Discussion Forums

Luke Lahdenranta

As the title says, after reading Nathan's medium bore write ups far too many times I've been bitten hard by the 'need' to own and experience a true medium bore. If I am truly honest with myself, I certainly can't say my trusty 30-06 has ever let me down especially now using the Knowledge base and book series to get the best out of the Grand Old 30-06... but you know want versus need and all that. And hunting moose/elk or deer in Grizzly bear country here in BC does furnish a handy excuse to get into a medium bore...

My head says the most sensible idea and most straight forward path to a medium bore would be to get either a 35 Whelen or a 9.3x62 Mauser. We have a dealer here in Canada that has a good stock of the Zastava M70 Mauser in left handed (which is rare) in either 9.3x62 or 375 H and H if I wanted to go that route.

But the cartridge that has most interested me is the 358 Norma. The 35's have always interested me and while I was initially leaning towards the 35 Whelen, I am kind of intrigued by the possibility of the big Norma mag and the potential power on tap, if I wanted to take it. I reason I could always load it mild to start at the 35 Whelen ballistics and go up from there. I guess I am just really intrigued by the idea of trying for that X factor or Wow! Factor with running something big(gish) and fast(ish) like with the 358 Norma mag. Plus from what I tell from the medium bore write ups the 35 caliber still has the most broad variety of bullets compared to either the 9.3 or 375s thanks to all the slower 35 cal cartridges. The same dealer we have here is also a Norma dealer and has both factory Norma ammo as well as brass and Norma bullets available.

So what I am asking is if I go with the more exotic choice of building a 358 Norma, I want to build it smart and useful while staying at a reasonable budget. Being left handed would my best choice be buy a lefty Remington M700 in 300 Win mag for the donor rifle? That should be a straight forward re-barrel to 358 Norma right? I am thinking start with a semi varmint weight 26" barrel with a 1 in 12 twist and add a Boyds laminate stock and an after market trigger? This should be decent for recoil management and reasonable weight for a target weight of about 9.5-10 lb or so with a standard 2.5-10x42 or so scope on it.

Anyone run a 358 Norma mag? What do you think, worth to build? Would this be a good start to planning my first DIY custom rifle build?

Thanks in advance