 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 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 A ...
, in conjunction with the
United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...
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 commonly seen among shotgun shells, and is considered a new alternative for long guns and ...
. 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 awarded
Barrett Firearms Manufacturing Barrett Firearms Manufacturing is an Australian-owned, American manufacturer of firearms and ammunition located in Christiana, Tennessee. It was founded in 1982 by Ronnie G. Barrett for the purpose of building semi-automatic rifles chambered fo ...
a $50,000,000 contract, ordering the
Barrett MRAD The Barrett MRAD (Multi-role Adaptive Design) is a bolt-action sniper rifle designed by Barrett to meet the requirements of the SOCOM PSR. The MRAD is based on the Barrett 98B and includes a number of modifications and improvements. The Barre ...
, 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, straight walled, bottlenecked, centerfire rifle cartridge. It is a standard for small arms among NATO countries. First developed in the 1950s, the cartridge had first be ...
and .300 Norma Magnum. In 2020 the U.S. Special Operations Command 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:


Bolt action rifle Bolt action is a type of manual firearm action that is operated by ''directly'' manipulating the turn-bolt via a bolt handle, most commonly placed on the right-hand side of the firearm (as most users are right-handed). The majority of bo ...
s

* Accuracy International ASR *
Barrett MRAD The Barrett MRAD (Multi-role Adaptive Design) is a bolt-action sniper rifle designed by Barrett to meet the requirements of the SOCOM PSR. The MRAD is based on the Barrett 98B and includes a number of modifications and improvements. The Barre ...
(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, Chassis#Firearms, rifle chassis and defence accessories. History The company was found ...
CDX-33 * Desert Tech SRS-A2 * FORTMEIER M 2002 * Remington Modular Sniper Rifle (MSR) *
Sako TRG M10 The Sako TRG (short for Finnish language, Finnish: "", " Precision Rifle G-series") is a bolt-action sniper rifle line designed and manufactured by Finnish firearms manufacturer SAKO of Riihimäki. It is the successor to the SAKO TR-6 target rifle ...
- Multi-caliber rifle


Selective fire Selective may refer to: * Selective school, a school that admits students on the basis of some sort of selection criteria ** Selective school (New South Wales) See also * Selective breeding Selective breeding (also called artificial select ...

*
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 fifth largest in the Unit ...
Lightweight Medium Machine Gun (LWMMG) *
Sig MG 338 The SIG Sauer MG 338 is a medium machine gun manufactured by the SIG Sauer company. Description The SIG MG 338 is primarily chambered in .338 Norma Magnum and has an effective range of approximately 1,700 meters, approximately twice the effec ...
SLMAG - belt-fed medium machine gun which is highly analogous to the LWMMG * Ohio Ordnance Works Recoil Enhanced Automatic Precision Rifle (REAPR)


Semi-automatic rifle A semi-automatic rifle is a type of rifle that fires a single round each time the Trigger (firearms), trigger is pulled while automatically loading the next Cartridge (firearms), cartridge. These rifles were developed Pre-World War II, and w ...
s

* Albert Arms ALR * S.W.O.R.D. International Mk-18 Mod 1 Mjölnir


See also

*
Norma Norma may refer to: * Norma (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) ** Norma Lizbeth Ramos, a Mexican bullying victim Astronomy *Norma (constellation) * 555 Norma, a minor asteroid * Cygnus Arm or Norma Arm, a spiral ...
* .300 Norma Magnum * .338 Lapua Magnum * .338 Remington Ultra Magnum * .338-378 Weatherby Magnum * .338 Edge * .338 Xtreme * .338 Winchester Magnum *
List of rifle cartridges List of rifle cartridges, by primer type, Caliber, calibre and name. File:Cartridge Sample 2.jpg, 350px, From left to right: 1 .17 Hornady Mach 2, 2 .17 Hornady Magnum Rimfire, 3 .22 Long Rifle, 4 .22 Winchester Magnum Rimfire, 5 .17/23 SMc, 6 5mm ...
*
8 mm caliber This is a list of firearm cartridges which have bullets in the caliber range. *''Length'' refers to the empty cartridge case Case or CASE may refer to: Instances * Instantiation (disambiguation), a realization of a concept, theme, or design ...


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 Military cartridges